GV337week 16

1
GV-337-week 16

• Ethnicity, religion and shared identity (material
  from week 11)
• Aggression among groups conflict as a social
  construct

2
From ethnic conflicts to state war

• Secession and Irredentism
• Involvement of external actors

3
What is ethnicity?

• Ethnic groups metaphorical family ties
• Narrow/broad culture, race, nation, tribe,
  religion
• Objective (language, religion) vs. subjective
  (perceived differences)
• E.g. Scotland, Yugoslavia
• Types of coexistence between groups
• Balance
• Hierarchysuppression
• Relative harmony
• Systemic and institutional violence

4
Why are intrastate conflicts interesting?

• Regional effects
• Migration
• Economic spill-overs
• Security dilemma
• Spread of conflict
• Environmental degradation

5
Groups and Identity formation

• Robbers Cave experiment
• The role of territory
• The role of common danger
• In-group vs. out-group
• Socio-psychological arguments
• Enemy system theory Us vs. them
• Social identity theory social mobilization and
  identification with groups
• Perception of the other

6
Causes of Conflict I

• Primordialist arguments
• Historical arguments
• Cultural arguments
• Reinforcing mechanisms and social institutions
  (e.g. Education)
• Instrumentalist arguments
• Role of resources and land
• Role of leaders
• Role of diasporas
• Role of myths and images
• Role of international environment

7
Causes of Conflict II

• Structural arguments
• Relative deprivation and expectations gap
• Human needs theory
• Demographic changes
• Intervening Factors that contribute to intrastate
  conflicts
• Internal processes modernization, development
• Diffusion effects from neighboring countries
• Bad neighborhoods
• Bad neighbors
• Bad leaders
• The Importance of the individual The role of
  elites
• Ideological conflicts
• Power struggles
• Criminal activities

8
Causes of Conflict III Economic Arguments
(World Bank)

• Theory of greed vs. grievances
• Viability of rebel organizations
• International financial support and diasporas
• Primary commodity dependency
• The impact of geography and history (poverty
  trap)
• Ethnic composition
• Under what conditions does it matter