Doctoral Dissertation Research in Political Science: Distinguishing Religious and Ethnic Politics in Africa

政治学博士论文研究：区分非洲的宗教和民族政治

• 批准号: 0921435
• 负责人: Daniel Posner
• 金额: $ 1.18万
• 依托单位: University of California-Los Angeles
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2009
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2009-09-15 至 2010-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0921435&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; Political; Science

The question that this project addresses is how religious preferences differ from other forms of political preferences, notably ethno-linguistic or tribal ones, in Africa. To use a metaphor, when one takes off her tribal hat and puts on a religious hat, do her political preferences change? In addressing this question, the research also explores how the sociopolitical environment matters. Do political preferences differ in Muslim- and Christian-dominated regions? In stable versus tense national political environments? Among members of majority and minority religious or tribal groups?The importance of the research comes in its treatment of religion as a unique catalyst for political preferences. In many contemporary political studies in Africa, all forms of ascriptive identity groups -language, ethno-linguistic, racial, and religious- are treated under the umbrella of "ethnic politics." As a result, religious politics is an under-theorized area within the study of Africa. Advancing our theoretical understanding of religious political preferences, however, is becoming increasingly important in the region. Muslim-Christian tensions have spread to some sub-Saharan African countries, and African political leaders sometimes make explicit religious appeals followed by policy changes that evoke religious tenets. The best way for observers and decision makers to forecast these changes is to understand how political preferences in the name of religion differ from those in the name of tribe or other identities.To address the question, the research will focuses on two countries, Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire. With support from the Ghana Center for Democratic Development and the Multitudes Center at the University of Abidjan in Côte d'Ivoire, the researcher will conduct a field experiment that artificially evokes either the religious or the ethno-linguistic identity among a sample of individuals in both Muslim and Christian areas. Randomly selected individuals will be exposed to one of two professional yet concocted radio reports commenting on relations between groups in the country. The reports are perfectly identical, only with changes in the names of groups. One report refers to religious groups and the other to ethno-linguistic groups. Subjects will then be questioned to ascertain their preferences regarding preferred types of policies, inter-group relations, and willingness to use violence. The field experiment will be complemented by a qualitative analysis of specific religious and tribal groups.The broader social value of the project comes in its focus on underrepresented groups and in its effort to build stronger cross-national and cross-religious networks. The project will provide opportunities for participation by graduate students in Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire and will include the perspective of the Al-Sunnah wal Jama-ah sub-group, who have publicly complained of underrepresentation. Furthermore, the project will enhance networks and relationships, between American and African researchers and between collaborators of different religious faiths. In using these networks to overcome mischaracterizations of religious politics, the project will make tangible differences in the study environment.

这个项目解决的问题是，在非洲，宗教偏好与其他形式的政治偏好有何不同，特别是种族语言或部落偏好。打个比方，当一个人摘下她的部落帽子，戴上一顶宗教帽子时，她的政治偏好会改变吗？在回答这个问题时，这项研究还探索了社会政治环境是如何重要的。在穆斯林和基督教占主导地位的地区，政治偏好是否有所不同？在稳定与紧张的国家政治环境中？在多数和少数宗教或部落群体的成员中？这项研究的重要性在于它将宗教视为政治偏好的独特催化剂。在非洲的许多当代政治研究中，所有形式的归属认同群体--语言、民族语言、种族和宗教--都被置于“民族政治”的保护伞下。因此，在非洲研究中，宗教政治是一个理论化程度较低的领域。然而，推进我们对宗教政治偏好的理论理解在该地区正变得越来越重要。穆斯林和基督教的紧张关系已经蔓延到一些撒哈拉以南的非洲国家，非洲政治领导人有时会发出明确的宗教呼吁，然后是唤起宗教教义的政策变化。观察者和决策者预测这些变化的最好方法是了解以宗教名义的政治偏好与以部落或其他身份名义的政治偏好有何不同。为了解决这个问题，这项研究将集中在加纳和科特迪瓦这两个国家。在加纳民主发展中心和科特迪瓦阿比让大学大众中心的支持下，研究人员将进行一项实地实验，人为地在穆斯林和基督教地区的个人样本中唤起宗教或种族-语言认同。随机挑选的个人将被暴露在两个专业但捏造的电台报道中的一个，评论该国不同群体之间的关系。这些报告完全相同，只是小组的名称发生了变化。一份报告提到宗教团体，另一份报告提到族裔语言团体。然后，受试者将接受询问，以确定他们对首选政策类型、群体间关系和使用暴力的意愿的偏好。实地实验将得到对特定宗教和部落群体的定性分析的补充。该项目更广泛的社会价值来自于它对代表性不足的群体的关注，以及它努力建立更强大的跨国家和跨宗教网络。该项目将为加纳和科特迪瓦的研究生提供参与机会，并将包括曾公开抱怨代表性不足的Al-Sunnah Wal Jama-ah分组的观点。此外，该项目将加强美国和非洲研究人员之间以及不同宗教信仰合作者之间的网络和关系。在利用这些网络克服对宗教政治的错误描述方面，该项目将在研究环境中产生切实的差异。