Ethnic Conflict

Kinship in Thucydides is a new contribution to the study of Thucydides and the social history of the ancient Greek world. Drawing on modern anthropological enquiries on kinship and sociology of ethnicity and emotions, and scholarly work on kinship diplomacy and Greek ethnicity, it argues that intercommunal kinship has a far more pervasive importance in Thucydides than has been acknowledged so far. It revisits the stereotype of Thucydides as an ancient theorist of Realpolitik, and seeks to reveal new aspects of his authorial sophistication. Through close reading, contextualization in a variety of sources, and special attention to ancient and modern audiences, Fragoulaki explores the whole spectrum of intercommunal kinship in the ancient Greek world, by studying the various ways in which ancient Greek communities could be related to each other (colonization, genealogies, membership of the same ethnic group, socio-cultural symbols, political mechanisms and institutions) and the preponderantly cultural, emotional and ethical character and expression of these ties.
Kinship in Thucydides provides a fresh and up-to-date discussion of Thucydides’ kinship terminology, and has wider implications for our understanding of terms such as syngeneia and oikeiotes. Through test-cases, organized in terms of geography, ethnicity and kinship categories, it reveals a complex web of intercommunal ties and their interaction with the practical aspects of the War. The kinship theme offers an excellent angle from which to study Thucydides’ artful construction of his narrative, his technique of significant understatement, his challenging silences, his interaction with other genres, and his intense engagement with Herodotus. New readings of much discussed parts of the History are provided, and the problem of Athenian kleruchies is re-opened in Appendix I. Appendix II substantiates the complementary relationship in the amount and distribution of kinship information in Thucydides and Herodotus in the form of a table.

Two events marked the turn of the millennium in what remained of former Socialist Yugoslavia: the NATO bombing of Serbia, and to a smaller extent Montenegro, in 1999 and the fall of Slobodan Milošević’s regime in 2000. This was the infamous epilogue of the turbulent 1990s, a decade of successive violent conflicts that torn the federal state apart, destroyed its heterogeneous culture, divided its territory along ethnic borders, and definitively rejected socialism to embrace an unhinged variant of neoliberal capitalism. Serbia played a complex role in those events, both as an aggressor accused and convicted for war crimes, and as the target of an asymmetric conflict with NATO that led to the separation of its southern province of Kosovo, and left deep scars in its urban environment. The effort to reconstruct these damaged buildings, therefore, poses deeper questions about understanding the past, facing unpleasant truths, and setting the course for an uncertain future. This article will illuminate those multifarious processes by examining the role of media propaganda and public dialogue in the reconstruction of two structures in Belgrade that were damaged during the 1999 NATO bombing. Both buildings, the Avala Tower and the television headquarters on Aberdareva Street, were in use by the Radio Television of Serbia (RTS). In a fragmented society that is still struggling to make sense of these difficult issues, I argue that state-controlled media has a decisive influence on steering public debate, creating the false image of social consensus, and weighing in on architectural design, while downplaying the role of architects.

This article examines the systematic framing of Uyghur-related violent unrest in Xinjiang as terrorism by the Chinese state. The study draws attention to how Uyghur-related violent incidents in the region-and elsewhere in China-are often not so premeditated, political, and indiscriminate as their framing as terrorism by the Chinese state suggests. Narrative tensions are identified between the features of such events and dominant scholarly conceptualizations of terrorism as a category of organized violence that targets 'civilians' for political purposes. The article argues that the Chinese state uses an actor-based one-size-fits-all approach by which Uyghur-related violence is represented as terrorism not by virtue of the features of the violence, but because of the ethnicity of those involved. Such an approach, the article concludes, is analytically deceptive and politically delusional.

By studying the individual mandates and of HoF and MFPDA, the paper tries to discover the mechanism employed for the resolution of border disputes between the units of the Ethiopian federation. It also tries to draw the relationship between these federal organs by analyzing their respective roles in some practical cases. From both legal and practical perspectives, an attempt has been made to show how the HoF is a mere facilitator of referendums than a real adjudicator of inter-state border disputes. Even if it has created ethnic complexities on the system, the referendum approach followed by the HoF is acclaimed for being effective in the resolution of inter-state disputes over human inhabited territories. On the other hand, despite its questionable legal status, MFPDA is displayed as a perfect institution for the resolution such disputes through consensual and participatory inter-state negotiations. Rather than using the ‘interest of the people’ as the only parameter for its decisions, the Ministry has employed a system in which historic rights of local communities are recognized in the settlement of the border disputes. It is argued that, with some necessary modifications, the non-judicial mechanism of resolving inter-state border disputes in Ethiopia has been suitable for the country’s socio-political realities.

