Sectarian Violence Research Articles

‘The Troubles’ and the Peace Process in Northern Ireland in Seamus Heaney’s "The Cure at Troy"

Based on "Philoctetes", the tragic play by Sophocles, the poet Seamus Heaney creates his own version in "The Cure at Troy" to present the political and social problems in Northern Ireland during the period that became known euphemistically as ‘the Troubles’. This paper aims to highlight the significance of Heaney’s play in the final years of the conflict. Heaney uses the classical Greek play to bring to light the plight and suffering of the Northern Irish people as a consequence of the atavistic and sectarian violence between the unionist and nationalist communities. Nevertheless, Heaney also provides possible answers that allow readers to harbour a certain degree of hope towards peace and the future in Northern Ireland.

Critical political economy of the public infrastructure crisis in Lebanon: Interview with Karim Eid-Sabbagh

In this interview, Karim Eid-Sabbagh and Ulrich Ufer discuss how the case of the public infrastructure crisis in Lebanon highlights the importance of including analytical dimensions of critical political economy and global financial dynamics in technology assessment alongside a technology-society-governance perspective – in particular when focusing on the Global South. The Lebanese crisis has built up through long-term structural problems that include the legacies of colonialism, the country’s peripheral position in global capital relations, elite nepotism, sectarian strife, and the state’s dependency on international donor funding to build and maintain public infrastructure. These have coincided with short-term disintegration and disaster events over the past two years: mass migration, countrywide anti-government protests in fall 2019, the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in early 2020, the destruction of large parts of the country’s capital by the devastating explosion in the port of Beirut in August 2020, and the spiraling devaluation of the Lebanese currency.

جريمة تمويل إثارة الفتنة الطائفية في ضوء أحكام قانون مكافحة الإرهاب رقم (13) لسنة 2005

The danger of provoking sectarian strife lies in destroying the essence of the agreement on the basis of a peaceful meeting between members of the people, whether with regard to their relations as individuals and communities (components) or its impact on the political consensus documented in the constitution that governs the pillar of legal authority in the state. The images contained in the text of Article (2/4) of the Anti-Terrorism Law No. (13) of 2005, including terrorist acts and ordinary and dishonorable crimes which punishes in Articles (4-6) of the law. Financing is done by every act committed by any person who, by any means, directly or indirectly, willingly provides or collects funds, or attempts to do so from a legitimate or illegitimate source with the intention of using them with the knowledge that these funds will be used wholly or partially in the implementation of an act that would incite sectarian strife, whether Sedition occurred or not, regardless of the country in which this funding is located.

Understanding “Sectarianism”: Sunni-Shiʿa Relations in the Modern Arab World

Understanding “Sectarianism”: Sunni-Shiʿa Relations in the Modern Arab World

New Media and Revolution: Resistance and Dissent in Pre-Uprising Syria

New Media and Revolution: Resistance and Dissent in Pre-Uprising Syria

Africa and the challenges of religious foundationalism: Thinking on Wole Soyinka’s option

The super-imposition of extraneous religious logic has caused serious problems in Africa. Though religion is a strong force to be reckoned with in national development, it has proved to be problematic in a nation like Nigeria. Dangerous fanaticisms, sectarian violence, violation of human rights are some of the problems that emanate from a wrong episteme of religion. Beyond this, there is a foundationalist epistemology where adherents of various denominations push up the epistemic capacity of their religion as the ultimate standard of religious rationality. This has polarized humanity to such an extent that religious inclinations form a basis for the definition and recognition of the being of others. If John shares the same faith with James, then James is considered a brother and a human, but if they share a different faith, the question of humanity and rationality automatically sets in. This paper critically explores the concept of religion, foundationalism and generates a philosophical discourse that can enhance a mindset of tolerance. It explores the view of Wole Soyinka in his essay, The Credo of Being and Nothingness and asserts that the humanistic value in the African Traditional Religion could be a template for other religions and a feature to be propagated.

Saudi-Iranian Relations and the Future of the Middle East

ABSTRACT Mason explores Saudi-Iranian rivalry in the Middle East with particular reference to the growth in political contentions post-1979. He covers work by Ghattas who provides a more social perspective on the fallout from increased Saudi-Iranian rivalry from 1979, including sectarian violence from Egypt through to Pakistan, and a more policy-orientated appraisal and outline for conflict resolution between the parties provided by Fraihat. Taken together, they afford a comprehensive overview of the causes and effects of this “conflict.” For a political science scholar, it is Fraihat who tackles substantive conflict resolution issues of enduring concern: rebalancing the regional order, reforming conflict strategies, mediation, Track II diplomacy, and bottom up peace-building, which may hold the keys to shaping the next four decades in more peaceful ways than the previous four. Given the limited avenues of exploration in these areas, a partial GCC state backlash against the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) during the Obama administration, and the political consolidation underway in both states, one might despair of a breakthrough. The Biden administration represents an opportunity to at least contemplate de-escalation measures resulting from talks such as those underway in Iraq in 2021. Meanwhile, the policies of small states such as Oman and Qatar provide insights on pragmatic foreign policy behavior, some of which could be replicated by the key protagonists.

