Why have many women in the Middle East resorted to increasingly conservative modes of dress in recent decades?  And what happens after a political regime rapidly collapses leaving society in near total chaos as happened in Iraq in 2003?  Dr. David Patel, a junior research fellow at the Crown Center for Middle East Studies at Brandeis University, answers these questions and accounts for the rise and success of ISIS by using a political-economic approach to religious institutions and behavior.  He links these various topics through the importance of social coordination, signaling, and common knowledge to a society, and explains why Shiites were more successful in limiting violence and providing public goods than Sunnis were in Iraq following the US invasion in 2003.

Our conversation begins with a bit of methodological banter as Tony asks David about the various analytical tools he uses including game theory, geospatial analysis, and ethnography.  These theoretical and empirical techniques are rarely employed in conjunction with one another in the social sciences, and David offers a spirited defense of his multi-disciplinary approach and notes that ethnography has received a bad rap in the field of political science.  We also talk about how these tools came to be applied to the study of religion and politics in the Middle East, and David and Tony share stories about how manuscript reviewers told them to submit their work to sociology journals since what they did “wasn’t political science.”

We then turn to the topic of “veiling” broadly construed.  David quickly corrects Tony’s use of that term noting that “veiling” refers to a covering of the face, but many forms of Islamic conservative attire need not do that, including the use of gloves or simple headscarves (hijabs).  Nonetheless, David has noted an increase in the use of more concealing clothing amongst Muslim women in the past several decades.  He links this phenomenon to the growing interest among all women for more modest and non-Western forms of apparel.  However, when all (or most) women began wearing more conservative attire in the 1970s and ’80s, it created a situation where highly pious women were less able to signal their piety to potential mates in the marriage market.  As such, there was a ramping up of concealing clothing so that the truly pious could differentiate themselves from those with less religious commitment.  He explains this in the context of a societal marriage market and makes a case that social scientists should pay much more attention to this aspect of society.  David further observes that there have been similar trends among men, with the length of beards and style of shoes being important markers for signaling religious adherence.

The discussion shifts gears in a seemingly different direction as we pick up on the topic of Dr. Patel’s current book manuscript on the rebuilding of order in Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein.  While appearing unrelated to the aforementioned topic of Islamic dress, the importance of information and coordination tie these two topics together.  David notes how massive looting broke out in Iraq in mere days following the US invasion of Iraq and Hussein’s ouster as president.  Such a chaotic situation is a rather untenable one for most people and the re-creation of social order becomes a necessity.  Quickly after the collapse of the Iraqi state, we see the emergence of Friday mosque sermons as a means of coordinating local priorities, which is unusual as given that Friday sermons are comparatively rare. Shia mosques turned out to be more successful at coordinating such local priorities, facilitating common knowledge, and providing local public goods (e.g., trash pickup and security) as they had a more hierarchical structure under the direction of Ali al-Sistani.

We conclude our interview with David’s thoughts on the rise of ISIS, why it has been successful, and some of the misconceptions both pundits and policymakers have about its organizational structure.  He notes that ISIS’s simple ability to provide public goods and social order in areas where such order is lacking is what can account for its success.  We finish with some of David’s personal “ah ha!” moments in his research, including the importance of local social norms and the realization that religion is not merely instrumental but something people hold to be intrinsically valuable.  Recorded: September 25, 2015.

RELATED LINKS

 David Patel’s bio at Association for Analytic Learning about Islam and Muslim Societies.

Brandeis University’s Crown Center for Middle East Studies.

“ISIS in Iraq: What We Get Wrong and Why 2015 is Not 2007 Redux,” by David Patel.

RELATED PODCASTS

Matthew Derrick on the Geography of the Umma.

Ani Sarkissian on Politics and Religious Civil Society in Turkey.

Paul Kubicek on Islam, Political Islam, and Democracy.

Monica Toft on Religion, Terrorism, and Civil War.

John Owen IV on Confronting Political Islam, Historical Lessons.

Will Inboden on Religious Liberty, Foreign Policy, and the Arab Spring.

Sean Everton on Dark Networks.

Karen Elliott House on Journalism and Saudi Arabia.

Ann Wainscott on Morocco’s Religious Foreign Policy.

Our conversation begins with a bit of methodological banter as Tony asks David about the various analytical tools he uses including game theory, geospatial analysis, and ethnography.  These theoretical and empirical techniques are rarely employed in conjunction with one another in the social sciences, and David offers a spirited defense of his multi-disciplinary approach and notes that ethnography has received a bad rap in the field of political science.  We also talk about how these tools came to be applied to the study of religion and politics in the Middle East, and David and Tony share stories about how manuscript reviewers told them to submit their work to sociology journals since what they did “wasn’t political science.”

