Description
Book SynopsisJonathan Fox''s new work provides the first systematic, empirical study of the role that religion plays in ethnic violence. Ethnoreligious Conflict in the Late Twentieth Century critiques the existing literature on religion and ethnic conflict, then presents and analyzes original quantitative data gathered from a variety of sources. Fox draws upon the Minorities at Risk model of ethnic conflict to develop and test a dynamic and comprehensive theory of religion and conflict. He applies this theory to resurgent conflicts between ethnic groups of different religionsfrom the Iranian revolution and the Afghan struggle against the Soviets in the 1980s to the ongoing Middle East conflictto pinpoint the ways in which religion has become intertwined in, and lent legitimacy to, conflicts in the contemporary world.
Trade ReviewJonathan Fox has admirably filled [a] gaping hole in the literature. . . . He has constructed a finely nuanced and dynamic theory of ethnoreligious conflict, elements of which will be useful for understanding other kinds of conflict involving religious and cultural issues. All students of the violently contested nature of post-Cold War politics stand in his debt. -- R Scott Appleby, Institute for International Peace Studies, Professor of History, University of Notre Dame
This book engages one of the most important and pressing issues in the world today. In this timely book, Jonathan Fox attempts to interpret the extensive extant literature on religion and ethnic conflict, create his own framework for the study of ethnoreligious conflict, test such phenomena empirically, and generate a general theory to account for them. I commend the author on a daring attempt to synthesize such complex and abundant material. * Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion *
Fox produces an original, highly formalized, refinement of the theoretical framework, which is useful for constructing typologies of ethnic and religious conflicts when dealing with such a wide spectrum of data collected through empirical observation; * Sociology of Religion: A Quarterly Review *
This foundational study puts academic speculation about the religious sources of conflict in the modern world to empirical test. Jonathan Fox develops a general theory of religion's social functions, then shows where and how ethnically-distinct religious minorities are prompted into political protest and rebellion by discrimination, repression, and mobilizing religious institutions. A nuanced analysis whose evidence challenges some conventional pieties and affirms others. -- Ted Gurr, University of Maryland
Table of ContentsChapter 1 Introduction Chapter 2 Defining Religion's Role in Society Chapter 3 Religion in a Modern and Secular World Chapter 4 Is Religion the Symptom or the Disease? Chapter 5 Previous Approaches to the Study of Religion and Conflict Chapter 6 A More Comprehensive Theory of Religion and Conflict Chapter 7 The Role of Religion in Ethnoreligious Conflict Chapter 8 Some Implications and Clarifications
