Education & Violence

Question 1

Tolerance Education

Answer 1

Education promotes critical thinking skills and values that limit prejudice and promote mutual understanding and tolerance
– Critical thinking allows people to understand instead of villainize others
– Education teaches curricula preaching respect for others, delegitimizes prejudice
* While this is commonly the goal of education, it is not always the outcome of it
– Teaching often focuses on rote memorization and conformity, not critical thinking
– Curricula commonly not focused on tolerance

Question 2

Quantitative factors related to ethnic violence

Answer 2

• Population size (+)
• Economic development (-)
• Exclusion of ethnic communities from state power (+)
• Democratization (-)
  – Although low levels of democracy positively commonly more strongly related than authoritarianism

Question 3

How education can promote ethnic violence (4)

Answer 3

1. Socialization
   - Teaching cognition, values and emotional prejudice
   - Flip-side of Anderson’s Imagined Community and Weber’s Peasants & Frenchmen, education can be used to see and despise others (not only love our community)
   - Examples: Cyprus and Canada
2. Competition
   - Instrumental motice to get rid of competitors for benefit of oneself and community since high education in competition for jobs
3. Frustration-Aggression
   - Education heightens expectations for mobility, increases self-confidence and assertiveness
   - Unmet expectations lead to frustration and in turn, violence

• The first three often work together

4. Mobilization Resource
   -Need mobilization resource to organize violent movements, and education provide a good organization
   - Example: Student mobilization provided initial support for Nazis

Question 4

Key Contexts for Education and Ethnic Violence

Answer 4

1. Poverty
   - Few economic opportunities, educated are less likely to find good jobs
   - Competition and F-A mechanisms
2. Effective states and Democracy
   - Limit openings for ethnic violence by preventing mobilization
   - Rights-based democracies promote more tolerant curricula
3. National Hardships and Threats
   - Strengthens “othering” of people
4. Nationalism
   - Strongly nationalistic curricula often go hand-in-hand with intolerance