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The identity/violence nexus: measuring the relationship between ethnic group identity and intensity of violence in contentious political arenas.

Craig Douglas Albert , University of Connecticut

Date of Completion

January 2009

Political Science, International Relations|Sociology, Ethnic and Racial Studies

This dissertation argues that ethnic group identity is a causal factor of deadly violence. Ethnic group identity is not a sufficient cause of ethnic war, however; rather, it is a remote and necessary one. In order for violence to ignite, other more proximate events must occur that directly precipitates ethnic conflict. In addition, this scholar seeks to understand how ethnic group identity influences group behavior during conflict, e.g., when mass protests might turn violent and when they might not. This dissertation asserts that in contentious political arenas, the strength of ethnic group identity has a positive relationship with the intensity of ethnic conflict. The following propositions are tested: stronger ethnic group identities are likely to correlate with violent ethnic conflict; conversely, weaker ethnic group identities are likely to correlate with political rather than violent ethnic conflict.^ The hypothesis of this project, then, is that as strength of ethnic group identity increases, the intensity of an existing ethnic conflict also increases. To test this hypothesis, I have created an index that scales the strength of ethnic group identity. The Ethnic Group Identity Index (EGII) determines if a group's strength of identity is weak, moderate, or strong. This scholar argues that the more cultural and ethnic indicators a group has that differentiates it from all other groups, the higher that group's strength of ethnic identity will be.^ One may then expect that groups with a stronger ethnic identity will experience more intense ethnic conflict. Further, this scholar also created the Intensity of Violence Index (IVI). The IVI allows scholars to score, and therefore compare and contrast, any ethnic conflict based upon the most intense violence found in a relationship between two or more ethnic groups. This dissertation expects that the stronger an ethnic group measures on the EGII, the higher that group's score will be on the IVI.^

Recommended Citation

Albert, Craig Douglas, "The identity/violence nexus: Measuring the relationship between ethnic group identity and intensity of violence in contentious political arenas" (2009). Doctoral Dissertations . AAI3393035. https://digitalcommons.lib.uconn.edu/dissertations/AAI3393035

Since May 25, 2010

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The role of media in ethnic violence during political transition in Africa: The case of Rwanda and Kenya

Zenebe Beyene , University of Nebraska - Lincoln

The experience of some new democracies clearly demonstrates that democratic transition can be violent and destabilizing, particularly in its early stages. Some countries make successful transitions; others become violent. Scholars and policymakers nonetheless agree that news media can contribute to this variation. Many examples show of news media's alleged contribution and/or intensification of ethnic violence. From Central and Eastern Europe to the heart of Africa, countries that have recently undergone political change experienced ethnic violence due in part to the role of news media. While the growing trend of media's alignment with elites during political transition suggests a role in ethnic violence, specific factors influencing media's behavior remain unclear. Using comparative case study and process tracing, this dissertation: a) examines whether media contributed to the 1994 genocide in Rwanda and the 2007 post-election violence in Kenya, and b) analyzes factors responsible for media's role in either constraining or exacerbating ethnic violence during political transition. This study reveals that media contributed not only to the 1994 genocide in Rwanda but also to the 2007 violence in Kenya. Media's contribution to the genocide is clearer in Rwanda than their contribution to the ethnic violence in Kenya. The analysis to discern the central and defining factor responsible for media's role in the genocide in Rwanda and the violence in Kenya reveals inconclusive findings. A significant factor in one context (for example, media ownership in Rwanda) is less significant in another setting. Nonetheless, these inconsistent findings have clear implication. Focusing on one factor and disregarding others will not help to explain the role of media in ethnic violence. The inability to determine which factor is solely responsible for Rwandan and Kenyan media complicity in genocide and ethnic violence respectively suggests that attribution to a combination of well-defined factors should be further examined.

Subject Area

Political science|Sub Saharan Africa Studies|Mass communications

Recommended Citation

Beyene, Zenebe, "The role of media in ethnic violence during political transition in Africa: The case of Rwanda and Kenya" (2012). ETD collection for University of Nebraska-Lincoln . AAI3522072. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissertations/AAI3522072

Since September 24, 2012

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Scripps Senior Theses

Reading ethnic violence in kenya and ethiopia, an exploratory study.