Artıq yüz ildən artıq bir zamandır ki, Çin ərazi problemlərini həll edə bilmir. Hal-hazırda Çində bir neçə münaqişəli ərazilər var. Bunlardan Honq Konq, Tayvan kimi ərazilərdə etnik deyil siyasi məsələlər münaqişənin səbəbləri və aparıcı qüvvəsidir. Lakin Sintszyan-Uyğur və Tibet kimi vilayətlərində mövcud olan münaqişələrin əsas səbəbi məhz mədəni, dini və etnik fərqliliklər, eyni zamanda Çinin bu fərqliliklərə qarşı apardığı siyasətdir. Hər iki ərazi də müxtəlif din, etnik tərkib və mədəniyyətə malik olsa da apardıqları mübarizə ortaq bir "Xan" siyasi iradəsinə qarşıdır. Lakin "düşmən" bir olsa da mübarizə aparılma vasitə və üsulları bölgə xalqlarının dini-mədəni-etnik fərqliliyi kimi tamamilə müxtəlifdir.
Açar sözlər: Çin, etnik münaqişələr, Sintszyan-Uyğur, Tibet

The economic and political relationship between the Spanish minority and the Chinese sometime-majority of Manila was crucial to both sides, and yet it was punctuated with frequent outbreaks of mass violence that left thousands dead. The basic features of life in 17th century Manila are unfamiliar to most readers, so my first chapter is an introduction to broad economic, social, and environmental factors that I consider important in reading the history of Sino-Spanish conflict. From there, my thesis aims to contribute to the debate on why this cycle of ethnic conflict began and persisted. To do so, I focus particularly on two key incidents. First, Chapter Two describes the “Calamba Rebellion” of 1639-1640, in which some 30,000 Chinese rose up in revolt against Spanish labor requirements and taxation, only for some 20,000 to be killed and the rest imprisoned. My second case study, in Chapter Three, looks at a diplomatic exchange from the years 1662-1663 between the Spanish Philippines and the ethnically Chinese Zheng state. This exchange occurred in the light of Zheng threats to invade the Philippines and the consequent Spanish massacre and/or expulsion of thousands of Chinese living on Luzon, but led to the codification of a new legal status for Filipino Chinese as legal subjects of the foreign Zheng regime. Throughout, I attempt to use the events of 1639-1663 as touchstones in considerations of basic conceptual questions about the birth of a “global” economy, the formation of the “Philippines” as a nation and region, and the conditions under which persistent boundaries of ethnic or political identity lapse from zones of cooperation to frontiers of conflict.

The aim of this study was to uncover the existence of a concrete Kosovar identity in today’s Kosovo. I intend to discuss the role personal experience plays in confirming or challenging one’s identity, and in this light show how the memories and personal experiences of Kosovo Serbs and Albanians endorse their ethnically-based interactions. I would like to explore the possibility of creating a common national identity between groups with distinct ethnic identities. I also aim to show that identity is fluid, multi-layered, and although tightly bound to history and experience, able to be unpacked and negotiated.

My research is comprised of two distinct methods, which together provide a holistic understanding of the issues and hopefully better ground for my conclusions. The first part of my research is mostly of a qualitative and experiential nature, consisting of substantial fieldwork in Serbia and Kosovo. This includes a two-month long stay in Belgrade and a three-week period of intense primary research in Kosovo. Through this research method, I acquired most of my information from semi-structured interviews, informal conversations, and observation. In addition, and going into the second method of my research, I made use of scholarly articles, books and anthologies, as well as brochures from different organizations in Kosovo. I then expanded on my secondary research with more theoretical texts, the content of which was largely determined by the information I gathered from my fieldwork. In other words, my primary research shaped the direction of my secondary research, not vice versa.

