Societal Rather than Governmental Change: Religious Discrimination in Muslim-Majority Countries after the Arab Uprisings

Year 2019, Volume: 8 Issue: 1, 5 - 22, 02.01.2019

Yasemin Akbaba Jonathan Fox

https://doi.org/10.20991/allazimuth.424929

Cited By: 2

Abstract

This study examines shifts in governmental
religion policy and societal discrimination against religious minorities in
Muslim-Majority states after the Arab Uprisings by using the Religion and State
round 3 (RAS3) dataset for the years 2009-2014 and by focusing on 49
Muslim-majority countries and territories. We build on threads of literature on
religious pluralism in transitional societies to explain the changes in governmental
religion policy and societal discrimination against religious minorities after
the Arab Uprisings. This literature predicts a rise in all forms of
discrimination in Arab Uprising states as compared to other Muslim-majority
states, and an even more significant rise in societal religious discrimination
since societal behavior can change more quickly than government policy,
especially at times of transition. The results partially conform to these predictions.
There was no significant difference in the shifts in governmental religion
policy between Arab Uprising and other Muslim-Majority states, but societal
religious discrimination increased substantially in Arab Uprising states as compared
to non-Arab Uprising states. Understanding the nature of religion policies and religious
discrimination provides further opportunities to unveil the dynamics of
regional politics as well as conflict prevention in the region.  

Keywords

Arab Uprisings, religious policy, transitional regimes

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