Research On Religion » colonialism

Matthew Isaacs on Religion & Ethnic Rebellion

tonygill — Sun, 07 Jun 2015 08:00:20 +0000

When does religion play a role in ethnic rebellion and when does it remain irrelevant? Matthew Isaacs, a PhD candidate in political science at Brandeis University, adopts an economic model of religion to explain that when denominations are in competition with one another, and when they are facing declining resources, religious rhetoric will be used more frequently in mobilizing groups involved in ethnic turbulence.

Our conversation begins with a discussion of how he came upon his dissertation topic and the general literature in ethnic conflict. That topic has been of increasing interest to political scientists and Matt notes how he was able to plug in his interest in the “religious economies” perspective to help provide a further understanding of when religion becomes a salient dimension in such conflict. He notes that while it might seem obvious that religion and ethnic conflict would always be linked, and some studies have noticed a connection, there are plenty of instances — often in the same conflict — where religious rhetoric is not used to mobilize combatants and other forms of support. Matt notes that since much of the recent literature on ethnic struggles is rooted in a more rationalist perspective, the use of this theoretical perspective was pretty intuitive.

We then discuss his broad-based analysis of ethnic conflict from 1970 – 2014, a period chosen primarily for data availability. Without getting thick into the statistical details, he briefly mentions how he measured his different variables and how the analysis he ran demonstrated a very strong relationship between religious competition and use of religious rhetoric in conflict, as well as the importance of having a relatively more open political opportunity structure (i.e., a place where rebellious rhetoric is more free to express itself). Attention then turns to his qualitative analysis of two seemingly disparate cases — Northern Ireland during “The Troubles” and the recent Sri Lankan civil war. While seemingly very different cases, both involved religious rhetoric being used on one side of the conflict, but not on the other.

Matthew walks us through both of his case studies beginning with Northern Ireland. Here the story drives us back to the post-WWII era where a bombed out Belfast sent populations scrambling to rebuild in suburbs and leaving churches bereft of resources stranded in the city. Competition to head out to the suburbs intensified quickly among Protestants and created a very dynamic religious market. Catholics didn’t exit their faith as much thus that particular niche market did not face much competition. Interestingly, and in conformance with Matt’s thesis, religious rhetoric was more commonly used to rally Protestants to the Unionist cause (the group that favored union with Great Britain, which ironically meant separation from Ireland). Matt similarly traces the religious roots of ethnic conflict back prior to the actual fighting in the Sri Lankan civil war. Colonialism played a large role in Sri Lankan history and when the British left the island in 1948 a number of grievances about funding Buddhist temples arose that created competition amongst various monks. Over time, this translated into a factionalization in the faith that had a number of monks and political actors vying for support by tying themselves to the ethnic conflict with the Tamils. He traces this type of competition to a number of electoral cycles in the 1950s and 1970s and how it eventually manifested itself in violent hostilities in the 1980s.

Matt finished off with some self-reflection about the things he has learned in his current research. Note that because Matt was using a cell phone there are a few spots in the recording that sound a bit off due to the audio compression. The problems are mostly in the first 15 minutes of the interview. Recorded: May 26, 2015.

Matthew Isaacs on Twitter.

Institute for the Study of Religion, Economics, and Society (IRES) at Chapman University. (Info on the IRES graduate student workshop.)

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Proselytism, Humanitarianism, and Development: A Panel Discussion

tonygill — Sun, 24 May 2015 08:00:56 +0000

Proselytism is as old as religion itself. Nearly all spiritual faiths seek to expand the number of adherents that they have via communicating with people not within their faith tradition. But to what extent is proselytism a “bad thing” for society, perhaps as a form of cultural imperialism? How has religious proselytism impacted socio-economic development over time? How do humanitarian acts factor into proselytism and economic development? Thomas Farr, director of the Religious Freedom Project (part of Georgetown University’s Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs), leads a conversation among a diverse set of scholars including Robert Woodberry, Michael Barnett, and Rebecca Shah (heard in that order). This is one of several panels presented by the Religious Freedom Project on the topic of proselytism, including one on proselytism and social stability (see below). Recorded: March 4, 2015.

Thomas Farr’s bio at the Religious Freedom Project.

Michael Barnett’s bio at George Washington University.

Rebecca Shah’s bio at the Religious Freedom Project.

Robert Woodberry’s bio at the Religious Freedom Project.