There is no clear sense of what a Kosovar identity means for the people of Kosovo at this time. Individual narratives and symbols demonstrate continued strong affiliation with their separate ethnic identities, which are seldom contested due to significant geographical, educational, and linguistic divisions. Between Serbs and Albanians in Kosovo, ethnic identity is much more central than a shared national identity. For Kosovo Serbs, being Serbian and Orthodox is much more fundamental to their identity than being Kosovar. Kosovo Albanians seem more open to the possibility of a shared Kosovar identity, but only contingent upon Serbia’s recognition of Kosovo’s independence and the participation of Serbs in Kosovo’s social and political institutions. Thus, there does exist an opportunity for two ethnicities who have suffered in war to re-think their individual identities and reconstruct a common disposition, however small. Nevertheless, before a truly “Kosovar” national identity can take hold in Kosovo, the process of restoring trust on the community level must progress further.

The goal of this article is to present some of the ways in which the cultural heritage can be used in conflict resolution and to which results, as well as to outline challenges. My method has been to read previous research concerning how the cultural heritage can be used in conflict resolution. I have also read the reports and articles available from the projects that I have deemed relevant. I have studied research projects, global organizations as well as smaller and more regional NGOs. This study shows that there are many ways in which the cultural heritage can be used as a resource in conflict resolution. However, for it to work one need also be aware of the various ways in which it can be misused. If those for whom a project is created are considered passive targets of a particular message concerning the past, the risk of losing control of that message will increase. The various meanings of the past as well as the people targeted, are not static but constantly in movement. I therefore argue that a process- oriented approach, preferably through dialogue and participation, would be a way to avoid a static presentation. This method could try to present history from as many perspectives as possible and begin with a focus on the local places and consider the inherently intangible aspects of heritage, to make it relatable, and from there highlight wider issues. Furthermore, the people planning it must be ready to get their own opinions about the heritage challenged by different perceptions, and in so doing, the inherently dissonant aspects of heritage should be seen as a resource rather than as a disturbance.

This study tries to explain violent conflicts and attacks on local Roma
community which took place in village Jabuka in 2010. Because social context
of these events is quite peculiar, it offers a rare opportunity to explore how
racist practices and discourses are generated "from below" in an actual microsociological situation. The paper will show how local differentiation got its
racial character, what was the role of local gossips in shaping racist depiction
of ones neighbours, and finally, how it all together profoundly affected identity
of both groups.

As the virtual media emerged and disseminated immensely ; specifically in the last ten years of the twenty-first Century, through innumerable channels and virtually broadcasting pages, as strong equivalently as the traditional mass media in almost life critical domains and areas ; as a result and feature of the technological progress. The technology of the twenty-first Century gave to hands a wide reach and availability of information, it allows people and communities to participate even in producing and making influential public opinions towards local and international issues and topical; as ways of social interaction behind devices screens. Technology and changes create a sort of circumstantial adaptation which did not exist before. Furthermore and notably, the traditional mass media amid this advance; they specify regular corners and a considerable space for the virtual interactions of intellectual and popular society categories ; through the worldwide known media and interactive gates. and they give an increasing as well remarkable concern, and sometimes they are used as a referential and reliable base to these social interactions. Through this paper, we intended to spotlight on the interactive role of society in the virtual media, additionally, to expose to what extent can the virtually-made public opinions as well interactions can affect the statements and decisions in reality, on local and wider levels.

Order informs an actor’s context, studying order and accounting for the rules and relationships underpinning that order can tell us a great deal about how power and authority is constructed, renegotiated and contested. Order represents a promising prism and field of study for understanding civil wars. This article begins by assessing the ‘order turn’ in the literature over the past decade. From this basis we identify four key areas that represent important elements within the new ordering agenda that promise to add significantly to the study of order within the discipline. These include: 1) Mapping order(s) to better account for their complexity, especially by disaggregating internal orders within institutions and organisations; 2) Recognising civilians as individual and collective agents, moving beyond the civilians-as-victims paradigm to demonstrate how civilian action shapes order, forcing both rebel groups and governments to adapt; 3) Exploring the social mechanisms that reinforce order, thus moving the discussion beyond violence and political orders and towards a more holistic perspective; 4) Understanding that all orders are mutually constituted and thus understanding not only how order is expressed or acted upon but also how order is understood, how assumptions about order influence action, and crucially, how each group’s actions are shaped by the generation of knowledge about the order they inhabit. Using these we highlight both the promise of the concept of order for the study of civil wars and attempt to begin the development of a coherent research agenda to unify existing insights and lay the foundations for further advances.

