Explaining Ethnic Peace

University Of Kentucky Research Foundation, Lexington KY

Investigators

Abstract

General Summary Division among ethnic groups is often seen as a dangerous force that encourages violence and threatens the stability of democracy. Furthermore, such conflict is perceived to be unavoidable when ethnic identities are deeply held and strongly felt. This study seeks to explain why some countries in which ethnicity is salient experience violence while others do not. The PI examines the difference by first mapping demographic patterns, and patterns of political and economic competition in two countries and match by space and time violent and non-violent locations. This project uses two Caribbean nations (Guyana and Trinidad & Tobago) as the cases of interest. These two countries are similar in their historical, economic, and political backgrounds, including being comprised of two major ethnic groups. While it is certainly important to understand potential threats to the democratic stability of countries in close proximity to the United States, the ultimate goal of this project is to provide more general insights into factors that encourage and prevent ethnic violence that can be applied to many other countries around the world. Technical Summary How have some countries with intense, ethnic political competition managed to escape the violence that plagues many other multi-ethnic polities? The PI develops a theory that advances the idea that ethnic violence is shaped by social and political relationships, specifically the nature of clientelistic exchanges and civil society activity. This theory generates novel implications, which are investigated through original quantitative data collection and analysis, an exploration of matching methodologies, and subsequent qualitative research through fieldwork in both Guyana and Trinidad & Tobago. The employment of various matching methods to compare localities in Guyana and Trinidad will offer opportunities to gain important substantive information about the two countries, as well as contribute to ongoing methodological debates regarding the relative merits of various matching techniques. The ultimate goal of this project is to provide more general insights into factors that encourage and prevent ethnic violence that can be applied to many other countries around the world.