Causes of Ethnic Conflict - Essay Example

Ethnic Conflict Introduction One of the most worthy characteristics of social conflict, today, is that, the intra-state conflicts account for majority of hardships and death associated with it. The other is that these intra-state conflicts seem to be of an ethnic nature. In fact, over half of all civil conflicts in recent history have either been of a religious or ethnic nature. According to Ganguly (p. 13), intra-state conflicts during the 21st century and the latter half of the 20th have become increasingly dominant, while at least 30% of all countries in the world have experienced intra-state conflicts; most of which have been ethnic in nature. Fractionalization and polarization are two specific channels of ethnic division that jointly influence social conflict. Polarization influences social conflict more when winners attain a public prize, for example, political power. On the other hand, when prizes are of a private nature, for example infrastructure, government subsidies, or looted resources, ethnic fractionalization is more influential to social conflict (Ganguly 13). The research paper will seek to use recent theoretical research to provide evidence that social conflict is influenced by pre-existing ethnic tension and differences. Causes of Ethnic Conflict Ethnicity, by itself, does not cause violent social conflict with most ethnic groups pursuing similar interests peaceful most of the time, despite inter-ethnic differences. The main causes of ethnic conflict, Ganguly (43) portends, are based on the domestic and systemic level of analysis. The systemic approach contends that ethnic conflict is dependent on the nature of security systems that the different ethnic sides operate, as well as their concerns about their security. The first systemic prerequisite is that more than one group lives live in close proximity. The second one is that international, regional, and national authorities are unable to prevent fighting among the different ethnic groups, as well as assure individual ethnic groups of their security. If anarchy prevails in a specific system, it becomes essential for the groups to defend themselves, especially if none of them can absorb the other culturally, economically, or politically (Ganguly 44). Security concerns become a paramount distress when collective fears about the capability of the state to arbitrate between different ethnic groups. In this case, some of the involved groups mobilize and deploy military resources, as the other group seeks to diminish the first group’s security, with most groups unaware of their actions’ impact on the other group. The domestic level is another focus of explanations of ethnic conflict. Under domestic causes, ethnic conflict can result from the effect of nationalism on relations between different ethnic groups, how effective the state is in addressing its constituents’ concerns, and the effect of democracy on the relations between ethnic groups (Cordell & Wolff 33). When states cannot meet the economic and security needs of its people, as well as when they cannot develop effective institutions that allow for political participation of all groups, increased nationalism and ethnic conflict threats arise. Ethnic nationalism by one group could be received as a threat by others, which, in turn, fuels development of similar elements in other groups, causing ethnic groups to support highly motivated armies. Other groups also build their own armies and become more vigilant, enhancing the likelihood of preventive war or preemptive attacks among neighboring ethnic groups. On the domestic level, democratization can also influence ethnic conflict, especially in democracy’s infancy, by stoking current ethnic divisions (Cordell & Wolff 35). If one ethnic group is larger than the others, minority interests will be neglected, leading to conflicts over resources and basic rights. Literature Review According to Caselli & Coleman (p. 164), ethnic groups will engage in conflict when they want to secure a specific resource’s control and, in this case, they are required to predict the level of post-conflict sabotage and leakage due to infiltration by losing ethnic group members. The authors utilize this insight in explaining the cause of conflict between ethnic groups, the reasons why some groups have the affinity of being involved in conflicts more than others, and why some groups tend to be at peace sometimes and in conflict other times. In their theory, group membership is enforced by ethnic markers; members of homogenous societies are able to pass off themselves more easily as part of the victorious group, reducing the probability of conflict between groups as an equilibrium outcome (Caselli & Coleman 169). The authors also derive various implications of this theory that are related to economic, political, and social indicators, which include income inequality, ethnic group sizes, distance between the groups, incidence of conflict, and expropriable