Buhaug, Halvard and Cederman, Lars-Erik and Gleditsch, Kristian Skrede (2014) Square Pegs in Round Holes: Inequalities, Grievances, and Civil War. International Studies Quarterly, 58 (2). pp. 418-431. DOI https://doi.org/10.1111/isqu.12068
Buhaug, Halvard and Cederman, Lars-Erik and Gleditsch, Kristian Skrede (2014) Square Pegs in Round Holes: Inequalities, Grievances, and Civil War. International Studies Quarterly, 58 (2). pp. 418-431. DOI https://doi.org/10.1111/isqu.12068
Buhaug, Halvard and Cederman, Lars-Erik and Gleditsch, Kristian Skrede (2014) Square Pegs in Round Holes: Inequalities, Grievances, and Civil War. International Studies Quarterly, 58 (2). pp. 418-431. DOI https://doi.org/10.1111/isqu.12068
Abstract
Much of the recent research on civil war treats explanations rooted in political and economic grievances with considerable suspicion and claims that there is little empirical evidence of any relationship between ethnicity or inequality and political violence. We argue that common indicators used in previous research, such as the ethno-linguistic fractionalization (ELF) and the Gini coefficient for income dispersion, fail to capture fundamental aspects of political exclusion and economic inequality that can motivate conflict. Drawing on insights from group-level research, we develop new country-level indices that directly reflect inequalities among ethnic groups, including political discrimination and wealth differentials along ethnic lines. Our analysis reveals that these theoretically informed country profiles are much better predictors of civil war onset than conventional inequality indicators, even when we control for a number of alternative factors potentially related to grievances or opportunities for conflict. © 2013 International Studies Association.
Item Type: | Article |
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Additional Information: | Source info: APSA 2011 Annual Meeting Paper |
Uncontrolled Keywords: | civil war; ethnicity; inequality; grievances; nationalism |
Subjects: | J Political Science > JA Political science (General) |
Divisions: | Faculty of Social Sciences Faculty of Social Sciences > Government, Department of |
SWORD Depositor: | Unnamed user with email elements@essex.ac.uk |
Depositing User: | Unnamed user with email elements@essex.ac.uk |
Date Deposited: | 17 Oct 2014 14:08 |
Last Modified: | 30 Oct 2024 19:54 |
URI: | http://repository.essex.ac.uk/id/eprint/10902 |
Available files
Filename: isqu12068.pdf