Local religious institutions and the impact of interethnic inequality on conflict
This article studies how local religious institutions mediate the effect of interethnic inequality on local violence. Focusing on the case of Xinjiang, China, we argue that local religious institutions decrease violence caused by local grievances. They do so in two ways: first, they provide local pu...
| Published in: | International studies quarterly |
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| Authors: | ; ; ; |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Oxford University Press
2018
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| In: |
International studies quarterly
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| Further subjects: | B
Statistical analysis
B Conflict B Minority question B Religious institution B China B De-escalation B Racial discrimination B Ethnic group |
| Online Access: |
Presumably Free Access Volltext (Resolving-System) |
| Summary: | This article studies how local religious institutions mediate the effect of interethnic inequality on local violence. Focusing on the case of Xinjiang, China, we argue that local religious institutions decrease violence caused by local grievances. They do so in two ways: first, they provide local public goods; second, they provide an “information bridge” between the local population and the government, allowing for nonviolent management of potential discontent. We evaluate our claims with a county-level database of incidents of ethnic violence in Xinjiang, China. We measure local interethnic inequalities using education indicators from census data and the strength of religious institutions using local mosque density. We find a conflict-dampening effect of religious institutions: a higher level of interethnic inequality is associated with increased ethnic violence only in areas with low and medium levels of mosque density. This article contributes to the literature of civil conflict, ethnic violence, and political and social unrest by revealing how local institutions mediate the effect of grievances on violence. |
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| Item Description: | Literaturverzeichnis: Seite 779-781 |
| ISSN: | 1468-2478 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: International studies quarterly
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1093/isq/sqy035 |