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This article is concerned with how Basque writer Bernardo Atxaga and Irish author Stuart Neville rework the conventions of the thriller to reflect on the legacies of decades of ethnic and sectarian violence in the Basque Country and Northern Ireland respectively. Whereas previous scholarship on The Lone Man and The Twelve has largely ignored the thriller's thrilling effects in favour of so-called higher-level themes, such as masculinity and political disillusionment, this article argues that the two authors decentre the protagonists and, instead, refocus attention on the figures of the victims in order to challenge the competing victimhood that characterises the Northern Irish and Basque conflicts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Police reform is a critical component of peacekeeping, peacebuilding, and reintroducing stability in countries emerging from conflict. The assumption is that without a secure environment and a security system, sustained peace, political, economic, and cultural rebuilding is impossible. Ethnic conflict in the Solomon Islands between 1998-2003 resulted in reform of the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force (RSIPF), carried out by the Australian-led Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands (RAMSI). This institutional reconfiguration has been presented by the Solomon Islands government and RAMSI as a success and the gold standard for reforms in the Pacific. Despite this, internal stakeholder perspectives on the effectiveness and appropriateness of post-conflict institutional reform are absent. This work analyses and explores reflections and experiences of reform held by RSIPF officers at the mission's culmination. It interrogates critical reflections on the changes during reform, examines key concerns and drawbacks, and advances literature on post-conflict scholarship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In light of the postcolonial critique of Eurocentrism, the epistemological foundations of sociology and the legacies of classical sociologists have certainly become controversial. Postcolonial critiques of sociology's Eurocentrism have denounced the "parochial" nature and limitations of the theoretical contributions left by Marx, Weber, and Durkheim, the reductive and stereotyping orientation of the "primitivist" and/or "orientalist" representations of non-Western peoples that can be identified in their work, and the incomplete and misleading accounts of the Western processes of modernization that we have inherited from them, which fail to fully address and satisfactorily account for the realities of modern Western forms of colonialism and imperialism. However, the nature and consequences of Durkheim's specific sociological Eurocentrism raise opposing views within postcolonialism. This article aims to evaluate the pertinence of the divergent and sometimes contradictory postcolonial appraisals of Durkheim's Eurocentrism by focusing particularly on the controversies generated by his sociological approach to religion. Placing Durkheim's sociological project within both the academic field and the socio-political context in which it took shape, this article highlights the shifting relevance and the implications of his evolving sociological approach to this object of study in his science of morals. Although it is not exempt from inconsistencies and Eurocentric assumptions, Durkheim's sociological approach to religion leaves an invaluable legacy for a non-dualistic sociological understanding of the rituals through which humans (re)create their social identities and their forms of belonging and solidarity. In line with the priorities of some postcolonial agendas, it can fully reveal its explanatory potential in the sociological investigation of modern and contemporary interethnic and racial conflicts and forms of colonialism and neo-colonialism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How is the electoral behavior of minorities shaped by past violence? Recent studies found that displacement increases hostility between perpetrators and displaced individuals, but there has been paltry research on members of surviving communities. We argue that the latter exhibit the opposite pattern because of their different condition. Violence will cause cross-generational vulnerability, fear and risk-aversion—leading the surviving communities to seek protection and avoid conflict by signalling loyalty and rejecting nationalist movements. In their situation as an excluded minority in the perpetrators' state, they will be more likely to vote for out-group parties. Exploiting exogenous battlefield dynamics that created inter-regional variation in the Palestinian exodus (1947–1949), microlevel measurements that capture the damage of violence, and an original longitudinal data set, we show that Palestinian villages in Israel more severely impacted by the 1948 war have a much higher vote share to Jewish parties even 70 years later. Survey evidence further supports our theory, revealing that this pattern exists only for members of the surviving communities, and not among displaced individuals. The findings shed new light on the complex social relations that guide political decision-making in post-war settings and divided societies that suffer from protracted conflicts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contact Theory suggests that interaction across ethnic lines can erode prejudices and lessen interethnic conflict. Hypotheses drawn from the theory have a mixed empirical record, however, with negative results commonly attributed to the presence or absence of conditions that mediate contact’s effects. Analyzing survey data collected in the Balkans, we test Contact Theory’s observable implications using a case that offers unique theoretical leverage: Albanian attitudes toward Greeks. It is an especially appropriate case due to the historical isolation of Albanians from their Greek neighbors, as well as the elite-level cultivation of anti-Greek prejudice that took place during that period. And it is an especially tough test for Contact Theory due to the presence of multiple circumstances thought to weaken (if not reverse) the estimated benefits from contact. Nevertheless, our results largely support Contact Theory. Albanian respondents who’ve personally met at least one Greek feel more warmly toward the group than those who have not, and that warmth tends to be greatest among Albanians who spent time living in Greece. The benefits of contact do not appear, however, among those who consider Greeks to be a national-security threat, supporting the belief that ideological or instrumental motives can neutralize contact’s ameliorative effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Humans must identify others as enemies or allies to develop, protect, maintain, and refine their sense of self. This is a part of their normal psychological development. These phenomena operate on individual and large group levels and are pronounced under threat. In peril, they help create psychological boundaries between conflicting parties and bonds between allies. These boundaries and bonds are invested with strong emotions. The narcissism of minor differences concept is involved in identifying and delineating enemies at times of perceived danger. This article introduces the concept of the narcissism of minor resemblances. This concept is discussed from the psychodynamic perspective and illustrated with examples of socio-political developments from modern history. The narcissism of minor resemblances concept may help us understand the underlying dynamics of bonding with allies and identifying with others when undergoing threat and hardship. This concept connects the public arena of political action with individual psychological development. Awareness of this phenomenon can help mitigate the negative aspects of rigid enemy-ally distinctions and promote cooperation and peace. It may also help individuals impacted by psychological trauma to make meaning of psychological and societal processes experienced and contribute to their healing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Depending on internal and external political developments, many constitutional changes were made in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia throughout its history. The evolution of socialist practices, differences of centralist and autonomous approaches towards the republics forming Yugoslavia, and the rise of nationalist movements formed the basis of these constitutional changes. The political effects of these constitutional amendments in Kosovo which later gained republic status and witnessed years of ethnic tensions between Albanians and Serbs, constituted turning points in the political history of Kosovo. Initially considered as part of the Socialist Republic of Serbia with a centralist perspective since 1946, Kosovo's constitutional status began to improve legally and administratively with the federal constitutional amendments of 1968 and 1971. Most especially with the 1974 Yugoslav Constitution, Kosovo attained a position almost equal to the federal republics in terms of authority despite being an autonomous region. But after Tito's death, in the 1980s, the escalation of nationalist discourse and movements in Yugoslavia began to disrupt the functioning of the federal government. The abolishment of Kosovo's autonomy in 1989 should be assessed as a result of this process. From that point onwards, the political unrest in Kosovo gradually escalated into ethnic conflicts, leading to a struggle that eventually culminated in independence, declared in 2008. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates possible sociopolitical reconciliatory mechanisms to garner support for peacemaking in conflict-torn societies. Building on the Kurdish question in Turkey, associated with a four-decade-long armed conflict that has spilled over into neighboring Syria and Iraq, we identify policies and framing that can attract support for a political solution to the conflict. We highlight the need for a sociopolitical reconciliatory approach that addresses both the hopes of the warring minority and the fears of the majority. The results from an original nationwide survey indicate that minority demands can initially be addressed through a 'soft settlement,' lying between individual and collective rights. Our results point to the need to relax the concept of negotiated settlement, which has become the most frequent approach to ending internal armed conflicts in the post-Cold War era. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ethnic conflicts have proved to be inherently dangerous and repressive across the globe. While this signification cannot be negated, a deeper articulation of liminal existences in the conflict‐prone areas requires more attention. Using case studies with a qualitative research design, the paper emphasizes on conflict as a social force, facilitating the (re)structuration of communities entangled within it. The paper explores the mundane lived experiences of the Adivasis and the Bodos, two of the ethnic communities living in Assam, a Northeastern state of India, by making a few claims. First, ethnic conflicts reorient social relations, intercommunity interactions and economic exchanges between the Adivasis and Bodos. Second, ethnic conflicts recourse varied negotiations and emotions in their being(ness), aspirational values, and embodied meanings in mundane life‐processes. The complex realization of identities for the Adivasis and the Bodos is fostered by the exposure of fear, past loss of life, and the varied interactions between victims and perpetrators in everyday social life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While it is often assumed that the core debates about nationalism were settled by modernist scholars already in the 1980s, there are reasons to question this theoretical 'consensus', especially because it fails to anticipate the wave of nationalist geopolitics that is currently sweeping through the world. Contemporary studies of nationalism typically refrain from conceptualising politics in spatial terms, while overstating states' ability to shape ethno‐national identities irrespective of their ethnic roots and offering little empirical validation. To overcome these limitations, it is useful to analyse how nationalism transforms the state, rather than the reverse. This article reports findings from an EU‐funded research project that uses historical maps covering borders of states and ethnic groups to show how nationalism causes increasing congruence between these borders and how a lack thereof makes conflict and border change more likely. This risk is further increased by 'restorative' narratives bemoaning supposedly lost independence and unity. Further research traces the spread of reactive nationalism through modernisation processes driven by railroad expansion until the early 20th century. Yet this does not mean that state partition offers the only, or the best, solution to nationality problems. Power sharing can pacify at least as well as ethno‐nationalist border change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper begins by reviewing rational choice institutionalism's explanation of how political institutions incentivise patronage networks emphasising ethnic cleavage. Acknowledging the limits of rationalist institutionalism in explaining societal norm constructions and mass