Anna Cohen Follow Anna Suzette Cohen , Scripps College Follow

Graduation Year

Document type.

Campus Only Senior Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Politics and International Relations

Sumita Pahwa

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© 2024 Anna S. Cohen

This thesis focuses on four theories outlined by prominent political scientists regarding the development of ethnic salience and inter-ethnic violence. The ability of each theory to "read" and explain inter-ethnic violence will be discussed and assessed based on their ability to make sense of specific incidents of interethnic violence in Kenya and Ethiopia. The incidents that will be focused on are the 2007 post-election violence in Kenya and the 2020 initiation of the war in Tigray in Ethiopia. Ultimately, no theory was able to read the cases fully, and modifications were proposed based on their fit.

Recommended Citation

Cohen, Anna and Cohen, Anna Suzette, "Reading Ethnic Violence in Kenya and Ethiopia, an Exploratory Study" (2024). Scripps Senior Theses . 2267. https://scholarship.claremont.edu/scripps_theses/2267

This thesis is restricted to the Claremont Colleges current faculty, students, and staff.

Since July 10, 2024

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Transforming destructive ethnic violence: an exploration of the role of forgiveness in political reconciliation in Burundi

https://repository.mdx.ac.uk/item/12qw40

Restricted files

Accepted author manuscript.

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

University of Illinois I-Mark

Not my brother's keeper: How ethnic violence causes infighting

Arackal, sheena.

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/49512 Copy

Description

  • Diehl, Paul F.
  • Vasquez, John A.
  • Bowers, Jake
  • Svolik, Milan
  • Ethnic Violence
  • Ethnic Conflict

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First page of “Rwanda and Burundi: Historical and Historiographical Explanations for Ethnic Violence”

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Rwanda and Burundi: Historical and Historiographical Explanations for Ethnic Violence

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I will start the essay by addressing the actions of the international community during the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. This will follow with a brief history of the two ethnic groups, the Tutsi and the Hutu, dating from pre-colonial times with a view to establish how the colonial influence has impacted the two ethnic groups into conflict and rivalry, despite long periods of ‘democratic’ living. I will then argue the IMF-World Bank structural adjustment program caused the deterioration of Rwanda’s economy as another cause, which has influenced the genocide. This will be followed by evidence showing the direct responsibility of the main actors of the international community with a focus on the U. S. and the UK support of the Rwandan Patriotic Front to secure a legal presence in Rwanda due to geopolitical interests in having access to the Congo’s mineral wealth. I will also argue the accuracy of the officially supported narrative of the genocide, presenting conclusive evidence towards the alternative narrative, which suggests the U.S. and its allies interests in overthrowing the Hutu-based Rwandan government. Finally this essay will briefly discuss post-genocide Rwanda and the crisis in the Congo, coming to the conclusion that mass human rights violations continue to be perpetrated in the Rwanda and neighbouring Congo due to main international actors’ overpowering geopolitical interests.

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In the myth of the truth of the 1994 Rwandan Genocide, this paper will analyze the causes that led to the genocide based on available academic information. The first part will challenge the explanation of how pre-colonial and colonial eras’ legacies instilled in the society and led to the genocide. The second part will scrutinize how series of massacres contributed to the genocide, as well as, the invasion of the Rwandan Patriotic Force (RPF) which induced the self-defense program. The third part will evaluate the external factors, which are the international monetary policy, the political dynamic between Rwanda and Burundi, and the abandonment of the international community. The fourth part will pose the recommendations to move forward in the Rwandan modern society.

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In 1994 Rwandans became the subject of the world's second-largest genocide after the Jewish Holocaust. The distinctive future of this genocide events in Rwanda was that although it took place in a very short time-period; the number of casualties that occurred during this short period was catastrophic. Only in 100 days, 800,000 to 1,000,000 Rwandans were killed, and millions were forced to seek refuge in neighboring states; additionally, thousands were maimed, raped, and tortured (Adekunle, 2007, s. 22). The genocide shouldn’t be seen as a mere ethnic violence that occurred between conflicting ethnic groups, but they were committed and supported mainly by state apparatus and wide state propaganda, so for these reasons the genocide can easily be compared with the Holocaust (Hintjens, 2001, s. 41). International society and the UN did not interfere efficiently with the events and the genocide continued for a violent 100 days. When the UN Mission UNAMIR II arrived in Rwanda the genocide had already been ceased by the internal dynamics of Rwanda (Dallaire, 2005, s. 459). A lot of different reasons can be listed for the indifferent behavior of the international community. Firstly, UN peacekeeping operations in general will be explained. Then, a brief information about demographic attributes of Rwanda will be discussed. Secondly, historical roots of the ethnic conflict will be explained, and the roots of the conflict will be investigated starting from the pre-colonial period up to the eve of the genocide events. Thirdly, unilateral, and multilateral interventions that have been made in Rwanda will be examined. Finally, the importance of domestic politics in Rwanda where the UN peacekeeping operations are directed will be examined.

