Does Modernization Breed Ethnic Political Conflict?

1991 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
pp. 451-478 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saul Newman

Until the early 1970s many scholars believed that the process of economic modernization would result in the decline of ethnic political activity throughout the world. This melting pot modernization perspective failed on both theoretical and empirical grounds. After its collapse, scholars promoted a new conflictual modernization approach, which argued that modernization brought previously isolated ethnic groups into conflict. Although this approach accounted for the origins of ethnic conflict, it relied too heavily on elite motivations and could not account for the behavior of ethnic political movements. In the last five years, scholars have tried to develop a psychological approach to ethnic conflict. These scholars see conflict as stemming from stereotyped perceptions of differences among ethnic groups. This approach fails to analyze the tangible group disparities that reinforce these identifications and that may serve as the actual catalysts for ethnic political conflict. The conflictual modernization approach is reinvigorated by applying it to the cases of ethnic conflict in Canada and Belgium. In both of these countries the twin processes of economic modernization and political centralization intensified ethnic conflict while stripping ethnic movements of the romantic cultural ideologies and institutional frameworks that could provide these movements with some long-term stability. Thus, by integrating the modernization approach with a resource mobilization perspective we can develop theories that can account for ethnic conflict throughout the world.

1966 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 168-180 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Holden

I. The Political Meaning of Ethnic ConflictIf politics “in its broadest sense” is conceived as the “distribution of advantages and disadvantages among people” (Froman, p. 3), then the ultimate penalty is subordination (total exclusion from advantages) and the ultimate reward is dominance (total monopoly of advantages). The effort to change the balance of advantages and disadvantages between groups is the nexus of political conflict. In such conflict, ethnicity is a particularly important variable, precisely because it is one criterion found throughout the world by which groups are regularly assigned superior and inferior places.


2000 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-68
Author(s):  
Paul H. Rubin

It is often argued that ethnic conflict is an extreme example of nepotism, and is genetically based. This may be so: in the EEA (the environment of evolutionary adaptedness), such conflict may have been fitness improving, and we may be descended from those who participated successfully in such conflicts. This would provide us with a “taste” for xenophobia. But this taste can be overcome relatively easily, as shown by the changes in behavior in the United States in the 50 years since racial segregation was outlawed. Moreover, in today's world, such conflict does not provide benefits. There are several reasons for this, but the most important (and one that is often overlooked, even by evolutionists) is the possibility of gains from trade in exchanges between ethnic groups. While ethnic relations in the EEA may have approximated a zero-sum game, today a prisoner's dilemma is a more appropriate model for interactions, so that there are significant gains from cooperation. If we want to reduce the amount of conflict in the world, it is probably better to rely on increasing gains from trade than on increased size of in-groups, since the latter strategy will reach a natural limit.


1987 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerald Sider

If the expansion and consolidation of state power simply undermined, homogenized, and ultimately destroyed the distinctive societies and ethnic groups in its grasp, as various acculturation or melting-pot theories would have it, the world would long ago have run out of its supply of diverse ways of life, a supply presumably created in the dawn of human time. To the contrary, state power must not only destroy but also generate cultural differentiation—and do so not only between different nation states, and between states and their political and economic colonies, but in the center of its grasp as well. The historical career of ethnic peoples can thus best be understood in the context of forces that both give a people birth and simultaneously seek to take their lives.


2018 ◽  
pp. 91-110
Author(s):  
Tatiana Kochanova

Тhe subject of this study is the young Republic of South Sudan (RSS), the “young” – both in terms of the age of an independent state, and in terms of its demographic potential. RSS, as a member of the United Nations and as a sovereign state, appeared on the world map in 2011, but, possessing super-rich natural resources, has not yet gained sustainable development, moreover, it fell into a deep military-political crisis. Like most countries of the African continent, South Sudan had real demographic capacity, but the authorities were unable to extract any “demographic dividends” from the truly main national resource for the development of the country’s economy, moreover, the number of refugees of young working age is constantly growing. Through the example of South Sudan, which so hard achieved separation of the South from the North and failed to take advantage of the conquered democratic values, the article explores the understudied problem of modification of the consciousness of the younger generation, dictated both by the specifics of the deep historical and cultural tradition of the South Sudanese nationalities and by new trends in global evolutionary processes. Studying the stories from the lives of multi-member families affected during the military-political conflict in the RSS, the author, based on the facts, strongly criticizes the ineffective, even often vicious, youth policy of the South Sudanese government. On the other hand, analyzing the origins, nature, basic traditional moral and sociocultural aspects of child employment in the region, the researcher finds a reasoned explanation of the cause for such a policy of universal child mobilization and tries to define this phenomenon that has not been studied in the scientific literature before. Summarizing the study of the causes of a humanitarian catastrophe in the RSS, the author, in addition to generally accepted factors that influenced the current situation (such as: the intervention of major world financial players in the affairs of a sovereign state, national discord, the struggle for power and resources), also highlights the subjective and not always correct work of the world information agencies and other mass media and, of course, the incompetent state policy of the leadership of the RSS in the Youth Field. Relying on the positive events of the past few months to resolve the conflict in the RSS, the author is still trying to predict in the foreseeable future the time for growth and development of the Republic of South Sudan, with the proviso that it can happen only in case of the inclusion of restraining leverage and expansion of the range of priorities of the main national resource – the youth.


