Ch. 6 - Ethnicity Flashcards
What 3 conditions increase the likelihood of a group rebelling?
1) excluded from state power (I.e. marginalized)
2) the group as a high capacity to mobilize
3) the group has experience conflict in the past (I.e. a history of violence)
How does the primordial perspective explain ethnic violence?
Violence breaks out between ethnic communities with nascent historical tensions are aroused by a triggering event.
Describe the instrumental view of ethnic violence.
Power-seeking elites manipulate institutions to encourage widespread fear of some other ethnicity and create incentive for members to take defensive measures against threat
How does the constructivist view define ethnicity?
Ethnicity is defined in terms of a myth-symbol complex in which a shared culture and specific interpretations of historical events bind the group together and distinguish it from others
According to the constructivist perspective, what causes ethnic violence?
Likelihood of violence increased when a group’s myths justify:
1) hostility towards an “other
2) fears of the group’s extinction
3) mobilization
How do elites harness support for their agendas?
By using symbols that evoke emotions (fear, anger, hatred, etc.)
What is an “official script”?
The ways in which ethnic identities are framed in gov’t discourse.
When is interethnic violence more likely to occur?
When a group’s myth- symbol complex includes hostile towards an “other.”
What is state sponsored ethnicity?
Meanings about ethnicity produced and disseminated by the gov’t
What was Sudan gov’t official script in Darfur to crush Fur and Zaghawa rebels in 2003?
Convinced Arab tribes that the Zaghawa rebellion was an anti-Arab plot to remove them from Darfur in order to stoke fear and recruit them to their counter-insurgency measures. This state sponsored framing of ethnicity increased the political salience of the distinction between African and Arab. A rebellion driven by grievances was basically framed as an ethnic issue
What does intra-ethnic violence consists of?
Political infighting between moderates and extremists within a group; latter attempts to “purify” group by removing moderates
Can both pathways to violence, inter-ethnic and intra-ethnic, be present in a given context? If so, how?
Yes, elites within an ethnic group may be calling to violence against “other” while being divided among themselves.
What 3 conditions are necessary for both pathways?
1) a certain level of political organization
2) formation of armed groups
3) triggers (e.g. a crisis and influential individuals”