behaviour, the paper then adopts discursive institutionalism to analyse the social affects of institutional design. The case study of violence against Amharas deemed 'settlers' in Ethiopia's contemporary ethnic federation highlights how new cleavages create new norms and new historical narratives, influencing group dynamics. These dynamics result in group‐based mass violence when rents‐based orders and patronage networks collapse during times of institutional instability or change. Thus, precipitated by the discursive effects of hyper‐ethnicised institutional design, mass violence against Amhara in different ethnic regions in Ethiopia emerges as an unexpected outcome of regime change and democratic transition in the country. These incidents of targeted violence are not simply explained by institutions, but rather by the socio‐political climate effected by the interaction between institutions and discourse under ethnic federalism. In short, this study demonstrates how institutions go beyond incentivising or constraining elite behaviour, producing discursive markers that normalise violence during periods of institutional 'lapse', when formal provisions of social order temporarily collapse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Southeast Asia, ethnic conflicts are complex phenomena influenced by religious affiliations, nationalism, and citizenship rights. This study examines the role of media in shaping public narratives and perceptions of the Rohingya crisis, particularly in Aceh, Indonesia. Media analysis reveals that coverage provides practical insights into the consequences of refugee influx, highlighting social, humanitarian, and infrastructural impacts. Moreover, media diversifies understanding by presenting varied perspectives and linking ethnic conflicts with broader issues such as human trafficking. The study emphasizes how media narratives influence community attitudes towards Rohingya refugees in Aceh, reflecting shifts in acceptance or rejection based on portrayal. It underscores media's responsibility for accurate, balanced coverage crucial in shaping public understanding. Employing qualitative content analysis of print and online sources from 2023, this research examines media's depiction of the Rohingya conflict and refugee responses in Aceh. Findings contribute insights into media's role in public perception and its impact on refugee acceptance. This study advocates further media analysis to deeper understanding of complex ethnic conflicts, aiming to mitigate stereotypes and foster empathy towards refugees. Encourage balanced and diverse media reporting on ethnic conflicts to foster empathy and informed public dialogue, particularly in communities like Aceh. Support further research and education on the media's role in shaping perceptions to promote effective conflict resolution and humanitarian responses.

The article explores the challenges and failures of armed statebuilding operations, where foreign states use military force to build and stabilize other countries. It argues that armed statebuilding has historically been unsuccessful, with only a few cases after World War II considered successes. The article emphasizes the importance of understanding the specific conditions that led to the need for intervention and the need for policymakers to plan for all stages of intervention. It concludes with three key tenets for effective statebuilding: striking effectively first, ensuring that strategy drives tactics, and prioritizing quality over quick results. [Extracted from the article]

Hydropower dam projects in the Lower Mekong Basin are part of long-term and interactive land and water transformations, displacement, and violence. Within these ongoing processes, dams represent intense and adverse episodes of disruption that escalate nature-society transformations. Drawing on research at Cambodia's Lower Sesan 2 Hydropower Dam (LS2 Dam), we examine how such episodes of nature-society rupture catalyze new waves of frontier-making and mobility that further intensify land and resource struggles. In this ethnically diverse landscape, the abrupt hydrological changes caused by the LS2 Dam have escalated land struggles among various ethnic groups, especially migrants intent on claiming land and water resources, and Indigenous/minority groups displaced by the dam. We show how historical relations with land and socio-political marginalization by the state have produced differentiated opportunities, risks, and frictions among the four main ethnic groups present in this landscape: Indigenous Bunong, Lao, Cham, and Khmer. The LS2 Dam case shows how nature-society rupture reifies frontier dynamics by disrupting existing land/water relations, which precipitates in-migration, new resource claims, and associated conflict along ethnic lines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a reflective review of the challenges of interviewing hard-to-reach and marginalised groups when employing an oral history methodology. Using Belfast, Northern Ireland, as a case study, the article reflects on the significance of social and cultural markers that must be contended with, and argues for the importance of responsible research in response to instances of reticence. In addition, this article reviews the challenges faced by the author with regards to the gendered dimensions of deindustrialisation studies, particularly when interviewing women about the familial experiences of the deindustrialisation of heavy industry. The article advocates for compassionate approaches within an oral history methodology, particularly in post-conflict societies where unresolved trauma and complex ethno-cultural identities exist. Considering such issues, offers an opportunity to reenergise and expand the scope of labour history and deindustrialisation studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The journey of Byzantine scholar Manuel Chrysoloras and his stay in Florence at the turn of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries has been celebrated as an event that decisively shaped the course of European humanism. The later return of Enlightenment humanism to Ottoman lands in the eighteenth to early twentieth centuries can be described as the return of Chrysoloras. This return is generally known in a fragmentary form as a regional phenomenon: the story of Greek, Arab, Turkish and Jewish nationalisms and of the Ottoman reforms. It is also framed historically as the evolution from a traditional and theological society to new forms of epistemic, literary, civic and national communities, while often leaving aside failures and later contradictory transformations. The present essay offers an integrative study of modern humanism in late Ottoman and post-Ottoman contexts. The