Sectarianism is a contested concept, understood by some scholars and journalists as the existence of pre-fixed communal categories that shape political, cultural, or religious conflicts between groups. Others conceive of sectarianism as a set of social practices where daily life is organized on the basis of communal norms and rules that individuals strategically use and transcend. This definition highlights the co-constitutive aspect of sectarianism and people's agency, as opposed to understanding sectarianism as being fixed and incompatible communal boundaries.
While sectarianism is often labelled as religious or political, the reality of a sectarian situation is usually much more complex. In its most basic form, sectarianism has been defined as 'the existence, within a locality, of two or more divided and actively competing communal identities, resulting in a strong sense of dualism which unremittingly transcends commonality, and is both culturally and physically manifest.'
Definition The term "sectarianism" is defined in the Oxford English Dictionary as "excessive attachment to a particular sect or party, especially in religion". The phrase "sectarian conflict" usually refers to violent conflict along religious or political lines, such as the conflicts between Nationalists and Unionists in Northern Ireland (religious and class-divisions may play major roles as well). It may also refer to general philosophical, political disparity between different schools of thought, such as that between Shia and Sunni Muslims. Non-sectarians see free association and tolerance of different beliefs as the cornerstones to successful, peaceful human interaction. They adopt political and religious pluralism.
Polemics against the term "sectarianism" Some scholars identify the problems with using the term "sectarianism" in articles. Western mainstream media and politicians often presume "sectarianism" as ancient and long-lasting. For example, Obama in his final State of the Union address phrased the sectarian violence in the Middle East as "rooted in conflicts that dated back millennia", but many pointed out that some sectarian tensions don't even date back a decade. "Sectarianism" is also too ambiguous, which makes it a slogan whose meanings are up to the observers. Scholars argued that the use of term "sectarianism" has become a catch-all explanation to conflicts, which drives analytical attention away from underlying political and socioeconomic issues, lacks coherence, and is often associated with emotional negativity. Many scholars find the term "sectarianism" problematic, and therefore three alternatives are proposed.
Alternative: sectarianization Hashemi and Postel and other scholars differentiate between "sectarianism" and "sectarianization". While "sectarianism" describes antipathy, prejudice, and discrimination between subdivisions within a group, e.g. based on their religious or ethnic identity, the latter describes a process mobilized by political actors operating within authoritarian contexts to pursue their political goals that involve popular mobilization around religious or identity markers. The use of the word sectarianism to explain sectarian violence and its upsurge, i.e. in the Middle East, is insufficient as it does not take into account complex political realities. In the past and present, religious identities have been politicized and mobilized by state actors inside and outside of the Middle East in pursuit of political gain and power. The term sectarianization conceptualizes this notion.Hashemi, Nader, and Danny Postel. "Introduction: The Sectarianization Thesis." In Sectarianization: Mapping the New Politics of the Middle East, edited by Nader Hashemi and Danny Postel. New York: Oxford University Press, 2017. pp. 3, 5, 6, 10. . Sectarianization is an active, multi-layered process and a set of practices, not a static condition, that is set in motion and shaped by political actors pursuing political goals.Weiss, Max. In the Shadow of Sectarianism : Law, Shi`ism, and the Making of Modern Lebanon. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2010. pp. 3, 4, 9–11, 11–128, 127, 129, 229. .Hashemi, Nader. The West's "intellectually lazy" obsession with sectarianism. Interview by Emran Feroz. Qantara, 17 October 2018. The sectarianization thesis focuses on the intersection of politics and sectarian identity from a top-down state-centric perspective. Sectarianization would be more precise if you're referring to how sectarian identities and divisions are systematically created or reinforced by the state or other institutions, while sectarianism would be more appropriate when discussing the ideology or attitude that underpins sectarian divisions. While religious identity is salient in the Middle East and has contributed to and intensified conflicts across the region, it is the politicization and mobilization of popular sentiments around certain identity markers ("sectarianization") that explains the extent and upsurge of sectarian violence in the Middle East. The Ottoman Tanzimat, European colonialism and authoritarianism are key in the process of sectarianization in the Middle East.Makdisi, Ussama Samir. The Culture of Sectarianism: Community, History, and Violence in Nineteenth-Century Ottoman Lebanon. California: University of California Press, 2000. p. 2. Makdisi, Ussama Samir. "Understanding Sectarianism." ISIM Newsletter 8, no.1 (2001), p. 19.
Alternative: sectarian as a prefix Haddad argues "sectarianism" cannot capture sectarian relations in reality nor represent the complex expressions of sectarian identities. Haddad calls for an abandonment of -ism in "sectarianism" in scholarly research as it "has overshadowed the root" and direct use of 'sectarian' as a qualifier to "direct our analytical focus towards understanding sectarian identity". Sectarian identity is "simultaneously formulated along four overlapping, interconnected and mutually informing dimensions: doctrinal, subnational, national, and transnational". The relevance of these factors is context-dependent and works on four layers in chorus. The multi-layered work provides more clarity and enables more accurate diagnoses of problems at certain dimensions to find more specific solutions.
