Conflict and Population Trends in Religion

Clifford Grammich, RAND

Religion sets the context of many global and regional conflicts but it is often poorly understood as a demographic variable. A great deal of the reason for the poor understanding of religion as a demographic variable is the paucity of systematic regional and global data on it. This paper explores both what available demographic data indicate about the religious context of historical and current conflict and proposes a preliminary framework for considering future questions regarding conflict and religious demographics. Accordingly, it reviews (1) the religious demography of some notable conflicts, (2) theoretical issues that these suggest, (3) data needs for examining and extending these preliminary theories, and (4) an agenda for future research.

Presented in Session 13: Demographic Dimensions of Conflict