Religious Difference and Mass Violence in Muslim Societies, New America, online

Why do some religious minorities provoke the ire of majoritarian groups and become targets of organized violence, even though they lack significant power and pose no political threat. In his new book Liminal Minorities: Religious Difference and Mass Violence in Muslim Societies, Güneş Murat Tezcür examines this question within Muslim societies, arguing that these faith groups are stigmatized across generations, as they lack theological recognition and social acceptance from the dominant religious group. Tezcür provides a comparative-historical study of mass atrocities against religious minorities, focusing on two case studies—the Islamic State’s genocidal attacks against the Yezidis in northern Iraq in the 2010s and massacres of Alevis in Turkey in the 1970s and 1990s—while also addressing discrimination and violence against followers of the Bahá’í faith in Iran and Ahmadis in Pakistan and Indonesia. Analyzing a variety of original sources, including interviews with survivors and court documents, Tezcür reveals how religious stigmatization and political resentment motivate ordinary people to participate in mass atrocities.

Join New America’s Future Security Program as they welcome Güneş Murat Tezcür for a discussion of his new book Liminal Minorities: Religious Difference and Mass Violence in Muslim Societies. Tezcür is Director of the School of Politics and Global Studies at Arizona State University. In his current research, he explores the dark side of humanity with a focus on mass violence. In addition to Liminal Minorities, he is the author of Muslim Reformers in Iran and Turkey and the editor of The Oxford Handbook of Turkish Politics. The conversation will be moderated by New America Vice President and Arizona State University Professor of Practice Peter Bergen.

Join the conversation online using #LiminalMinorities and following @NewAmericaISP.

Speaker:

Güneş Murat Tezcür
Author, Liminal Minorities: Religious Difference and Mass Violence in Muslim Societies
Director, School of Politics and Global Studies at Arizona State University

Moderator:

Peter Bergen
Vice President, New America
Co-Director, Future Security
Professor of Practice, Arizona State University

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