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Liberalism of religious Muslims in illiberal Muslim-majority and minority societies: evidence from Azerbaijan and Georgia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 December 2024

Valery Dzutsati Open the ORCID record for Valery Dzutsati [Opens in a new window]  and
F. Michael Wuthrich Open the ORCID record for F. Michael Wuthrich [Opens in a new window]
Valery Dzutsati*
Affiliation:
School of Anthropology, Political Science, and Sociology, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL, USA
F. Michael Wuthrich
Affiliation:
Department of Political Science, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, USA
*
Corresponding author: Valery Dzutsati; Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

How does a religious group's demographic status influence its members' attitudes toward economic and political liberalization? This study adopts a contextual approach and compares Azeri Muslims' political and economic attitudes in two illiberal states, Azerbaijan and Georgia. We argue that attitudes toward liberalization are shaped by the strength of association with one’s religious community and its relative position vis-à-vis the state and society. Drawing on a series of Caucasus Barometer surveys, we find that context and position in society matter. In religiously restrictive Muslim-majority Azerbaijan, Muslims’ religiosity is associated with greater support for political liberalization but lower support for economic liberalization. In religiously restrictive non-Muslim-majority Georgia, however, Muslims’ religiosity reflects the converse: opposition to political liberalization but support for economic liberalization. Thus, instead of theologies, the political and economic opportunity structures facing religious groups may play a critical role in determining their attitudes toward various forms of liberalization.

Keywords

liberalismilliberalismpaternalismIslamminorities
Type
Article
Information
Politics and Religion , Volume 17 , Issue 4 , December 2024 , pp. 605 - 626
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Religion and Politics Section of the American Political Science Association

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