URBAN DIMENSION OF RELIGIOUS COMPETITION IN ETHIOPIA

Abstract

The article aims to clarify the patterns of the religious competition development at the micro-level of confessional geospacer, which is done using the example of Ethiopian cities based on population census data. With certain modifications, the authors replicate methodological approaches previously applied to global cities and the key cities of India, which are grounded in the calculation of the modified index of religious diversity (Gorokhov Index). This research continuity made it possible to establish that global patterns are, in general, repeated in Ethiopia, but exhibit country specific features. The study has shown that population size in Ethiopian cities, as in the case of global cities, does not affect their religious diversity; however, no linear dependence of this indicator on the urban rank has been found. The study has revealed an “unconventional” distribution of the cities by the level of their religious diversity: for almost one third of Ethiopian cities, it was found to be lower than the regional level, which is not typical for India and global cities. There has been noted a nearly universal trend of decreasing differences in the level of religious diversity between Ethiopian cities and regions, this indicating the spread of religious competition to new territorial levels: in some cases – from city to the countryside, in the others – vice versa. The established relationship between the level of religious diversity and the development of religious competition has been complemented using the examples of the Amhara, Tigray, and Somali regions: when the dominant religion strengthens its position, the religious diversity in cities decreases due to the displacement of religious minorities. The authors explain the specificity of Ethiopia, firstly, by the relatively low attractiveness of its cities to migrants belonging to other cultures in comparison with global cities, the weak development of urbanization processes, and the particular conditions of religious competition; secondly, by the fact that Ethiopia is undergoing a phase of religious parity, characterized by extremely high values of the Gorokhov Index and intensive religious competition.