migration of Enlightenment humanism to the Middle East raised a wide range of expectations, projecting a new national or imperial organization within a harmonious diplomatic relationship with Christian Europe and the Americas. Yet, the more the revivalist and reformist projects evolved, the more they involved ethnic and religious conflicts and colonial intervention. This article illuminates the rise and fall of humanism in Middle Eastern contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Women, especially in the Indigenous and ethnic communities of Assam and Northeast India, have shared an intricate relationship with nature. This relationship was disrupted by the human-made conflicts that ravaged the region for decades. Not only did these conflicts – ethno-nationalist in nature, for the most part – victimize women directly by subjecting them to violence and taking away their agency, but they also indirectly impacted them by adversely affecting the environment. This article examines the relationship between conflict-induced environmental degradation and its impact on women by analyzing its representation in literary texts like Felanee and Mayabritta. These texts, written by women writers, depict the ecological disasters that have afflicted the state of Assam as a result of armed conflict and situate their women characters at the centre of these disasters. By examining these novels as literature of witness, the article argues for a gender-sensitive approach to conflict management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the underlying factors contributing to a more strategic and rational alignment behaviour exhibited by certain post-Soviet states compared to others in the region and beyond, despite the high stakes of domestic politics. Specifically, it focuses on Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Moldova, suggesting their consistent, state-centric foreign policies arise from facing protracted ethnic conflicts threatening their territorial integrity. The notion of differential survival risks is proposed to explain this phenomenon. Consequently, resolving these conflicts becomes the paramount concern for these states' leadership to avoid substantial territorial losses or even loss of sovereignty, relegating domestic issues to a secondary status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What are the determinants of ethnic violence? Existing research has forwarded a range of often competing explanations, from political opportunism to economic competition to state incapacity. We argue that this diversity of accounts is attributable, in part, to scholars' tendency to lump together distinct forms of ethnic violence that have different underlying determinants. We propose that scholars instead disaggregate ethnic violence and put forward a typology based on the target of the attack (properties vs. individuals) and whether assailants use arms. We demonstrate the utility of this typology by applying it to an original dataset of ethnic attacks against Christians in Egypt from 2013 to 2018. In addition to a set of shared factors, we find that unarmed attacks against property ("burnings") are the product of political mobilization, unarmed attacks against individuals ("beatings") are related to socioeconomic tensions, and armed attacks ("bombings") follow the strategic logic of terrorist violence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the effects of oil discoveries on conflict. We propose that the effects from oil discoveries may differ depending on types of conflicts, mainly interstate versus intrastate. Using a measure for oil discoveries for a global panel of countries between 1970 and 2012, we find a positive association between oil discoveries and both conflict types, controlling for other conflict determinants and unobserved heterogeneity. However, we observe that the effects on intrastate conflicts are evident within a year of discovering the oil, while the effects on interstate conflicts only become evident after five years of the discovery. We also find that within intrastate conflicts, the results are mainly driven by the effects on ethnic conflicts. The findings imply that there may be different mechanisms at play for interstate versus intrastate conflicts related to resource discoveries. For example, resource-induced inequality can aggravate already existing tensions between groups in society, which can result in internal conflict soon after discovering the resource. On the other hand, the feasibility of engaging in conflict with a neighbouring resource-rich country depends on fighting capacity and mobilising resources, which can delay interstate conflicts. Overall, we believe the results from this study will provide some further understanding to the dynamics involving natural resources and types of conflict. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several regions in Indonesia such as Aceh, Central Sulawesi, NTB and Maluku have experienced conflict situations with ethnic, religious, racial and inter-group backgrounds. This background carries the risk of conflict triggering acts of violence-based extremism and radicalism which of course have an impact on the development of children born and growing up in conflict areas. Extremist behavior that leads to radical actions and acts of terror involving children has occurred in Indonesia in cases of family suicide bombings. Effective interventions are needed to control the potential for radicalization in children. This research uses a qualitative approach using data collection methods through literature studies to understand and detail the dynamics related to children involved in radicalism and violent extremism, especially in the context of acts of terrorism in Indonesia. Data from literature studies are used to analyze the role of family, environment and education in building children's resilience against the threat of radicalism. Through a qualitative approach, this research explores the practice of social control modes, the role of Restorative Justice (RJ), and its implications. Analysis of the classification of children involved in terrorism based on factors such as affiliation, province of origin, age, level of radicalization, and conviction provides an in-depth understanding of their characteristics and patterns of involvement. The research results provide an overview of the potential threat of exposure to radicalism and violence-based extremism targeting children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The emergence of postmemory in recent decades has opened various tangents around which the frameworks of memory, trauma, and nostalgia can be reimagined and reexamined. The notions of memory and postmemory and the complex relation underlying their mutual