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IMAGES

  1. (PDF) Ethnic Mobilization and Ethnic Violence

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VIDEO

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COMMENTS

  1. "The identity/violence nexus: Measuring the relationship between ethnic

    This dissertation argues that ethnic group identity is a causal factor of deadly violence. Ethnic group identity is not a sufficient cause of ethnic war, however; rather, it is a remote and necessary one. In order for violence to ignite, other more proximate events must occur that directly precipitates ethnic conflict. In addition, this scholar seeks to understand how ethnic group identity ...

  2. The role of media in ethnic violence during political transition in

    Using comparative case study and process tracing, this dissertation: a) examines whether media contributed to the 1994 genocide in Rwanda and the 2007 post-election violence in Kenya, and b) analyzes factors responsible for media's role in either constraining or exacerbating ethnic violence during political transition.

  3. Reading Ethnic Violence in Kenya and Ethiopia, an Exploratory Study

    This thesis focuses on four theories outlined by prominent political scientists regarding the development of ethnic salience and inter-ethnic violence. The ability of each theory to "read" and explain inter-ethnic violence will be discussed and assessed based on their ability to make sense of specific incidents of interethnic violence in Kenya and Ethiopia. The incidents that will be focused ...

  4. PDF The impact of ethnic conflict on economic development: the case of post

    To narrow it down to a manageable bit, this thesis is going to look at the impact of the post-election violence in Kenya in 2007/2008 and its impact of the economy.The researcher will seek to understand how ethnic conflicts have affected the economy of our country.

  5. The long way home: a critical ethnography of youth and conflict in

    This dissertation is a critical ethnographic investigation of the struggles over cultural representations and their relationship to varied expressions of ethnic violence in Northeast India (South Asia). Taking Garo Hills region of Northeast India as the site of inquiry, this dissertation interrogates the culture of normalized everyday violence and it reconfigures identities and subjectivities ...

  6. PDF Dissertation Topic: Ethnicity and Religious Violence in Nigeria

    ethnic groups in the country as a necessary factor that causes violence. In the surface it might look like religious violence, but underneath the entire episode seems to lie a strong inter-ethnic and intra-ethnic connection. This dissertation promises to explore and analyze such ethnic perspectives to the religious violence. It examines also ...

  7. Transforming destructive ethnic violence: an exploration of the role of

    After locating the ethnic violence between Hutus and Tutsis in its historical context, the thesis considers how survivors remember and analyses the meaning they give to their experience. The narrative stories of participants, which provide the centrepiece of the thesis, are seen in historical and current context.

  8. (PDF) Ethnic Education, Identity and Violence: A Case Study of the

    Thesis for: Master in International Development Studies; Advisor: Alexandre Dormeier Freire ... to ethnic violence, resource mobilization theory is highly relevant as ethnic mobilization or ethnic .

  9. Not my brother's keeper: How ethnic violence causes infighting

    Why, during an ethnic conflict, would an ethnic group turn its weapons against itself? That is the question that motivates this dissertation. Such behavior is puzzling because as an ethnic group devotes valuable time, energy, and resources on an intra-group conflict, it reduces the total amount of resources the group can draw on to wage the ethnic conflict.

  10. Rwanda and Burundi: Historical and Historiographical Explanations for

    Conclusion This dissertation has explored the reasons behind the ethnic violence that hit Rwanda and Burundi in the 1990s, using accounts from both the perpetrators of genocide and ordinary killers, in an attempt to move beyond the teleological approach that reduces the ethnic violence in the region to a legacy of colonialism.