We then turn to the topic of “veiling” broadly construed.  David quickly corrects Tony’s use of that term noting that “veiling” refers to a covering of the face, but many forms of Islamic conservative attire need not do that, including the use of gloves or simple headscarves (hijabs).  Nonetheless, David has noted an increase in the use of more concealing clothing amongst Muslim women in the past several decades.  He links this phenomenon to the growing interest among all women for more modest and non-Western forms of apparel.  However, when all (or most) women began wearing more conservative attire in the 1970s and ’80s, it created a situation where highly pious women were less able to signal their piety to potential mates in the marriage market.  As such, there was a ramping up of concealing clothing so that the truly pious could differentiate themselves from those with less religious commitment.  He explains this in the context of a societal marriage market and makes a case that social scientists should pay much more attention to this aspect of society.  David further observes that there have been similar trends among men, with the length of beards and style of shoes being important markers for signaling religious adherence.

The discussion shifts gears in a seemingly different direction as we pick up on the topic of Dr. Patel’s current book manuscript on the rebuilding of order in Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein.  While appearing unrelated to the aforementioned topic of Islamic dress, the importance of information and coordination tie these two topics together.  David notes how massive looting broke out in Iraq in mere days following the US invasion of Iraq and Hussein’s ouster as president.  Such a chaotic situation is a rather untenable one for most people and the re-creation of social order becomes a necessity.  Quickly after the collapse of the Iraqi state, we see the emergence of Friday mosque sermons as a means of coordinating local priorities, which is unusual as given that Friday sermons are comparatively rare. Shia mosques turned out to be more successful at coordinating such local priorities, facilitating common knowledge, and providing local public goods (e.g., trash pickup and security) as they had a more hierarchical structure under the direction of Ali al-Sistani.

We conclude our interview with David’s thoughts on the rise of ISIS, why it has been successful, and some of the misconceptions both pundits and policymakers have about its organizational structure.  He notes that ISIS’s simple ability to provide public goods and social order in areas where such order is lacking is what can account for its success.  We finish with some of David’s personal “ah ha!” moments in his research, including the importance of local social norms and the realization that religion is not merely instrumental but something people hold to be intrinsically valuable.  Recorded: September 25, 2015.

RELATED LINKS

 David Patel’s bio at Association for Analytic Learning about Islam and Muslim Societies.

Brandeis University’s Crown Center for Middle East Studies.

“ISIS in Iraq: What We Get Wrong and Why 2015 is Not 2007 Redux,” by David Patel.

RELATED PODCASTS

Matthew Derrick on the Geography of the Umma.

Ani Sarkissian on Politics and Religious Civil Society in Turkey.

Paul Kubicek on Islam, Political Islam, and Democracy.

Monica Toft on Religion, Terrorism, and Civil War.

John Owen IV on Confronting Political Islam, Historical Lessons.

Will Inboden on Religious Liberty, Foreign Policy, and the Arab Spring.

Sean Everton on Dark Networks.

Karen Elliott House on Journalism and Saudi Arabia.

Ann Wainscott on Morocco’s Religious Foreign Policy.

Our discussion on the issue of state-building begins with a little political science discussion, helping to define the terms of “failed state” and “state-building.”  Denis notes that there are three critical areas that must be tended to when creating a functioning state that can help coordinate a society: 1) legitimacy; 2) security; and 3) basic needs (e.g., food, shelter).  Without any of these three elements, individuals in a society live in a rather precarious situation.  Denis peppers his discussion with some examples from the Middle East, Africa, and the Balkans.  We then discuss what role religious organizations can play and why so many policymakers have overlooked the important organizational role faith groups play in society.  Religious groups are essential components of civil society that usually remain well-organized even when a secular governing system is collapsing, plus they provide a great deal of knowledge about local conditions and network well with residents in villages and towns.

