The ‘clash of civilizations’ and postcommunist Europe

Article abstract:

Samuel Huntington's 'clash of civilizations' thesis has been widely disputed, but rarely challenged on the basis of individual-level data. Focusing on two postcommunist societies with substantial Islamic minorities, Bulgaria and Ukraine, and using the evidence of representative national surveys, little evidence is found that being Muslim made any difference to attitudes in ways that were consistent with a 'clash of civilizations', either in broad choices about the proper role of the state or more specific policy options. Differences were more likely to run between countries than between the 'civilizations' within them; and within the two societies individually, Huntingtonian assumptions were more likely to be rejected than confirmed, in ways that reflected country-specific circumstances. These findings in turn suggest a looser fit between 'civilization' and political values than Huntington had originally posited, and a greater scope for the mobilisation of political alternatives within and across Christian and Islamic communities.

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