interaction is a recent development in memory studies. In this light, the questions arise: What happens when people with traumatic memories are forced to flee their homelands? How do the subsequent generations of the survivors deal with the traumatic intergenerational memories of the past? Shafak's The Island of Missing Trees is set in Cyprus, a place divided by a border, destroyed by ethnic conflict, and years of violence and bloodshed. Shafak not only incorporates the idea of inherited pain and silence but also further explores the ways in which families with traumatic histories transfer these experiences of suffering, grief, nostalgia, and melancholy from one generation to another. Through the character of Ada, the daughter of Kostas and Defne, the researcher attempts to delve into the terrain of intergenerational memories and further attempts to analyze the various tenets of the notion of postmemory by undertaking a textual analysis of The Island of Missing Trees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The analysis delves into the conflict inherent within the thematic discourse surrounding the two tables as portrayed in Mark's Gospel, with particular emphasis on the section concerning the multiplication of loaves of bread (Mk 6–8). Noteworthy is the conflict arising from the juxtaposition of Jewish and pagan individuals at a shared table. This theological tension finds resonance in the narratives presented by Paul in Galatians and Romans, albeit Galatians 2:9 intimates a seemingly facile resolution, a departure from the intricate portrayal in Mark's Gospel. Mark's narrative accentuates two salient dimensions: firstly, the ethnic substrate of the conflict, and secondly, its contextual specificity within the historical milieu of Syria after the Jewish war. The ethnic genesis of this conflict, as delineated in the accounts of Flavius Josephus, furnishes a background essential for comprehending the dual incidents of bread multiplication: the initial instance catering exclusively to Jews and the subsequent occurrence inclusive of both Jews and other disparate ethnic groups "from afar" (Mk 8:3). The spatial symbolism in the section pertaining to the multiplication of loaves may symbolically represent the heterogeneous composition of the recipients, thereby exacerbating the challenges inherent in reconciling conflicts rooted in ethnic diversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a study which examined the contribution of Borana Oromo women in Southern Ethiopia to grassroot peacemaking. Topics discussed include interethnic conflict between the Oromo and Somali people driven by land control and ethnicity-based federalism, the history of the role of Oromo women in endogenous dispute resolution and peacemaking, and recommendations for promoting endogenous intra/interethnic peacemaking,

Ethnic diversity poses a threat to global peace, progress, and security. Nigeria serves as a prime example of this issue, as the nation grapples with internal turmoil stemming from ethnic conflicts within the socio-political landscape. The act of aligning ourselves with our ethnic groups has fueled animosity towards other ethnicities and has led us to become mentally inflexible, causing us to view the world solely through the lens of our ethnic identity. Put simply, we struggle to make sense of anything beyond our ethnic affiliations. This study delves into the challenges presented by ethnic diversity through the lens of metaphysical principles and theories from 4E Cognitive Science, utilizing a metaphysicocognitive analysis approach. It posits that the process of aligning our worldview with our identity and relationships within our environment is an essential aspect of our existence in a shared world. Without this alignment, navigating the world becomes an insurmountable task. However, our cognitive adaptability plays a crucial role in determining whether our worldview alignment enables us to interact in a manner that promotes mutual growth and self-actualization. As cognitive beings, we are presented with a singular option to address the issues arising from ethnic diversity. This solution does not involve advocating for a form of homogeneity that favors one ethnic group over others. Instead, the focus should be on the cognitive mechanisms that govern our interactions within the world. This process must be intentional rather than incidental, emphasizing the importance of conscious effort in shaping our relationships with others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ethnic conflict is a prevalent issue in numerous countries worldwide, including Ethiopia. One common challenge faced by multi-ethnic federal states is the emergence of nationalism among ethnic-regional communities. Nevertheless, I contend that ethnic diversity alone is not typically the primary cause of ethnic conflict in Ethiopia. Considering these factors, the study centered on ethnic conflict among the semi-pastoral communities of Hamar, Karo, and Arbore. This study adopted a qualitative research approach and used informant interviews and survey methods to collect primary data and examine relevant literature from secondary sources. As a result, the study found that the desire for self-determination, competition for resources, arms smuggling and marginalization, lack of good governance, poor cultural traditions, and political interests are the factors driving destructive ethnic conflicts in the study area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractThis article discusses the role of ethnic identity in triggering ethnic-based conflicts and the subsequent mass displacement of people from their habitual areas of residence to areas where people with similar ethnic identities are found. It also explores how ethnic identity shapes internally displaced persons’ (IDP) decisions regarding the choice of post-displacement resettlement situations–that is, return, local integration, or resettlement. The study relied on qualitative data collected using interview, observation, and case study methods from IDPs relocated to temporary camps in southern Ethiopia. Accordingly, the results of the study highlighted that all of the interviewees in this study expressed their intention not to return; instead, they preferred to be locally integrated into the host communities they perceive to possess similar ethnic identities. The findings of the study imply that the Ethiopian government should work closely with local authorities in the areas of host communities and other partners to create favorable conditions for IDPs’ sustainable local integration, including creating and expanding employment opportunities and providing land and other essential productive resources, as stipulated in the Kampala Convention.