Alternative: sextarianism
In her book Sextarianism, Mikdashi emphasizes the relationship between sect, sex and sexuality. She argues that sectarianism cannot be studied in isolation because it operates alongside the systems of gender and sexism. Moreover, she states that the category 'sect' is already a patriarchal inheritance. For this reason she proposes the term "sextarianism". She argues that sex, sexuality, and sect together structure citizenship and belonging, making sextarianism central to the legal and bureaucratic systems of the state. It emphasizes how state power articulates, disarticulates, and manages sexual difference bureaucratically, ideologically, and legally. To further illustrate the dimensions by which the dynamics of sextarianism in Lebanese society can be explained, Mikdashi refers to two central concepts: Evangelical Secularism, and the Epidermal State.Mikdashi, M. (2022). The Epidermal State: Violence and the Materiality of Power. In Sextarianism (pp. 153–182). Stanford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781503631564-007Mikdashi, M. (2022). Are You Going to Pride? Evangelical Secularism and the Politics of Law. In Sextarianism (pp. 117–152). Stanford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781503631564-006
Mikdashi traces the origins of this sextarian system to the 1932 French Mandate census, which she argues acted as a foundational biopolitical technology. This means that the census did not simply reflect pre-existing demographics, but actively produced sectarian divisions by creating bureaucratic categories In the modern Lebanese census registry, citizens are organized by region, family, personal status, and sex. Crucially, women cannot be registered as heads of families, as they are recorded as legal dependents of their fathers and are bureaucratically transferred to their husband's family registry upon marriage. This also means that sect is automatically passed on from father to child at birth.
Mikdashi stresses the difference between sect, personal status and religion. Sect is a broad political and historical identity inherited at birth. Personal status is the bureaucratic category the state uses to apply family law. Religion refers to an internal spiritual belief. Historically, Lebanese citizens have used religious conversion as a way to change their personal status law in their favor, for example for claiming an inheritance. However, this does not mean they have changed their internal religion or sectarian identity.
Based on Carole Pateman, sexual difference is political difference, while sexual difference is not merely a biological or cultural distinction but a fundamental mechanism of power relations. She argues that sexual difference functions as a process through which sectarian, gendered, and sexual positions are structurally produced, represented, imagined, desired, and managed. In this view, the construction of sexual difference is inseparable from political structures, shaping not only individual identities but also the broader organization of social and political life.
Dimension of sextarianism: evangelical secularism
Sextarianism builds on Joan Scott's theorization of the constitutive nature of sexual difference to the history of secularism. According to Mikdashi, sectarianism provided her with the chance to examine the Lebanese state without separating or favoring sectarian differences from sexual differences. This approach is rooted in the ways the state regulates and creates both sexual and sectarian distinctions. The Lebanese legal system shapes sexual difference across various areas of law, with sexual difference playing a far more significant role as a legal category than sectarian difference. The Lebanese state handles both sexual and sectarian differences through its judicial and governmental/bureaucratic structures. Mikdashi furthermore ties this development to the concepts of the evangelical and state based secularism which by emphasising the sectarian sphere through its sovereignty, securitisation, and citizenship laws, manages to enshrine its view into society.Mikdashi, M. (2022). Afterlives of a Census: Rethinking State Power and Political Difference. Sextarianism: Sovereignty, Secularism, and the State in Lebanon. (pp 24–47). Stanford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781503631564-002 The second important component – the epidermal state – is used by Mikdashi to show the locus and mode with which states manifest their power to enforce sextarianism.
Mikdashi also refers to the idea that sextarianism unpacks how heterosexuality, the sex binary, and civil and criminal law are key to secularism's management of sexual and religious difference, with secularism's investment in sex manifesting as the regulation of straight and queer sexualities and a sex-gender binary system.
Alternative: practicing sectarianism
In their book Practicing Sectarianism, Deeb, Nalbantian, and Sbaiti (2022) emphasise that sectarianism does not need to remain a historical/anthropological pre-requisite for analyses but benefits from an understanding of the micro-level experiences of individuals, and how they relate, react, and contradict a static framing of "political" sectarianism. They also highlight that the concept – at least when focussing on the prominent example of Lebanon – should be understood as multi-dimensional with (1) political sectarianism, (2) Civil Sectarianism, and (3) Socio-Economic Sectarianism.Deeb, L., Tsolin, N., Sbaiti, N., & Nalbantian, T. (2022). Introduction: Practicing Sectarianism in Lebanon. In Practicing Sectarianism (pp. 1–13). Stanford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781503633872-003
Intersectionality in sectarianism