Fighting for the Homeland

University Of Rochester, Rochester NY

Investigators

Abstract

This project addresses the question of why states dispute some pieces of territory and not others. Scholars have found that the most deadly and longest lasting international disputes often erupt over territory with little or no intrinsic value, and have proposed that such territory is inherently valuable because it is regarded as homeland. As it stands in the literature, this argument presents no systematic evidence to determine ex ante which territory is considered part of the homeland and which is not. This study explores this issue by focusing on the region of the world with the most territorial disputes: the continent of South America. To identity homeland territory, the project collects and digitizes maps from school textbooks and wall maps from all thirteen South American countries from 1875 to the present. With this digitized and geospatial historical (GIS) data, the project can identify which pieces of territory were claimed as homeland by two countries, and which were not. Given the geospatial nature of these data, it can be combined with existing geospatial data on the presence of resources and population patterns to examine whether and how those disputed areas differ from other areas. With these data, the principal investigator can test the prediction that international territorial disputes arise when two countries claim the same territory as homeland. This project assesses a key determinant of territorial disputes: the status of a piece of land as homeland by two states. The study identifies homeland territory through collecting and digitalizing maps from school textbooks and wall maps from all thirteen South American countries from 1875 to the present at roughly five-year intervals. The project in addition employs micro-level experiments and surveys to explain why citizens are willing to fight for homeland territory even if it has few or no resources. These experiments and surveys test the extant claim that maps create common knowledge and coordinate citizens' beliefs as to what is homeland territory and who is (and is not) a member of the homeland group, enabling collective action and a common defense. The first survey experiment examines whether priming subjects with a map of their country increases willingness to sacrifice should their country come under threat. This experiment provides micro-level evidence about the role of maps in fostering group identity and willingness to sacrifice, while avoiding the problems of endogeneity and collinearity that have hampered previous research. The second set of surveys examines whether maps taught in school form an enduring mental map of the homeland. This survey asks citizens to draw an outline of their country on a contour map of South America. If the map taught in school has become a stable mental map, the outline should correspond to the map taught during their school years. The surveys embed a micro-level experiment in which respondents are presented with a scenario of a threat against their country. These responses will shed light on whether and why citizens and their leaders are willing to fight for their perceived homeland. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.