William Poole. The World Makers: Scientists of the Restoration and the Search for the Origins of the Earth.

William Poole. <i>The World Makers: Scientists of the Restoration and the Search for the Origins of the Earth.</i>

Northern Ireland’s Interregnum. Anna Burns’s Depiction of a (Post)-Troubles State of (In)security

This paper aims to present the main contours of Burns’s literary output which, interestingly enough, grows into a personal understanding of the collective mindset of (post)-Troubles Northern Ireland. It is legitimate, I argue, to construe her fiction (No Bones, 2001; Little Constructions, 2007; Milkman, 2018) as a body of work shedding light on certain underlying mechanisms of (post-)sectarian violence. Notwithstanding the lapse of time between 1998 and 2020, the Troubles’ toxic legacy has indeed woven an unbroken thread in the social fabric of the region. My reading of the novelist’s selected works intends to show how the local public have been fed by (or have fed themselves upon) an unjustified—maybe even false—sense of security. Burns, in that regard, has positioned herself amongst the aggregate of writers who feel anxious rather than placated, hence their persistence in returning to the roots of Northern Irish societal divisions. Burns’s writing, in the above context, though immersed in the world of the Troubles, paradoxically communicates “an idiosyncratic spatiotemporality” (Maureen Ruprecht Fadem’s phrase), namely an experience beyond the self-imposing, historical time limits. As such, it gains the ability to provide insightful commentaries on conflict-prone relations, the patterns of which can be repeatedly observed in Northern Ireland’s socio-political milieu. Overall, the main idea here is to discuss and present the narrative realm proposed by Burns as (in)determinate, liminal in terms of time and space, positioning readers between “then” and “now” of the region.

Dante’s Influence on Seamus Heaney’s Poetry on the Troubles in Northern Ireland: “The Strand at Lough Beg,” “An Afterwards” and “Ugolino”

Dante’s Divine Comedy had an enormous influence on Seamus Heaney’s oeuvre, especially from Field Work (1979) onwards. Heaney exploits the great Dantean epic poem to create a framework that allows him to contextualise some of the most painful political and social episodes in Irish history, namely the Great Hunger and the secular clashes between Protestants and Catholics. Heaney pays special attention to the problems originating from the outburst of the atavistic and sectarian violence—euphemistically known as “the Troubles”—between the unionist and nationalist communities in Northern Ireland as from 1969, causing great suffering and wreaking havoc on the Northern Irish population for decades.

Cities and villages in the religious conflict circle: Socio-demographic factors of communal and sectarian conflict in West Java, Indonesia

This article analyses the forms of religious conflict in cities (urban areas) and villages (rural areas) in Indonesia. The main locus of this study is in 11 regencies and cities in West Java, a province with the highest ranking of violations of religious freedom in Indonesia for the last two decades (2000–2020). These regencies and cities include: Bekasi Regency, Bekasi City, Bogor Regency, Bogor City, Tasikmalaya Regency, Bandung Regency, Bandung City, Kuningan Regency, Garut Regency, Cianjur Regency and Cimahi City. The study confirms that the sociological characteristics of urban and rural areas influence the tendency of different forms of conflict in both areas. On the one hand, heterogeneous urban social conditions tend to have an impact on the forms of conflict between religious communities – Muslims and Christians. On the other hand, the homogeneous rural social conditions affect the forms of conflict that are internal to religious communities or fellow Muslims. This study shows that religious conflict in a region cannot be generalised because each region has different socio-demographic conditions. Therefore, knowledge of differences in socio-demographic conditions in each region is very important because it will determine the form, causes and the ways to handle the conflicts in each region.Contribution: This study contributes to mapping the different sociological characteristics of religious conflict in cities and villages in West Java. It can be used as an illustration for other regions in Indonesia and Southeast Asia.