Cornerstone, the official blog of the Religious Freedom Project.

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Proselytism, Social Stability, and Development: A Panel Discussion.

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Robert Woodberry on Missionaries and Democracy.

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Evan Haefeli on the Dutch Origins of Religious Tolerance

tonygill — Sun, 23 Mar 2014 08:00:26 +0000

The story of rise of religious liberty in the United States generally revolves around the influence of English persons and events (e.g., Roger Williams, the Act of Toleration). However, a lesser known piece of the puzzle is the role that the Dutch played in promoting religious toleration back in The Netherlands, as well as their colonial possessions for a significant portion of the 17th century. Dr. Evan Haefeli, an associate professor of history of Columbia University, explains the critical and nuanced role that the good folks from the Low Countries played in shaping the political-religious landscape that emerged in 18th century America.

Our conversation begins with Tony’s general ignorance (as usual) of what “The Netherlands” are. Understanding the historical emergence of this disparate territory, and the important role that the long-standing revolt against Spanish Habspurg rule played, is critical to the emergence of religious toleration. Evan notes that The Netherlands are a mixture of different ethnicities and religious groups that are largely unified against a common adversary. It is important to realize that it was not only Protestants, namely Reformed Calvinists and Lutherans, that were revolting from Spanish hegemony, but a number of Catholics were instrumental in Dutch independence.

Prof. Haefeli then lays out the interesting tension that characterizes Dutch religious tolerance. Rather than being full bore religious liberty encoded in law, he uses the term “connivance” to describe the de facto system of “looking the other way” when it comes to religious differences. The term “connivance,” while signifying something malevolent in the English language, has a much different connotation in the Low Countries, where it is viewed as “looking through one’s fingers and ignoring some messy details.” The Reformed (Calvinist) Church in Holland and a few other territories of the Low Countries wanted to assert itself as the “public church” that everyone should belong to, but so long as non-Calvinists practied their faith in a non-public and “out of sight” manner, those groups would largely be left alone. Although there was religious tension that did manifest itself in violence at times, Catholics, Jews, and other Protestants were largely left to their own means so long as they were not a nuisance. Evan does note that some of the more aggressive harassment came against Lutherans, who the Calvinists thought should have been Reformed since they were so theologically close. This indicates that religious tension may not always be between two distinct theologies, but rather ones that only have minor differences.

We then cross the Atlantic and examine the Dutch foothold in the Americas during the 17th century. To Tony’s surprise, the territory held by the Netherlands was much more vast than what is usually discussed, namely the island of Manhattan; it extened up the Hudson River into the lower portions of New England. However, unlike the English who were primarily interested in settlement, the Dutch were more concerned with trade and, as such, their physical presence was much more sparse and centered around some key trading outposts. The disparate nature of Dutch colonialism (which also included significant portions of modern day Brazil and Africa) led to overextension and their eventual ousting by the English (after a bit of territorial give-and-take). Evan discusses how the notion of a “public church” combined with “connivance” (i.e., looking the other way) that was typical of the homeland was transferred over to the colonies. We also cover a short-lived attempt at radical tolerance in the colonial outpost of New Amstel, which was cut short by the British ousting the Dutch from the territory.

We conclude our discussion with a few observations about what this all means for our contemporary notions of religious liberty in the United States. Evan makes the claim that had the Dutch not been ousted from America in the late 1600s, our religious liberty regime might look significantly different with a greater role for a “public church” and with liberty taking on the guise of toleration rather than a solid set of rights. He also discusses some of his general take-aways for our contemporary understanding of religious liberty. Recorded: March 14, 2014.

RELATED LINKS

Evan Haefeli’s bio at Columbia University’s Department of History.

New Netherland and the Dutch Origins of American Religious Liberty, by Evan Haefeli.

Captors and Captives: The 1704 French and Indian Raid on Deerfield, by Evan Haefeli.

The Political Origins of Religious Liberty, your host’s book that was implicitly mentioned in the podcast.

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John Fea on Religion and the American Founding.

Russ Roberts and Anthony Gill on Religion and Religious Liberty.

Jonathan den Hartog on John Jay.

Mark Hall on Roger Sherman, Puritan Patriot.

Mark Hall on Religion & the Founding Fathers.

