Can religious reinterpretations bridge the secular-religious divide?: experimental evidence from Tunisia
Domestic politics around the globe have become increasingly polarized along secular-religious lines. Recent literature suggests that one way to ease secular-religious tension and gridlock is for religious leaders to offer progressive reinterpretations of religious texts, that might convince religiou...
| Authors: | ; |
|---|---|
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
|
| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Sage Publications
2023
|
| In: |
The journal of conflict resolution
Year: 2023, Volume: 67, Issue: 2/3, Pages: 428-456 |
| Further subjects: | B
Polarization
B Religious conflict B Social conflict B Religious identity B Secularization B Experiment B Religion B Population group B Compromise B Religious policy B Tunisia B Teaching |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | Domestic politics around the globe have become increasingly polarized along secular-religious lines. Recent literature suggests that one way to ease secular-religious tension and gridlock is for religious leaders to offer progressive reinterpretations of religious texts, that might convince religious conservatives to compromise from their seemingly-fixed policy positions. But can everyday citizens deploy religious reinterpretations themselves? We examine this question through a series of citizen debates in Tunisia, in which 602 participants attempted to reach a compromise over two ‘culture wars’ issues. Across both experiments, we find that having secular liberals engage religious conservatives with religious reinterpretations backfired, nearly halving the rate of compromise. Religious reinterpretations produced both defensive conservatives and emboldened liberals, obstructing compromise between them. While scholarship suggests that religious leaders may be able to deploy reinterpretations effectively, our results caution that everyday citizens may not. |
|---|---|
| Item Description: | Literaturverzeichnis: Seite 443-456 |
| ISSN: | 1552-8766 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: The journal of conflict resolution
|
| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1177/00220027221119097 |