Understanding Religious Violence

James Dingley is a political sociologist at Queen’s University, Belfast. He is Chairman of the Francis Hutcheson Institute and a member of the Advisory Committee of the Northern Ireland Security Qualifications Group. He has published extensively in international journals, and has also published five previous books specialising in development, religion, and nationalist conflict.Marcello Mollica is Associate Professor of Cultural Anthropology and Ethnology at the University of Messina. Italy. He has conducted field work in Northern Ireland, Middle East, South-eastern Turkey and South Caucasus.

“Each case study is clearly and deeply linked to religion—mainly Christianity and Islam. While certain studies provide a portrait of intra-religious conflicts, others emphasize inter-religious clashes. The contexts are always well-described, and the authors discuss how profound the current problems are, and how deeply rooted they are in history. … six cases studies can provide wonderful examples of the ways in which sociocultural elements converge or aggregate around religion in many places …” (Isabelle Lemelin, Reading Religion, readingreligion.org, June 21, 2019)

• 1. Introduction, by James Dingley and Marcello Mollica.- 2. Classical Social Theory and the Understanding of Contemporary Religious Terrorism, by James Dingley.- 3. Religious independence of Chinese Muslim East Turkestan “Uyghur” by Chiara Olivieri.- 4. Women's rights between civil and religious laws: the Lebanese law on protection of women and family members from domestic violence and the religious authorities' opposition, by Benedetta Pachetti.- 5.  Geopolitical vector of Ukrainian Orthodoxy in the context of national security, by Yevhen Kharkovshchenko and Bortnikova Olena.- 6. The Case of Northern Ireland, by James Dingley.- 7. Terror-driven Ethno-religious Waves: mapping determinants in refugees’ choices escaping Iraq and Syria, by Marcello Mollica.- 8.  Being Ezidi in the Middle East, by Çakır Ceyhan Suvari.- 9. Conclusion, by James Dingley and Marcello Mollica.