Robert Priest on Witchcraft Accusations in Africa

tonygill — Sun, 26 Jan 2014 09:00:30 +0000

Accusations of witchcraft in Africa appear to be on the rise according to many anthropologists. Robert Priest, the G.W. Aldeen Professor of International Studies at Trinitiy Evangelical Divinity School discusses this phenomenom, covering the patterns, causes, and consequences of this trend.

Our discussion begins with what brought Prof. Priest, who has previously studied various aspects of missiology, to this topic. We then progress to the definition of witchcraft and how there are some commonalities and differences across cultures. Tony associates witchcraft trials with the past and asks Bob why this phenomenon has persisted in an era of increasing scientific knowledge.

Dr. Priest covers the different patterns of witchcraft accusations, discussing who is accused, what these accusations often consist of, and what the punishments are. We also discuss the methodological issues concerned with studying such a sensitive topic. We finish the discussion with the relationship between these accusations and Christianity in the region. Bob notes that Christians are not only the subject of such accusations, but often are complicit in bringing such claims on others. He discusses why this might be the case and then talks about how Christians are coming together to address how to manage all the issues we have discussed. Recorded: January 22, 2014.

This Side of Heaven: Race, Ethnicity, and Christian Faith, edited by Robert Priest and Alvaro Nieves.

The Witches of Gambaga by Yaba Badoe.

Witchcraft, Violence, and Democracy in South Africa, by Adam Ashforth (mentioned during interview).

American Society of Missiology.

Timur Kuran on Islamic Economics

tonygill — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 09:00:59 +0000

What is Islamic economics? Prof. Timur Kuran, professor of economics & political science and the Gorter Family Professor of Islamic Studies at Duke University, gives us a superb summary of the emergence of this intellectual movement and shows how the principles of Islamic economics have been implemented. Prof. Kuran begins by defining what this movement is and when it emerged. It is revealed that although the ideas behind Islamic economics harken back to early Muslim history, the modern manifestation of this thinking dates back to the 1930s when Sayyid Abul-Ala Mawdudi, an Indian Muslim, grew concerned over Muslim indebtedness to Hindus and how this would play out in the nation’s eventual decolonization. Timur also recounts how this thought is related to the more general Islamist movement that began growing during the middle part of the 20th century. Our conversation then turns to some of the specific policy prescriptions offered up by Islamist economists, including prohibitions on interest and the promotion of social welfare via the traditional zakat. Prof. Kuran explains the logic behind these proposals as well as some of the unintended consequences introduced by Islamic banking and efforts to centralize zakat via government fiat. The discussion is not only useful for understanding some current themes within Islam, but it is also a great primer on basic economics. Recorded: December 29, 2011.

Islam & Mammon: The Economic Predicaments of Islamism by Timur Kuran.

The Long Divergence: How Islamic Law Held Back the Middle East by Timur Kuran.

Private Truths, Public Lies: The Social Consequences of Preference Falsification by Timur Kuran.

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Nathan Brown on the Muslim Brotherhood.

Nathan Brown on the Muslim Brotherhood

tonygill — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 09:00:01 +0000

In order to provide greater historical context to the protests occuring in contemporary Egypt (January/February 2011), Prof. Nathan J. Brown of The George Washington University and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace discusses the origins and impact of the Muslim Brotherhood. We trace the origins of the organization to the 1920s when Hassan al-Banna, a middle-class school teacher, created the organization in partial response to Christian missionaries and perceived social needs in Egyptian society. We then trace the history of the Brotherhood through the Egyptian monarchy in the 1930s and 40s, the assasination of al-Banna, the rise of Gamal Abdel Nasser, and the presidency of Anwar Sadat. Prof. Brown shows how the relations between these various political regimes waxed and waned over time. We continue our historical discussion with an examination of how the Muslim Brotherhood became an international organization, and how each of its different branches around the world retain some degree of national autonomy. Our podcast concludes by examining the Muslim Brotherhood under the rule of Hosni Mubarak and what role the Brotherhood has been playing during the recent series of protests in Egypt. Recorded: February 7, 2011.

RELATED LINKS

Prof. Nathan Brown’s website at George Washington University (including links to various articles and op-eds).

Prof. Nathan Brown’s biography at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Between Religion and Politics by Nathan J. Brown and Amr Hamzawy.

The Rule of Law in the Arab World: Courts in Egypt and the Gulf by Nathan J. Brown.

Palestinian Politics after the Oslo Accords by Nathan J. Brown.

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