AbstractPerpetual peacebuilding needs inclusive, participatory, and transformative approaches. The practice of conflict approach determines the resolution and relapse of conflicts. This study focuses on the nature and experiences of conflict interventions in the Guji-Burji protracted inter-ethnic conflict. The study uses a qualitative research approach. The data were collected from primary and secondary sources through interviews, FGDs, and document analysis. As per the findings, the Guji-Burji inter-ethnic conflict is cyclical and has caused devastating human security impacts. The structural cause of the conflict lies in the failure of ethnic federalism over boundary conflict and ethnic politicization in post-1991. It is also fueled by the proliferation and illegal use of small arms, dacoity and rhetorical honor, diversion and the ethnicization of micro disputes, and an untransformative approach to conflict interventions. The conflict approaches have failed to address the parties’ positions, interests, and needs to achieve perpetual peace, which is most crucial. Besides, the intervention approaches are not inclusive, participatory, integrated, and transformative but rather partial, politicized, and ethnocentric. Therefore, it requires a transformative approach to intervention that addresses the genesis of the conflict through boundary resettlement, profound community dialogue, and unconditional forgiveness to build trust and realize sustainable peace.

This article takes the 2021 military coup in Myanmar and its violent aftermath as a starting point for analysing the dominant lens through which western observers commonly narrate the country's politics as a struggle for democracy. It shows how focusing on questions of the political system is insufficient for explaining political processes and conflict dynamics, and how it risks sanitizing the country's past and presence of nationalism, ethnic conflict and genocide. A postcolonial reading suggests that finding solutions to conflict and authoritarianism in Myanmar demands questioning the role of the modern nation-state itself. This analysis contributes to recent research which has found that Conflict and Peace Studies develops theories from some conflicts over others, reflecting how western interests shape academic choices in a field that aims to inform policy and practice worldwide. This article contributes to this debate on knowledge production by arguing that this selectivity bias is not simply a function of general western interest (or lack thereof). It is also linked to the frames that govern our interest in and understanding of countries and regions worldwide. Studying 'forgotten conflicts' in the global South not only necessitates a turn to specialist literature, but also demands moving beyond Eurocentric frames of reference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article deals with Czech and German nationalist discourses and practices in the late 19th and early 20th centuries as they relate to tourism in the Krkonoše/Riesengebirge, the highest Central European mountain range between the Alps and Scandinavia. It will discuss the discourses developed in relation to mountain tourism and nationalism (metaphors of battlefields, wedges, walls, gates, and bastions), different symbolical cores of mountains, and practices of tourist and nationalist organizations (tourist trails and markings, excursions, the ownership of mountains huts, languages used, memorials, and the construction of roads). It will examine how these discourses and practices changed from the first Czech-German ethnic conflicts in the 1800s until the end of interwar Czechoslovakia. Finally, it will discuss the Czech culture of defeat in the shadow of the Munich Agreement, which meant the occupation of the Giant Mountains by Nazi Germany. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The resurgence of nationalist tendencies around the world has brought new attention to the problem of smaller regions seceding from larger states. While research exists regarding the contagious nature of self-determination, ethnic conflict and civil wars, the interrelationships among various secessionist conflicts have not been systematically studied. We show that the circumstances of secession conflicts in different countries are interconnected by the perceptions of elites and that outcomes in one case may, therefore, influence expectations, motivations, strategies and outcomes in others. We also identified several indicators of interconnectivity among secessionist conflicts in the Western Balkans and visualised the strength of the links among them using social network analysis tools (Pajek – Spider). After the outbreak of a secession conflict, several inter-secession effects will be directly transferred to the most interconnected cases, and the greatest domino risk results from the combined impacts of direct and indirect nth-order effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the susceptibility of post-conflict democratization processes to civilian forms of ethnic violence. Shifting the focus away from institutions and political elites, which dominate analyses on democracy and ethnic violence, the paper analyzes social relations and struggles among civilians during post-conflict democratization. Through an analysis of anti-Kurdish communal violence in twenty-first-century Turkey, the paper shows that social movements led by minorities demanding recognition make ethnicity a politically salient cleavage. This triggers contention over ethnic boundaries, resulting in civilian forms of ethnic violence. A key finding of this paper is that violence is not merely an outcome of increasing polarization and division but also a strategy employed by dominant populations to reinforce former boundaries and reduce uncertainties surrounding the existing ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article assesses how the agency of international advisors can provide policy recommendations that, instead of introducing urban policy initiatives for multicultural encounters, sharpen political and spatial segregation within the context of ethnic conflict. The article explores the variegated nature of neoliberalization and argues that the adoption of strategic planning and creativity discourses enables the development of a sophisticated political rationale for governing ethnic diversity. The analysis focuses on a range of advisory practices—including the role played by Michael Porter at the Harvard Business School and Richard Florida at the Creative Class Group in advising former Jerusalem mayor Nir Barkat—in order to understand the dynamics of grounding imaginaries concerning a neoliberal role for the state and the depoliticization of the public sphere in a disputed city. By surveying official policy documents, journalistic interviews and two reports submitted by Porter and Florida to Barkat, the author examines how the branding of Jerusalem as a creative city involved managerial practices that classified the city's diverse population according to categories of creative and non‐creative labor rather than political subjects. The adoption of such discourses facilitated a novel approach for enhancing the state‐building ethno‐nationalistic