From conflict to violence : why ethnic conflicts become violent

Ethnic conflict is common in all societies, which possess distinct ethnic groups.In these societies, conflict generally results from competition amongst ethnic groups for scarce resources in political, economic, and social areas.However, not all ethnic conflicts result in violence.In many cases, such as Canada, these conflicts are managed peacefully, even if they are not necessarily resolved.This thesis critically examines the reasons, or factors identified in the literature related to ethnic conflict tuming violent.In so doing, it looks critically at the meaning of conflict, the nature of ethnic conflict and the factors that transform ethnic conflict into a violent form.Specifically, the background or legacy of European colonialism sets the stage for ethnic struggle to tum violent.Although the literature clearly identifies colonialism as a pre-condition for ethnic conflict and violence, the exact linkage to the transition from conflict to violence is poorly articulated.Individuals speaking about ethnic conflicts tend to make three assumptions: first, ethnic identities are ancient; second, these identities motivate people to persecute; third, ethnic diversity leads to violence.These assumptions misrepresent the genesis of ethnic conflicts, because ethnic conflict is a product of modern politics.As a function of colonialism, ethnic segregation or a segmented cultural division creates ethnic boundaries amongst ethnic groups.This situation leads to ethnic polarization that causes the transition from conflict to violence.Ethnic conflict peaks when different ethnic groups compete with each other within the same area.The results or outcomes of ethnic conflict are more important than people thought.Precisely, ethnic conflict is a major threat to the intemational and regional peace and security.Failure to prevent violence results in destructive outcomes such as civil wars and international peace operations (lPOs) are generally too late a response by the intemational community.Hundreds of thousands deaths and deaths are in many cases the result.There is no wonder prevention is much cheaper than peace operations to stop violence.Chapter One provides an explanation and examination of the term conflict.Without knowing the meaning of conflict, the motives of ethnic conflict cannot be understood.This chapter examines various approaches developed by scholars to understand the meaning of conflict and its causes.In this regard, conflict is an unavoidable unpleasant facf of life.People at every level of inter-group relations experience conflicts.For instance, in the work place, a simple disagreement between team members, if unresolved, ffiây escalate into avoidance, inability to work together, verbal assaults, and resentment.In the worst conditions, it may also lead to hostility and eventual separation from the organization.Chapter Two examines core definitions of ethnic conflict.These various definitions demonstrate that ethnic conflicts often result in a higher level of violence than non-ethnic conflicts.This chapter not only concems the precise linkage between the levels of violence and the forms of ethnic conflict, but also focuses on multivariate indices of violence to show the level of violence of ethnic conflict.For Bernard Mayer, conflict consists of three dimensions.First, he sees conflict as perception.He asserts that, "conflict is a belief or understanding that one's own needs, interests, wants, or values are incompatible with someone else" (2000: 4).Perceptions affected by past experiences involve objective and subjective judgments and incompatible goals are the result of these judgments.As a practical matter, people usually engage in conflict in a condition of disagreement and their perceptions determine their actions towards each other.When people engage in conflict, they perceive their own interests and wants as incompatible with others.Second, Mayer sees conflict as feeling because of the emotional reactions, including fear, sadness, and anger that are produced by an undesired situation.These emotions have great impact on human behavior.They alone can bring people into conflict in a situation of disagreement and fuel it.Disagreements can lead to people feeling angry, sad or hurt.People generally feel less in control when they experience these feelings towards each other and they move into conflict.As a result, emotions are often under the surface, but they are always in play.Lastly, Mayer (2000:5) sees conflict as action.He believes that "conflict also consists of the actions that we take to express our feelings, articulate our perceptions, and get our needs met in a way that has the potential for interfering with someone else's ability to get his or her needs met".Actions are the concrete form of perceptions that produces a situation of great disagreement.Mack and Snyder (1998, p.218) also note that "conflict can not exist without action" and add that "the action-reaction-action sequence must embody the pursuit of exclusive or incompatible goals".A conflict action may be either coercive or non-coercive.Coercive actions generally involve threats or acts of violence.Non-coercive actions involve cooperative acts such as mediation.People apply coercive or non-coercive actions in pursuit of mutually incompatible goals.

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