2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 724-727 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nasim Sadat Hosseini Divkolaye ◽  
Mohammad Hadi Radfar ◽  
Fariba Seighali ◽  
Frederick M. Burkle

AbstractObjectiveHealth diplomacy has increasingly become a crucial element in forging political neutrality and conflict resolution and the World Health Organization has strongly encouraged its use. Global turmoil has heightened, especially in the Middle East, and with it, political, religious, and cultural differences have become major reasons to incite crises.MethodsThe authors cite the example of the human stampede and the deaths of over 2000 pilgrims during the 2015 annual Haj pilgrimage in Mecca.ResultsThe resulting political conflict between Iran and Saudi Arabia had the potential to escalate into a more severe political and military crisis had it not been for the ministers of health from both countries successfully exercising “soft power” options.ConclusionGlobal health security demands critical health diplomacy skills and training for all health providers. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2016;page 1 of 4)


2014 ◽  
Vol 68 (4) ◽  
pp. 945-978 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victor Asal ◽  
Justin Conrad ◽  
Peter White

AbstractExisting literature on contentious political movements has generally focused on domestic political activity. Using the new Minorities at Risk Organizational Behavior–Middle East data set (MAROB-ME), which contains organization-level data for 104 ethnopolitical organizations in the Middle East and North Africa, we analyze the decision of both violent and nonviolent organizations to engage in political activity transnationally. Among the results, we find that diaspora support is associated with transnational nonviolent protest, whereas foreign state support and domestic repression increase the use of transnational violence. The most robust finding, however, is that participation in the domestic electoral process consistently reduces the likelihood that an organization will engage in any political activity abroad.


Author(s):  
LEE SUAN CHONG

AbstrakPenduduk Lundayeh terdapat di Tenom, Sipitang dan Long Pa Sia, di sepanjang pantai barat Sabah, Malaysia. Bentuk dan sistem tarian Lundayeh telah melalui perubahan dan variasi sejak kewujudan mereka di Borneo. Artikel ini mengkaji dalam pelbagai aspek, termasuk muzik, pakaian, pergerakan, fungsi dancerita-cerita daripada tarian tradisional yang diamalkan dalam masyarakat Lundayeh hari ini di Kemabong, Sabah. Tarian tradisional Lundayeh yang masih diamalkan berdasar terutamanya kepada aspek budaya, sosial dan agama hidup Lundayeh. Kajian ini membawa kepada penemuan corak pemikiran, falsafahhidup dan perspektif dunia Lundayeh yang dipengaruhi oleh agama dan budaya purba mereka. Tarian tradisional Lundayeh berfungsi sebagai satu saluran untuk memahami sifat orang Lundayeh sebagai salah satu kumpulan etnik kecil di dunia. Pemahaman tentang sifat orang Lundayeh akan terus menyumbang ke arah perkongsian dan penemuan dalam dimensi ilmu kemanusiaan yang baru.   AbstractLundayeh populations are found in the areas of Tenom, Sipitang and Long Pa Sia, along the west coast of Sabah, Malaysia. Lundayeh dance forms and systems have gone through changes and variations since their existence in Borneo. This paper looks into a variety of aspects, including music, costumes, movements, functions and stories of the traditional dances practiced in today’s Lundayeh communities in Kemabong, Sabah. The surviving traditional dances found to have stemmed from the core of Lundayeh cultural, social and religious aspects of life. The study leads to the discovery of the thinking patterns, life philosophies and world perspectives of Lundayeh that are strongly influenced by their religion and ancient culture. Dance music ultimately serves as a tool to understand the nature of Lundayeh people as one of the minor ethnic groups in the world. The understanding of the nature of Lundayeh would further contribute toward sharing and discovering another dimension of human knowledge and wisdom.


2017 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 91-98
Author(s):  
Jonathan Silin

Hope is at the heart of the educational endeavour. Yet it is a challenge for educators to sustain a sense of hope in a worried world where terrorism, mass migrations, global warming and ultra-right political movements are on the rise. Acknowledging that hopefulness always involves risk, this article identifies three pedagogical practices which support potential and possibility in children: letting go of worry, engaging in the pleasures of forgetting, and learning to wait. Drawing on his work as an early childhood educator, AIDS advocate and caregiver to his aging parents, the author suggests that self-restraint – checking the impulse to fix and remediate – may be the most effective way to help others. Leaving aside excessive rules and abstract theories enables teachers to stay in the moment and in relation with others. Rejecting a blind hope that defends against remembering the ravages of personal and social histories, the author proposes embracing a modulated or educated hope (José Muñoz) that can keep us grounded in the real, even as we imagine the world differently.


2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 81
Author(s):  
Dwi Wulan Pujiriyani

This study aims to analyse the implementation of new rice field plan  policies in Indonesia and their impacts on population and ethnic composition in new rice field locations. This research is conducted by applying a literature review method. It is shown that the implementation of the policies had two major implications. Firstly, it creates assimilation opportunities through collaboration between ethnic migrants and local ethnic groups to work on or cultivate new rice fields. Secondly, the great flows of transmigrants that move to the new rice field locations trigger ethnic polarization, which is prone to cause inter-ethnic conflict. In the future, potential problems associated with the provision of new rice fields are available are the risk of having aging population. The aging population indicates a decrease in productive labor that may also affect on decreasing attractiveness of the rice fields to the younger generation. This situation can lead to the re-involvement of older generation in managing the new rice fields. However, it can raise a new concern on their ability to improve the rice fields’ productivity or, even worse, the new rice fields might be neglected or be sold. 


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