project while at the same time reproducing the dynamics of occupation and annexation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pastoral communities living in the arid and semi-arid lands of Kenya raise livestock herds within highly patchy environments, and experience chronic food insecurity and inter-ethnic conflicts linked to resource access. For these primarily rural communities, livestock are a source of calories and income and are therefore crucial to achieving the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) associated with food security (SDG 2). Achieving sustainable improvements in household well-being in this region is contingent on understanding how diverse policy decisions complement or undermine the ability of pastoral households to raise livestock. Of near-term relevance is the question of reconciling food security with biodiversity conservation goals (SDG 15) across Kenya's drylands, which are also known for their exceptional biodiversity. World over, protected areas are associated with diverse impacts on local communities. However, spatial variation in how these areas contribute to pastoral food security and household wellbeing across Kenya remain poorly understood. Using our newly developed model SPIRALL, we examined spatial variation in changes in household well-being that result when pastoral households across Kenya lose access to neighboring protected areas. SPIRALL is a country-scale, agent-based pastoral household decision-making model. We joined SPIRALL to L-Range, a model that simulates rangeland ecosystem functioning. The resulting coupled model simulates reciprocal interactions between pastoral households and the environment in Kenya and can be used as a scenario analysis tool to understand impacts of broadly defined policies on food security. Our scenario-based analysis showed that loss of protected-area access caused increases in rates of hunger, debt, and trans-boundary movements, particularly among non-sedentary and agropastoral households. These effects were spatially heterogeneous and influenced by county size and proximity to protected areas. We conclude by outlining the policy-implications result of the interactions between SDG 2 and SDG 15 in Kenya. We also highlight additional uses and avenues for improvement for SPIRALL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While previous research has focused on terrorist attacks and natives' attitudes towards immigration, we examine the effect of anti-refugee attacks on refugees' attitude towards the host country. We use survey data from the 33rd wave of the German Socio-Economic Panel as the fieldwork period overlapped with the infamous anti-refugee riots in Bautzen and as the survey includes a refugee sample. Making use of this natural experiment, we find significant and negative short-term effects of the riots on respondents' perception of Germany, as well as low geographic variation. Such natural experiments in the form of unexpected events during survey design offer social scientists the possibilities to identify causal effects from observational survey data as they split respondents into a control and treatment group. Given the vast amount of (cross-)national survey data, often including specific subsamples, our study demonstrates the great potential of natural experiments for sociological research on minority groups in society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 1960s witnessed the wave of independence in Africa, shaping the course of history and leading to the confirmation of original institutions. Notably, a French-speaking space emerged during this era, giving rise to the Agency for Cultural and Technical Cooperation, later evolving into the International Organization of La Francophonie (OIF). Since 1981, the Congo has been an active member of the OIF, contributing to the cultural and political dimensions of this francophone alliance. This research delves into the collaboration between the OIF and the Congo from 1981 to 2016, spanning crucial periods in both entities' histories. Focusing on cultural and political realms, the study explores the promotion of democracy, human rights, and sustainable development within the OIF space. Education, training, and scientific research take precedence in the cultural domain, reflecting their pivotal role in societal development. In the political arena, the Republic of Congo embarked on a challenging journey toward multiparty democracy and a market economy since 1991, marked by civil conflicts and ethnic tensions. The country's transition continued into the 2000s, emphasizing reconciliation and reconstruction. Both cultural and political sectors demand strategic approaches for sustainable success in the ever-evolving landscape of international cooperation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prevailing theories of democracy focus on class conflict. In contrast, we study democratic transition when ethnic tensions are more salient than the poor/rich divide, building a model where (i) ethnic groups negotiate about allocating the economic surplus and (ii) military and political mobilizations rest on the unobserved strength of ethnic attachment. Free and fair elections elicit information and restore inter-ethnic bargaining efficiency. Autocrats can rationally choose democratic transition, even if they risk losing power, as elections reduce the opposition's informational rent. The predictions of our framework are consistent with novel country-level and ethnic group-level panel correlational evidence on democratization in the post-decolonization period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sri Lanka's monetary policy has evolved differently during and after a three-decade-long ethnic conflict. This paper empirically investigates effects of monetary policy shocks on Sri Lankan economy with particular focus on the strength of credit and exchange rate channels using a VAR model for 2003–2019 period. We find that: (i) monetary policy shocks have a significant and persistent impact on key macroeconomic variables even though several puzzling results emerge; (ii) the effects of monetary policy shocks are significant and more persistent in the post-conflict period than in the conflict period; (iii) a tight monetary policy effectively contains inflation in the post-conflict period; and (iv) interest rate and exchange rate channels play a dominant role while the credit channel responds with some lags in the post-conflict period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article provides an overview of the ongoing conflict in Sudan, which began in April between the Rapid Response Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese Army. The conflict is rooted in a power struggle between army leader Abd al-Fattah al-Burhan and RSF commander Muhammad Hamdan Daglo. Various external actors, including Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, the European Union, the US, and Israel, have become involved in the conflict due to their competing interests. The conflict in Sudan is similar to the situation in Libya, with rival factions, external support, and the potential for a proxy war. The conflict is driven by competition for control over valuable natural resources and has reignited ethnic and tribal conflicts. Achieving a sustainable peace agreement in Sudan will be challenging, and the conflict is expected to continue for an extended period. [Extracted from the article]