A Party Built on Bigotry Alone? The Scottish Board of Dissenters and Edinburgh Liberalism, 1834–56

By assessing the Central Board of Dissenters, arguably the most influential liberal-voluntary group of the mid-nineteenth century and the political wing of Scottish dissent, this article questions whether the Liberal party in Edinburgh was indeed built on ‘bigotry alone’, and asks whether the groups that would later form the backbone of Scottish Liberalism until the Great War were, as John Brown claimed, the enemies of all oppressions and monopolies, or simply the products of sectarian strife. The Central Board of Dissenters acted as the conduit for ecclesiastical and political organisation for Edinburgh's radical voluntaries during the bitter conflict of the pre-Disruption period, and utilised this organisational strength after 1843 to create a pan-dissenting alliance based on the anti-Maynooth campaign. Despite their foundations in the intra-Presbyterian strife of Victorian Scotland, the electoral successes of this period created a base both in Edinburgh and across Scotland for a Liberal party, once it threw off the ideological shackles of these denominational struggles, which would dominate Scottish politics until the Great War.

Social Media Tools for Educational Sustainability in Conflict-Affected Regions

This conceptual paper demonstrates the potential role of social media in providing students with access to education during emergency situations when schools cannot ensure students’ safety or provide safe learning environments. It is based on conceptual analysis that transforms face-to-face education into a cost-free, online educational environment by relying on social-media learning tools during short-term disruptions caused by violence and conflict. This article proposes a framework that outlines how technology can be used to maintain education in schools during conflicts and emergency situations: cloud computing to access administrative resources and social media tools to maintain teaching/learning resources and student–teacher as well as student–student interactions. The proposed strategy could be greatly beneficial to educational leaders and administrators in regions vulnerable to sectarian conflicts where student safety and the delivery of educational services can become major challenges. This paper contributes to the literature by emphasising the advantages of social media tools for educational delivery in conflict-afflicted regions.

A Study of Young Yemeni-American Muslims’ Identity, 2010–2021

ABSTRACT Yemenis have a long history of settlement in America. First-generation Yemenis have mainly worked as laborers in agriculture and car manufacturing, and some second-generation Yemenis attend educational institutions. Today, Yemen is facing sectarian and regional conflicts, which are affecting Yemeni Americans. In this paper, I investigate the identity of young Yemeni Muslims in Michigan and New York. This paper uses grounded theory and is based on data from interviews with five participants that I conducted in 2010 and 2017; and arts and crafts of newly arrived Yemeni youths displayed in an exhibition in 2017. I conclude that young Yemeni-American Muslims are likely to identify with America because of their resilience and optimism. The policy makers and the wider society should make an effort to make America an inclusive society so that the new Yemeni arrivals in the United States do not feel distressed with the war-torn conditions back home.

Риски религиозной социализации в условиях постсекулярного общества

The article presents the search for effective steps to minimize interfaith tension. The authors reveal the essence of traditional introduction to religion in the modern information environment. Digital technologies, on the one hand, expand the horizons of the possible, but on the other hand, the personality breaks away from natural communication, and as a result, the internal system of spiritual landmarks is disturbed. And then the human sensible world easily switches to another type of communication due to his or her natural need for sympathy and care – to virtual communication. The current situation related to the digital technologies is exacerbated by the consequences of the cultural disruption of the past century and by the hyperactivity of aggressive liberal missionary work. Russian society is forced not only to take into account, but also to resist sectarian attacks on the images of national cultures. The system of values of Russian culture traditionally represents the space for the struggle between good and evil in the name of achieving the spiritual ideal. An elusive ideal in a transitive postsecular society poses significant risks of harmonization of cultural and religious traditions. That is why the main focus of the article is on the stabilization of social life through the development of the principles of the optimal model of religious socialization.

Survival Mechanism of The Shia Community Post-Shia–Sunni Sampang Conflict in 2012

The purpose of this article is to discuss the mechanisms that the Shia community of Rusunnawa Puspa Agro Sidoarjo adopted to survive the sectarian conflict of 2012. This research uses a qualitative approach, using a snowball sampling technique with key informants, Ustad Tajul Muluk and Ustad Iklil. Data collection techniques include in-depth interviews. The result is indicative of the fact that the Shia community took three approaches to survive the sectarian clashes. First, the Shia community attempted to reduce its daily expenses to the most urgent needs. Second, the Shia community members used an alternative subsystem of working as coconut shelling labor, farming the surrounding land, and raising goats and chickens to help meet their daily needs. Third, the Shia community members got a governmental network in the form of jadup money,[1] in the form of the patron-client relationship. This research also shows that the Shia community needs to get social support because material assistance is not enough&#x0D; &#x0D; [1] - Jadup is the acronym of jatah hidup, and Jatah is a financial help which is either provided by the government, or parents, or even one’s boss, but not because one has done something, but rather, because it is part of one’s right.

