The Global Dynamics of Racial and Ethnic Mobilization

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Stanford University Press, 2006 M05 24 - 288 pages
This book tests a new approach to understanding ethnic mobilization and considers the interplay of global forces, national-level variation in inequality and repression, and political mobilization of ethnicity. It advances the claim that economic and political integration among the world's states increases the influence of ethnic identity in political movements.

Drawing on a 100-country dataset analyzing ethnic events and rebellions from 1965 to 1998, Olzak shows that to the degree in which a country participates in international social movement organizations, ethnic identities in that country become more salient. International organizations spread principles of human rights, anti-discrimination, sovereignty, and self-determination. At the local level, poverty and restrictions on political rights then channel group demands into ethnic mobilization. This study will be of great importance to scholars and policy makers seeking new and powerful explanations for understanding why some conflicts turn violent while others do not.

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Contents

CHAPTER TWO Definitions and Dynamics of RacialEthnic
33
Trends in the Data
78
CHAPTER FOUR Globalization and Nonviolent Ethnic Protest 19651989
93
CHAPTER FIVE Global Integration and Ethnic Violence 19651989
116
CHAPTER SIX Group Dynamics of Ethnic Protest and Conflict
131
Ethnic Violence since 1989
152
CHAPTER EIGHT Democracy Ethnic Violence and International War
169
CHAPTER NINE Models Incorporating Endogeneity
196
CHAPTER TEN Conclusions and Future Considerations
212
Countries in the Analysis in Chapters 46
235
Name Index
259
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Page 129 - In 1960, this figure rose to ninety, and with the end of the Cold War and the disintegration of the Soviet Union, the number grew to 192.
Page 63 - Risk (MAR) project, begun by the author in 1986 and since 1988 based at the University of Maryland's Center for International Development and Conflict Management.
Page 63 - The first criteria is whether 'the group collectively suffers, or benefits from, systematic discriminatory treatment vis,a,vis other groups in the state'.'" The second criterion is whether 'the group was the focus of political mobilization and action in defense or promotion of its self,defined interests'.
Page 51 - ... overcome the free rider problem that encourages nonparticipation. According to this view, because ethnic groups are able to form dense social networks, group solidarity is high, minimizing costs of mobilization. Simultaneously, ethnic groups can efficiently apply systems of monitoring behavior, insuring loyalty, and sanctioning members (Hechter 1987a). Building on rational choice models. Fearon and Laitin (1996) and Weingast (1998) have linked the strategic aspects of ethnic identity to violence,...
Page 228 - Jeffrey T. Checkel is Professor of Political Science at the University of Oslo and Research Associate, Centre for the Study of Civil War, International Peace Research Institute, Oslo.

About the author (2006)

Susan Olzak is Professor of Sociology at Stanford University. She is the author of The Dynamics of Ethnic Competition and Conflict (Stanford University Press, 1992) and Competitive Ethnic Relations (1986).

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