Phenotypical, Linguistic or Religious? On the Concept and Measurement of Ethnic Fragmentation

Malaysian Journal of Economic Studies, Jun-Dec 2003 by Yeoh, Kok Kheng

Therefore, a measure of ethnic diversity must be based on phenotypical characteristics (race) or both cultural and racial ones (ethnicity). Since ethnicity is defined in terms of both ethno-linguistic as well as ethno-religious attributes (the other being racial), a distinction between ethnic and linguistic/religious diversity is ambiguous in nature. For instance, in constructing measures of ethnic and religious 'variance', McCarty (1993 : 231 ) commented that "the distinction between Catholic and Protestant may be very important in Ireland but meaningless in Egypt." Nevertheless, as a religious distinction, it is as real in the latter as in the former. The difference can only be said to be 'meaningless' with respect to its role as an ethnic boundary, in Egypt vis-à-vis the case of Ireland.

Finally, even while attention is paid to all such dimensions of ethnicity, the definition problem would still not go away. While such a difficulty exists regarding language (the distinction between dialect, patois and language - it is often said that a language is but a dialect with an army), it is even more elusive in the case of religion. The distinction between Christianity, Islam and Buddhism is clear, but how comparable is it with that between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism? Are Lutheranism, Methodism, Jehovah's Witness, Mormonism and the Unification Church different religions, sects or cults? The respective identities of Sunni Islam, Shi'a, Ahmadism, Druzism and Baha'ism pose a similar question. By defining some as religion and others as sect/cult, one may fall prey to the prejudice of established orthodoxy. Shi'a Islam is as much a deviationist sect in the majority Sunni world as Baha'ism is in the dominant Shi'a society of Iran. Ahmadism is as much a Messianic cult as early Christianity or Nichiren Buddhism. The beliefs of the Druzes in the eyes of mainstream Islam are as heretical as those of the early Copts or Maronites in the medieval Christian world.

Similar problems do not arise when religion is treated as an ethnic marker. Such a definition of ethnicity is more context oriented. Roman Catholicism and Protestantism are ethnic markers in Northern Ireland but not in Malaysia, although the two exist there as separate religious communities. Karpat's observation (cited above) that Muslims attach more importance to religion as the primary ethnic bond than Christians is in general applicable even beyond its original Balkan context. Such attachment has been reinforced in the twentieth century by the persistent deprivation and economic backwardness of the masses, partly resulting from western (or in ethno-religious terms, Christian) colonialism. Religion thus serves as a boundary marker mobilised by the exploited, who developed identity investments due to their common politico-economic disadvantage, as suggested by the 'situation theories' of ethnicity (Earth 1969).

The Bosnian Muslims' ethnic ties with Christian Slavs were supplanted by religious solidarity with the Muslim world only after the collapse of Yugoslavia brought about their agonising defeat in the ensuing ethnic war. Similarly, the Pomaks' ethnic identification with Muslim Turks rather than Slavic Christian Bulgarians results mainly from the socio-economic discrimination they suffer. A similar situation can be observed in Northern Ireland where, "as in the Middle East, religion is what distinguishes 'us' from 'them'" and "inextricably joined with the history of a persecuted and oppressed people struggling for liberation" (Curran 1979:148). On the other hand, different Islamic sects also play a more important role as ethnic markers than contemporary Christian denominations, with the exception of Northern Ireland. As the youngest of the three major Semitic monotheistic religions, Islam is entering a stage where tolerance for heresy and secularism is minimal, reminiscent of the age of the Inquisition when sects like the Huguenot or Albigensian bore the hallmarks of ethnic divisions. To see the majority Muslim society of Lebanon or Iraq as a medley of ethnoreligious segments rather than a monolithic entity, for instance, is important for an accurate assessment of the degree of its ethnic diversity. The effect of religious sectarianism on the "ethnic boundary process" (à la Barth 1969) varies in strength from country to country, but this is largely a matter of ethnic intensity which should be treated as a separate issue, closely related to the historical geography and numerical structure of ethnicity, as well as the degree of regional concentration.