Ethnic group conflict is among the most serious threats facing young democracies. In this paper, we investigate whether the partisanship of incumbent politicians affects the incidence and severity of local ethnic violence. Using a novel application of the regression-discontinuity design, we show that as-if random victory by candidates representing India's Congress party in close state assembly elections between 1962 and 2000 reduced Hindu-Muslim rioting. The effects are large. Simulations reveal that had Congress lost all close elections in this period, India would have experienced 11 percent more riots. Additional analyses suggest that Congress candidates' dependence on local Muslim votes, as well as apprehensions about religious polarization of the electorate in the event of riots breaking out, are what drive the observed effect. Our findings shed new light on parties' connection to ethnic conflict, the relevance of partisanship in developing states, and the puzzle of democratic consolidation in ethnically divided societies.

Does the election of extremist political parties increase the incidence of violence and intolerance in the constituencies they represent? Despite substantial popular support for radical parties around the world, this question has largely evaded systematic investigation. There are at least two reasons to expect that electing extremist political parties will have adverse consequences for vulnerable population groups. Incumbency may empower extremists, enabling them to advance exclusionary policies via formal institutional channels while withholding state sanction from actors who harm minorities. Additionally, elevating extremists to official positions could have an emboldening effect, lending a stamp of legitimacy to intolerant worldviews and thereby encouraging their expression. We test these claims using the case of Indonesia, which has a history of tensions between its main religious groups and a party system that pits secular nationalist parties against Islamist ones. Specifically, we use a natural experiment to estimate the effect of Islamist (as opposed to secular nationalist) incumbency on religious violence and attitudes toward religious minorities. Since the restoration of democracy in the late 1990s, Indonesia has undergone extensive decentralization. We focus on sitting members of the Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat Daerah-II (DPRD-II), the most local tier of legislative government, between 2004 and 2014. For identification, we restrict our attention to instances in which Islamists narrowly won or lost the last remaining seat to be allocated in each electoral constituency, under Indonesia's largest-remainder proportional representation (PR) system. Our contention is that victory for a given party in these races is independent of a constituency's potential outcomes, which, if true, allows us to attach a causal interpretation to the findings. Key features of the research design, measurement and analysis strategy were pre-registered. 1 The results of our analysis are mixed yet point in a consistent direction. We observe a rise in religious violence following the election of additional Islamist party legislators, although conflict events are rare in the datasets we examine and the results are sensitive to the choice of violence measure employed. Analyzing nationwide surveys of popular attitudes, we show that Islamist rule increases expressions of extreme religious intolerance among majority-group citizens. We also see that attitudinal effects are more pronounced for respondents interviewed in the presence of a bystander, corroborating the existence of a social emboldenment mechanism. Taken as a whole, there is thus some evidence that Islamist DPRD-II legislators worsen religious hostility in the areas they represent.

ABSTRACT
The study sets out to lend credence to the effect that ethnic nationalism is the ideological mono-causal factor responsible for inter-tribal conflicts in Nigeria. The study adopted the use of qualitative research method and designed unstructured questionnaires and focused group discussions (FGDs) where face to face interview of respondents was conducted in all the local government areas and special development area in southern Taraba. The study reviewed available literature on the subject matter. The explanative analysis technique was used to identify ethnic attachments in form of primordialism, instrumentalism, relative deprivation and aggression in the contact and interaction between the Tiv and the Jukun. This, the study framed as ethnic nationalism. In the same vein, the study identified indigene/settler, politics, land use, boundary issues and chiefdoms related issues as drivers of the conflict. The study further discovered perpetrators in the conflict and peace process spoilers who ensure that the Tiv-Jukun conflict does not abet due to pecuniary benefits that accrue from the incessant conflict.  The study recommends a long time peace process of nationwide peace education and nation building to eschew ethnic identity and its resultant effect of inter-tribal conflict. The study recommends enthronement of national identity with a common national ideology to forestall further in-tribal conflicts in Nigeria.
KEYWORDS: Ethnic nationalism, primordialism, instrumentalism, fundamentalism, Tiv-Jukun conflict, peace education, nation building.