The Religious Roots of Inequality in Africa

This workshop brings together scholars from political science and social psychology to discuss Melina Platas’ book manuscript, The Religious Roots of Inequality in Africa. The book documents a widespread gap in educational attainment between Christians and Muslims in sub-Saharan Africa, and examines the origins and persistence of this gap. Using original surveys, lab-in-the-field games, ethnographic data, and archival material from Nigeria, Uganda, and Malawi, as well as cross-national surveys from 35 African countries, Platas argues that the origins and persistence of educational inequality is explained by the co-evolution of institutions and culture.

Ibadan, Nigeria
Image Credit: Melina Platas, 2013.

Convened by

• Melina Platas, Assistant Professor of Political Science, NYUAD