Pragmatic Violence: Reconciling Religion, Support for Terrorism and Rational Choice

• In Event: Poster Session

Abstract

The relationship between religion and support for violence has been a subject of significant speculation since the events of 9/11. The role played by religious ideology in mandating violent social change has been much discussed, with Islamic scripture in particular singled out as a ‘cause’ of political violence and terrorism.
Despite the existence of a significant body of scholarly research refuting the simple linking of violent behaviours and scriptural mandate, few alternative accounts of the religion-violence linkage have been proposed.
A significant body of work in sociology and political science has affirmed the importance of religion’s social characteristics in shaping adherent attitudes and behaviours, yet despite this, no mainstream theoretical account of support for violence has sought to accommodate these findings. This poster aims to take a first step towards addressing this shortcoming, offering both a theoretical account of the religion-violence linkage capable of addressing religion’s social characteristics, and a proof of concept drawing on the results of quantitative analysis conducted using UK survey data.

Author

• Mark Littler, University of Manchester, UK