We then move on to how religious groups assist in building (or rebuilding) the three elements of a functioning state.  We start with legitimacy and Denis dissects this concept further by noting that there are three components to legitimacy: 1) legal validity of the state; 2) justification of power that transcends generations; and 3) the expression of citizen consent.  He explains how religious groups can lend support to political leaders linking their legitimacy to the citizenry, and how rulers also use religious symbolism to connect with their population.  He illustrates this with an interesting tale from Croatia following the civil war it experienced following the collapse of Yugoslavia.   Security is the next issue we take up, and this is a surprising one given that religious groups generally do not control police or military force.  Nonetheless, faith-based entities provide the ability to adjudicate disputes, enhance social capital (such as trust within society), and promote civic norms and values that help bring peace to a society.  The role of sermons by religious leaders plays a large role here.  Finally, we discuss the area of basic needs, which is what most people think about when talking about the role of religious groups in troubled areas.  Here we cover the dimensions of international aid and domestic assistance, noting how religious organizations know a great deal about the local needs of different communities and are great conduits for solving problems.

We then discuss the role that different faith traditions play in state-building, including what it is like to work ecumenically across theologies.  This takes us into a brief discussion of the different conceptualizations that Catholics and Sunni Muslims have with respect to the role of the state and governance.  Our attention then turns to an interesting situation in the Middle East, which is the rise of the Islamic State and where this emerging group fits into the topic of state-building.  We finish with some of Prof. Dragovic’s thoughts about what he has learned over the course of his scholarship and many years working in the field.  Recorded: April 22, 2015.

RELATED LINKS

Prof. Denis Dragovic’s personal website.

Prof. Denis Dragovic’s bio at the Conversation.

Religion and Post-Conflict Statebuilding: Roman Catholic and Sunni Islamic Perspectives, by Denis Dragovic.

RELATED PODCASTS

John Rees on International Development and Faith-Based Organizations.

David Smith on Religion, International Relations, and Foreign Policy.

Torrey Olsen on Faith-Based Humanitarianism and World Vision.

Daniel Philpott on Religious Resurgence and Democratization.

Ani Sarkissian on Religion & Civil Society in Turkey.

Monica Toft on Religion, Terrorism, and Civil War.

Thomas Farr on Religion, Religious Liberty, and US Diplomacy.

William Inboden on Religious Liberty, Foreign Policy, and the Arab Spring.

Religious Freedom & Economic Prosperity: A Panel Discussion.

Religious Freedom & Political Flourishing: A Panel Discussion.

John Owen IV on Confronting Political Islam, Historical Lessons.

]]> http://www.researchonreligion.org/practioneers/denis-dragovic-on-religion-state-building/feed 0 http://www.researchonreligion.org/religion-politics/sean-everton-on-dark-networks http://www.researchonreligion.org/religion-politics/sean-everton-on-dark-networks#comments Mon, 26 Dec 2011 17:00:48 +0000 http://www.researchonreligion.org/?p=1272 Dark networks are clandestine organizations that often, but not always, engage in nefarious behavior.  Over the past several decades, scholars and minitary strategists have become increasingly interested in how these dark networks operate and how they can be disrupted.  Prof. Sean Everton, assistant professor in the Department of Defense Analysis at the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS), discusses how he has used network theory to understand such clandestine organizations.  We begin by chatting about how a graduate student in sociology with no military background ended up at the NPS and also what the NPS is all about, including who the students are and what they are taught.  We then go on to define “dark networks,” noting that although they are mostly associated with nefarious activities such as drug smuggling or terrorism, sometimes such underground organizations can have beneficial purposes.  As for the latter, Prof. Everton points to the efforts of Catholic nuns to shelter Jewish children in Germany during the Holocaust.  We then discuss how and why religious groups often enhance the effectiveness of dark networks, noting the work of Larry Iannaccone and Eli Berman on this subject.  We then turn to Prof. Everton’s research with Nancy Roberts on how such networks can be disrupted, focusing on two general strategies: kinetic and non-kinetic.  The former (kinetic) strategy includes the direct targeting and (often violent) removal of key individuals from networks with the intent of disrupting its operation.  We also talk about how militaries around the world are trained to identify and break apart dark networks, a process known as “capacity bulding.”  The non-kinetic approach to network disruption includes various tactics such as psychological operations, misinformation campaigns, institution building, and the rehabilitation of members within these dark networks.  Our conversation finishes with a few observations on one of Sean’s other passions, baseball.  Recorded: December 13, 2011.

RELATED LINKS

Sean Everton’s profile at the Department of Defense Analysis, Naval Post Graduate School.

Common Operational Research Environment (CORE) Lab on Facebook.

God, Politics, and Baseball – Sean Everton’s personal blog.

RELATED PODCASTS

Eli Berman on Religious Terrorism.

Monica Toft on Religion, Violence, and Civil War.

Ron Hassner on Sacred Space and Conflict.

Byron Johnson on More God, Less Crime.