From Kazan to Grozny: How Existential Security Makes People Less Religious (the Cases of Volga and North Caucasus Republics of Russia)
https://doi.org/10.22394/2073-7203-2024-42-4-224-254
Abstract
The author tests the cultural hypothesis of the evolutionary theory of modernization by R. Inglehart and K. Welzel using the cases of Muslim regions of Russia (North Caucasus and Volga region). Based on survey data from online communities, the author demonstrates that the classic idea of the theory about greater secularization in richer regions also works for Russian Muslim‑majority regions. Tatarstan and Bashkiria turn out to be less religious both in terms of subjective religiosity (self‑identification and the importance of God in life) and objective religiosity (fasting, frequency of prayers and visiting mosques), while the regions of the North Caucasus (Chechnya, Ingushetia, Dagestan, Karachay‑Cherkessia) show the opposite trend. Moreover, the subjective religiosity of respondents turns out to be much higher than the objective religiosity. At the same time, the index of objective religiosity turns out to be a suitable instrument for measuring religiosity in Muslim societies, explaining up to half of the variation in subjective religiosity. The social class of the respondents (income, age and education), the share of the Russian population and ethnic homogeneity, as well as the economic situation of the region, are also correlated with religiosity, which once again confirms the hypothesis of the above theory.
About the Author
A. U. Musaev
HSE University
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Artur U. Musaev — Research Fellow, Ronald F. Inglehart Laboratory for Comparative Social Research
Moscow
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Review
For citations:
Musaev A.U. From Kazan to Grozny: How Existential Security Makes People Less Religious (the Cases of Volga and North Caucasus Republics of Russia). State, Religion and Church in Russia and Worldwide. 2024;42(4):224-254. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.22394/2073-7203-2024-42-4-224-254
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