Whereas much has been written about the role community media plays in peacebuilding, emphasis is often put on participatory media models as key determinants of peace or conflict sustainability. Little is known, however, about the conditions under which such media increase or impede peace efforts due to the complex nature of conflict. Moreover, how, when, and by whom such media can be tailored to offer favorable conditions for peacebuilding at the community level remain largely unanswered questions. This article draws from Howard's (An Operational Framework for Media and Peacebuilding, IMPACS, 2002) typology of media interventions, issue‐framing framework, and conflict transformation approach to probe the prospects of community media agency in peacebuilding at the community level. It argues that the way conflict narratives are produced, negotiated, and consumed across time and space is what provides individuals or groups with incentives for conflict or trade‐offs for peace irrespective of the stage at which a given conflict manifests itself. Overall, the reflections presented are conceptual and are intended to generate theoretical and methodological discussions around the role of community media in conflict transformation and peacebuilding at the community level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines how to better understand and respond to conflicts with religious dimensions in times of social upheaval. Through different lenses, we highlight the dynamism and multidimensionality of religions, and how conflict transformation scholar/practitioners need to respond. We argue for applying analytical, practical, and arts‐based tools that acknowledge the lived experiences of parties, and the various ways that religion and conflict intertwine. These tools prime analysts and negotiators for imagining a wider range of intervention resources, and for de‐escalating often‐inflammatory media coverage. Using examples of restrictions and reactions related to the COVID‐19 pandemic, we demonstrate the application of an inclusive worldview approach featuring arts tools to improve interventions in conflicts with religious dimensions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What factors influence the formation of threat perception among the masses? Can the public perceive that external threats exist yet also feel safe? This article investigates both how threat perceptions form, as well as what factors influence security perceptions, in ethnically diverse countries and societies. While drawing on data from two nationally representative surveys, this article inquires to what extent the views of the government and society align regarding whether Russia represents a security threat to Latvia. We find that the determinants of threat and security perceptions differ. Above all else, the views of our respondents are shaped by their ethnic identities and regional effects. Consumption of different forms of media also influence threat perception. Perceived asymmetry of power is an additional important variable shaping security perception. Importantly, there is a correlation between seeing Russia as a security threat and Russophobia or fear of Russians living in Latvia. Overall, this article demonstrates that threat perceptions differ between Russian-speakers and Latvians, shows that it is important to differentiate between perceptions of threat and security, and identifies key explanatory variables influencing development of these perceptions in ethnically diverse societies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In non-indigenous Chilean university students, this study examined (1) the two-dimensional structure (quantity and quality) of social contact with the Mapuche people, and (2) the associations of these dimensions with stereotypes attributed to this group in a context of interethnic conflict. A purposive sample of 332 participants reported on their contact with the Mapuche, both in quantity and quality, and their adherence to various positive and negative stereotypes about this outgroup. The results supported an oblique factorial structure of contact (quantity and quality), revealing significant correlations between these factors and the stereotypes. Importantly, the quality of contact demonstrated more intense associations with stereotypes compared to its quantity. The latent interaction between quantity and quality did not significantly impact stereotypes. The study highlights the need to differentiate quantity and quality of contact when examining their relationships with other psychosocial constructs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Constitution subsumes all citizens, regardless of their affiliation, under "national affiliation". According to international law, every person is guaranteed their individual right to freely express their national affiliation (of a nation or a minority), and the Macedonian Constitution also contains such a solution. Starting from the Constitution, all laws and by-laws should be harmonized with the Constitution, which should clearly and unequivocally determine the affiliation of the Macedonian people and the affiliation of parts of other nations. Ethnicity is a phenomenon that penetrates the domain of research interests of several scientific disciplines. One of them is social psychology. Her research results are of special importance for sociology because they represent additions to her own research and a basis for setting new assumptions. When it comes to ethnicity, it reappeared in the form of political mobilization in the second half of the 20th century. All analyzes of the causes of this phenomenon speak of the emergence of ethnicity as a response to disadvantaged cultural groups within large nations and federations and of ethnicity as a reaction to the inability of the political leadership of nationstates to provide sufficient space for the cultural development of smaller cultures. Inevitably, questions about the development of policies to prevent ethnic conflicts followed. The question of whether and how cultural groups should be recognized in politics is back on the agenda. As Professor Atanasov (2017) states, multiculturalism as a concept appeared in the general public of the USA at the beginning of the 80s of the 20th century, bringing demands for greater diversity in universities and greater participation in state institutions. Multiculturalism as a movement sought to preserve the differences between ethnic and cultural communities without blending them into the majority and to enable equal respect for different cultures, and as a policy it required the recognition of cultural groups and their articulation in the public sphere, as well as the prevention of discrimination that the members of the smaller cultural groups were exhibited. This paper elaborates and analyzes multiculturalism and ethnicity, and gives an overview of the pluralistic environment of party pluralism in the Republic of North Macedonia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]