sectarianism
Sign in to saveAlso known as sectarian conflict
Sectarianism is a debated concept. Some scholars and journalists define it as pre-existing fixed communal categories in society, and use it to explain political, cultural, or religious conflicts between groups. Others conceive of sectarianism as a set of social practices where daily life is organized on the basis of communal norms and rules that individuals strategically use and transcend. This definition highlights the co-constitutive aspect of sectarianism and people's agency, as opposed to understanding sectarianism as being fixed and incompatible communal boundaries.
~56 min read
Article
54 sectionsContents
- Definition
- Polemics against the term "sectarianism"
- Alternative: sectarianization
- Alternative: sectarian as a prefix
- Alternative: sextarianism
- Alternative: practicing sectarianism
- Intersectionality in sectarianism
- Religious dimension
- Taqiyya
- Political dimension
- Implications for communities
- Political sectarianism
- Sectarianism in the 21st century
- United Kingdom
- Authoritarian regimes
- Sectarian identities in authoritarian regimes
- Religious sectarianism
- Europe
- Ireland
- Northern Ireland
- England
- The Netherlands
- Ex-Yugoslavia
- Africa
- Australia
- Asia
- Japan
- Pakistan
- Sri Lanka
- Turkey
- Ottoman Empire
- Republican era (1923–present)
- Iran
- Overview
- Pre-1979 Revolution
- Post-1979 Revolution: Islamic Republic of Iran
- Ruhollah Khomeini and Ali Khamenei
- Iraq
- Syria
- Ottoman rule
- After Ottoman rule
- Syrian Civil War
- Yemen
- Introduction
- Ottoman era, 1849–1918
- Unification period, 1918–1990
- Contemporary Sunni–Shia rivalry
- Tribes and political movements
- Ali Abdullah Saleh's reign
- Saudi Arabia
- Lebanon
- See also
- References
- Further reading
Sectarianism is a debated concept. Some scholars and journalists define it as pre-existing fixed communal categories in society, and use it to explain political, cultural, or religious conflicts between groups. Others conceive of sectarianism as a set of social practices where daily life is organized on the basis of communal norms and rules that individuals strategically use and transcend. This definition highlights the co-constitutive aspect of sectarianism and people's agency, as opposed to understanding sectarianism as being fixed and incompatible communal boundaries.
While sectarianism is often labelled as religious or political, the reality of a sectarian situation is usually much more complex. In its most basic form, sectarianism has been defined as 'the existence, within a locality, of two or more divided and actively competing communal identities, resulting in a strong sense of dualism which unremittingly transcends commonality, and is both culturally and physically manifest.'