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Christian missions and anti-gay attitudes in Africa

Author

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  • Maxim Ananyev
  • Michael Poyker
Abstract
We argue that colonial Christian missions had a long-term impact on anti-gay attitudes in Africa. We use a geo-coded representative survey of African countries and the location of historical Christian missions to estimate a significant and economically meaningful association between proximity to historical missions and anti-gay sentiments today. Using anthropological data on pre-colonial acceptance of homosexual practices among indigenous groups, we show that the establishment of missions, while nonrandom, was exogenous to pre-existing same-sex patterns among indigenous population. The estimated effect is driven by persons of Christian faith and statistically indistinguishable from zero on samples of Muslims, nonbelievers, and followers of traditional indigenous religions. Thus, we argue that our results are indicative of a causal effect of missionary religious conversion to Christianity.

Suggested Citation

  • Maxim Ananyev & Michael Poyker, 2020. "Christian missions and anti-gay attitudes in Africa," Discussion Papers 2020-04, Nottingham Interdisciplinary Centre for Economic and Political Research (NICEP).
  • Handle: RePEc:not:notnic:2020-04
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    4. Congdon Fors, Heather & Isaksson, Ann-Sofie & Annika, Lindskog, 2023. "Changing local customs: Long-run impacts of the earliest campaigns against female genital cutting," Working Papers in Economics 831, University of Gothenburg, Department of Economics.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Missions; Africa; Tolerance; Homosexuals; Religion;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
    • N37 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy - - - Africa; Oceania
    • Z1 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics

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