Car Talk: Ethnic And Religious Identity In The Central African Republic

Abstract

This thesis examines the prioritization of religious identity among Central Africans in the wake of the 2013 Slka crisis. Before the Slka came to power, ethnicity was the identity that had the most political salience in the Central African Republic. During the crisis, religious identity was prioritized over all others. This thesis researched a number of possible causes of this identity shift, from the agendas of domestic and foreign politics to mass-level tensions and demographic changes. This thesis argues that the prioritization of religious identity over ethnic identity among Central Africans is an example of an elite driven identity change. After being driven from power, southern political elites mobilized Christianity in response to the Slka takeover because it was an identity the majority of southern Central Africa could rally behind.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Dec 01, 2017
Accession Number
AD1053510

Entities

People

  • Evan M. Wieczorek

Organizations

  • Naval Postgraduate School

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • California
  • Christianity
  • Commerce
  • Employment
  • Ethnic Groups
  • Geography
  • Governments
  • Insurgency
  • International Organizations
  • International Relations
  • National Politics
  • National Security
  • New York
  • Personnel Management
  • Political Systems
  • Religion
  • Social Media
  • Societies
  • Terrorism
  • Terrorists
  • United States
  • Urban Areas

Fields of Study

  • Political science

Readers

  • International Relations, focusing on Korea-Africa and North Korea-South Korea relations, and Nigeria-Latin American Relations.
  • Political Violence and Terrorism Studies.