They do not belong here: A Study on the Causal Mechanism between Religious Nationalism and Interreligious Violence
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2024-06-21
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en
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This thesis delves into the mechanism linking religious nationalism to interreligious violence. There are indications that religious nationalism is related to outbreaks of interreligious violence, but the causal path between these two variables remains unclear. By using Coleman’s (1990) bathtub approach, I formulate and test a causal mechanism. I use the qualitative method of process tracing to analyze the 2020 Delhi riots. I find convincing evidence for the situational mechanism linking religious nationalism to increased negative attitudes towards members of religious outgroups (e.g., Shortle & Gaddie, 2015). I find mixed evidence for the action-formation mechanism linking the increase in negative attitudes towards religious outgroups to a decrease in interreligious interaction (e.g., Bilewicz & Liu, 2020). Lastly, I find supporting evidence for the transformational mechanism linking the absence of quality interreligious interactions to outbreaks of interreligious violence (based on Varshney, 2002). More research is needed to fully understand the mechanism between religious nationalism and interreligious violence. Nevertheless, the analysis demonstrates that the exclusionary nature of religious nationalism is a strong indicator that increases in religious nationalism spark interreligious tensions and can lead to interreligious violence, either through deteriorating intergroup engagement or via intracommunal radicalization.
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Faculteit der Managementwetenschappen