What does this research mean for the field?

Direct colonial rule eliminates the positive association between higher income and individual secularity by associating secularity with foreign imposition, whereas in non-colonized societies, higher income predicts greater secularity. Novelty: ClaimNovelty.CONTRADICTORY. Consensus alignment: ConsensusAlignment.CHALLENGES_CONSENSUS.

What question did this study set out to answer?

To explore the relationship between income and secularization across different historical contexts, focusing on colonial influences.

May 31, 2026Politics and Religion0 citationsOpen Access

The colonial origins of secularization: historical pathways of economic elites and religiosity in the Middle East and North Africa

ARAmir Abdul Reda

Key Points

To explore the relationship between income and secularization across different historical contexts, focusing on colonial influences.
Analyzed 351,960 observations from 269 countries using data from the World Values Survey (1989-2022).
Incorporated additional evidence from the Carnegie Middle East Governance and Islam Dataset.
Assessed the social implications of direct colonial rule on income and secular behavior.
Higher income does not predict increased secularity in societies with a history of direct colonial rule.
In non-colonized societies, economic elites promoted secularization alongside modernization initiatives.
A distinct correlation exists between income and secularization in contexts without colonial imposition.

Abstract

Abstract What is the impact of income on secularity? Why does higher income lead to greater secularity in some contexts but not others? I argue that the answer lies in the long-term political consequences of direct colonial rule. Challenging conventional wisdom on secularization, I advance a macro-historical account in which colonial intervention reshaped the social meaning of secularity among higher-income groups. In societies subjected to direct colonial rule, secularity became associated with foreign imposition and elite collaboration, generating postcolonial resistance among the affluent. Consequently, higher income does not predict greater individual secularity in these contexts. By contrast, in societies never directly colonized, economic elites historically spearheaded modernization projects that incorporated secularization, producing a positive income–secularity association. I test this argument using 351,960 observations from 269 countries over three decades (1989–2022) in the World Values Survey, alongside additional evidence from the Carnegie Middle East Governance and Islam Dataset.

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