Women and protest politics in Pakistan

ABSTRACT This article draws on qualitative research on five different gendered contentions in Pakistan: a feminist mobilisation, a protest against child sexual abuse, a workers’ mobilisation for greater employment benefits, an ethno-religious minority community’s demand for protection from sectarian attacks, and an ethno-nationalist mobilisation for post-conflict security and greater rights. All our cases of contention are based on claims the state has repeatedly failed to address. The article asks how fragility and conflict shape contentious politics and create opportunities for women’s social and political action. Why do women act collectively and engage in protests and what are their leadership strategies? What do these strategies tell us about the goals of these contentions and the women who lead them? We argue protests function as part of a broader repertoire of strategies to maximise women’s voice and impact in a constrained context. Protest strategies are complemented by advocacy with government, court petitions, engagement with formal politics, and alliance with feminist leaders. Some women leaders strategically traverse the divide between contentious and formal politics, and use their feminist voices to amplifying protest claims and mobilise support. Leaders generate support for each other’s contentions, believing their goals are linked. The positive impacts include the enhanced effectiveness of some protest leaders, improvements in state accountability, widening of feminist discourse, and activists’ empowerment as actors in the public domain. Gains remain uncertain in the long term due to shrinking civic spaces, gendered barriers to political inclusion, and increasing backlash.

Postcolonial Conflictual Nationalism causing Gender Violence in Pakistan and Srilanka analyzed through Fatima Bhutto and Nayomi Munaweera’s Select Fictions

Nationalism, although a celebrated ideology, is observed as suffocating and detrimental to feminist individuality in certain regions of post liberated Pakistan and Sri Lanka wherein aggravated sectarian and ethnic conflicts have led to gender-based violence which has demolished feminine sexual purity forever. Since independence, both nations have undergone national crises as Sri Lankan citizens lived in trepidation for almost a decade because of the Sinhala-Tamil dispute whereas minority Shias and other deviant sects of Pakistan live in a constant threat of violence from radicalized and orthodox religious nationalist groups. The self-proclaimed nationalist Sunni and Sinhala groups peculiarly target women who apart from their role as reproducers and nurturers, participated equally in the anti-colonial liberation struggle only to be rewarded with ethnic and sectarian violence conflated with gender violence. The research article aims to present a literary exploration of Shia and Tamil women’s grievances and resistance through Fatima Bhutoo &amp; Nayomi Munaweera’s select fictional works and highlights the postcolonial political privileging of masculinity through nationalist ideologies and strategies which, despite structuring a brave new world of equality, attempts to silence women forever. At this point, the fundamental flaw of nationalism i.e. creating rife based on inequalities of ethnicity, race, culture, religion, and gender divisions within a nation becomes evident which not only conspires to push women back from their struggle for equal gender rights but also deprives them of social acceptance forever.

Bandits, Militants, and Martyrs: Sub‐state Violence as Claim to Authority in Late Antique North Africa

AbstractFourth Century North Africa was a site of intense religious and political conflict. Emerging from a period of persecution and newly legitimized by the Roman state, the Christian Church immediately fractured into two competing camps. Now known as the Donatist schism, this fracture was the result of competing claims to religious authority between two camps of bishops, but the doctrinal debate at its core precipitated a specific form of violence: attacks on clergy and property perpetrated by roving groups of militant bandits. Known as circumcellions, these bands acquired a perverse reputation for religious zeal, a desire for martyrdom, and what their opponents described as the ‘madness’ and ‘insanity’ of their violence. Here I analyze sources produced by both Donatists and Catholics to trace patterns of circumcellion violence. I draw on borderland theory and research on non‐state violence to argue that such acts were not mad, but rather the result of strategic efforts to consolidate religious and political power. In this, Donatism and the sectarian violence that accompanied it provide important insights into how banditry and peasant rebellions can serve as alternate sources of social and political power, avenues through which heterodox movements challenge the power state and religious hierarchies alike.

Sufi Shrine as Space of Hegemonic Struggle in Pakistan

In the post-9/11 period, while the rise of the Taliban and their alliance with Al-Qaeda accelerated radicalism in Pakistan, Sufism and Sufi shrines have been awarded the status of an antidote to counter the extremist propensities of orthodox Islam typically associated with mosques and madrasas. Nevertheless, contrary to popular belief, sectarian schism, loathing and violence have also been witnessed at several Sufi shrines across Pakistan. The article explores the dynamics of power struggle at the shrine of Bari Imam in Islamabad, Pakistan, while examining the role of sectarian conflicts and violence in achieving the desire for social and economic hegemony. Ethnographic research design was employed, involving participant observation while partaking in different activities of the shrine. Also, respondents including members of the Auqaf Department, pilgrims, caretaker(s) of the Bari Imam shrine and inhabitants of the area were interviewed. The respondents include both males and females of diverse age groups belonging to various socio-economic statuses, sectarian affiliation and educational backgrounds. The findings propose that regardless of the spiritual character of the Bari Imam shrine, it has become a pivot of economic and political power struggle, eventually engendering and escalating sectarian discord, violence and detestation.