Abstract

Sectarian tensions play a central role in some of the most salient political and violent conflicts in the Middle East. Yet despite its importance, individual sectarian animosity remains vastly understudied. In this paper, we offer the first systematic, large-scale evaluation of prominent hypotheses about the nature, origins, and content of individual-level sectarian animosity among Shi'a in Iran and Iraq. We examine the validity of three common conceptualizations of sectarianism---as religiosity, a transnational movement, and a form of ethno-nationalism. We find that at the individual level, sectarian animosity in Iran and Iraq most resembles ethno-national out-group animosity, but that this finding encompasses an important gender dimension. We base our analysis on an original, geographically representative survey of over 4,000 devout Shi'a from Iraq and Iran, integrated with numerous additional data sources. These findings have important implications not only for understandings of sectarianism in the Middle East, but also the nature and origins of intergroup animosity across the globe.

Reference

Elizabeth Dekeyser, “The Nature and Origins of Sectarian Animosity”, IAST Lunch Seminar, Toulouse: IAST, October 8, 2019, 12:45–13:45, room MS 003.