The Politics of Ethnic Conflict
This week we will consider the three main theoretical perspectives on ethnicity – primordialism, instrumentalism, and constructivism. We will also examine the political processes that drive ethnic group formation and ethnic violence, focusing particularly on riots and genocide. This will involve thinking about how the interpretation of these events becomes closely bound up with a range of political and moral agendas. We will use the case studies of conflict in Rwanda and Burundi to think through the context-specific manifestations of ethnic conflict.
Some key questions to inform your reading:
How does “ethnicity” help us understand conflict across different contexts?
What are some of the ethical and political implications of different perspectives on ethnic conflict?
How do the experiences of Rwanda and Burundi contribute to our understanding of ethnic conflict?