resources. From this research study’s insight, it becomes clearer that ethnic conflict incidence is more likely where expropriable resources make up either a very large or very small fraction of available resources (Caselli & Coleman 189). Predictions from this theory can be used to interpret conflicts based on religion, language, and skin color. Bikmen, in “Collective Memory as Identity Content after Ethnic Conflict”, contends that collective memory plays a major role in the narrative content of ethnic identity, informing the attitudes of ethnic members towards out-groups (Bikmen 25). The author uses survey data from Muslim refugees and immigrants from Bosnia who settled in the US. This data shows that past narrative endorsement, especially those that emphasize ethnic coexistence before the war interacted with ethnic identity in predicting individual and group attitude towards Croats but not Serbs. The researcher also found that, even though ethnic identity negatively affected their attitudes towards Croats, this was significantly reduced among those who believed in the past coexistence narrative. However, their attitudes regarding Serbs were low, to a uniform standard. The study concludes that the extent of ethnic conflicts is predicated by previous inter-group relations and the probability of later reconciliation efforts (Bikmen 27). Esteban & Ray, “A Model of Ethnic Conflict”, present a conflict model in which social intolerance or discriminatory government policy responds to ethnic activism in various forms, including violent conflict. According to them, this responsiveness, which is influenced by whether the regime accepts various ethnic policy changes, induces individuals to violently mobilize in support of their cause (Esteban & Ray 499). However, they also include the costs of this mobilization, especially sufficient remuneration for the militants, adjusting their model to allow for human and financial contributions in inter-group conflict, as well as radicalism and other individual attributes. The results of their study revolve around the effects of heterogeneity within the group with regards to income and radicalism in precipitating conflict. The results also concern the impact of the correlation between income and radicalism on ethnic divisions and conflict (Esteban & Ray 516). The researchers posit that ethnic conflict is an independent function of perceived tension between ethnicities, rather than the nation’s linguistic, religious, or ethnic fractionalization. Their study also controls for the nature of institutions, concluding that civil liberties and political rights are only slightly mitigating factors of ethnic tensions, while economic freedoms robustly mitigate ethnic conflict. Methodology This study will evaluate observational, theoretical, and historical studies that have evaluated ethnic conflicts at the national level. Only the studies that involve ethnic conflicts that have occurred after the Second World War will be considered, and they will be required to be peer reviewed. In searching for the relevant studies and literature, this researcher will look for English-language literature conducted between 2002 and 2013. To accomplish this, searches of major databases like ProQuest, JSTOR, EBSCO, LexisNexis Academic, and NCJRS. The selected research studies will be screened through the specified criteria of inclusion and the results synthesized into narrative form. The best approach for this study is a qualitative one because it downplays or avoids statistical techniques used quantitative methods, such as epidemiology and survey research. Consequently, a common set of preferences will be used, including word analysis and research that generates hypotheses, rather than tests it. The research study may suffer from bias risk, especially in selecting studies. However, this risk can be lessened via use of appropriate methods of analysis through reporting on the strengths and limitations of included research studies, which will interpret bias risk present within the evidence. Another problem that may be faced is the lack of review authors who can independently assess the evidence used. This will be mitigated by an attempt to increase inter-coder reliability. Finally, literature that specifically seeks to form correlations between stability of multi-ethnic democracies and ethnic homogenization is limited. Works Cited Bikmen, Nida. "Collective Memory as Identity Content after Ethnic Conflict: an Exploratory Study." Peace and Conflict. 19.1 (2013): 23-33. Print. Caselli, Francesco. & Coleman, Wilbur. "On the Theory of Ethnic Conflict." Journal of the European Economic Association. 11 (2013): 161-192. Print. Cordell, Karl. & Wolff, Stefan. Ethnic Conflict: Causes, Consequences, Responses. Cambridge: Polity, 2012. Print. Esteban, Joan. & Ray, Debraj. "A Model of Ethnic Conflict." Journal of the European Economic Association. 9.3 (2011): 496-521. Print. Ganguly, Rajat. Causes of Ethnic Conflict. London: SAGE, 2011. Print. Read More