State Versus Ethnic Claims

The idea for this book can be traced to an informal brainstorming session among four very good friends -- Ali Mazrui, Victor Olorunsola, Donald Rothchild and Dunstan Wai. In a real sense, then, as editors we owe a lot to Dunstan and Ali for their intellectual stimulation and for encouraging us to pursue a follow-up to ~.f.2l.i::. ,lla .Qt Cultyral ~Natignalism .in A..f'.da

The idea for this book can be traced to an informal brainstorming session among four very good friends -- Ali Mazrui, Victor Olorunsola, Donald Rothchild and Dunstan Wai. In a real sense, then, as editors we owe a lot to Dunstan and Ali for their intellectual stimulation and for encouraging us to pursue a follow-up to ~.f.2l.i::. ,lla .Qt Cultyral ~Natignalism .in A..f'.da

This book, first published in 2000, explores how different states negotiate the competing claims of ethnic groups.

This book makes a comparative study of ethno-national mobilization and territory and corresponding government policies through a series of selected case studies. It examines the role of ethnic groups in dissolving and reconfiguring the state and the institutional options available for dealing with ethnic claims. It does this through a systematic, qualitative analysis from a range of countries in which, in varying degrees, territorial solutions to ethnic conflict have been contemplated. Sound policies aimed at mitigating ethnic tensions, whether partition, territorial or cultural autonomy or limited home rule must be tailored to its ethnic reality. The contributors to this volume begin each case study with an overview of the ethnic problem relevant to the country, analyze its historical roots, examine the range of strategies on which the state authorities responded, and assess the importance of the issue of territory. Each case study is accompanied by a map that shows the distribution of selected groups in terms of standard bands of intensity.

Bringing together international experts on ethnicity and nationalism, this book argues that competing moral economies play an important role in ethnic and nationalist conflict. Its authors investigate how the beliefs and practices that normatively regulate and legitimize the distribution of wealth, power, and status in a society – moral economies – are being challenged in identity-based communities in ways that precipitate or exacerbate conflicts. The combination of theoretical chapters and case studies ranging from Africa and Asia to North America provides compelling evidence for the value of moral economy analysis in understanding problems associated with ethnic and nationalist mobilization and conflict.

The reigning consensus holds that the combination of free markets and democracy would transform the third world and sweep away the ethnic hatred and religious zealotry associated with underdevelopment. In this revelatory investigation of the true impact of globalization, Yale Law School professor Amy Chua explains why many developing countries are in fact consumed by ethnic violence after adopting free market democracy. Chua shows how in non-Western countries around the globe, free markets have concentrated starkly disproportionate wealth in the hands of a resented ethnic minority. These “market-dominant minorities” – Chinese in Southeast Asia, Croatians in the former Yugoslavia, whites in Latin America and South Africa, Indians in East Africa, Lebanese in West Africa, Jews in post-communist Russia – become objects of violent hatred. At the same time, democracy empowers the impoverished majority, unleashing ethnic demagoguery, confiscation, and sometimes genocidal revenge. She also argues that the United States has become the world’s most visible market-dominant minority, a fact that helps explain the rising tide of anti-Americanism around the world. Chua is a friend of globalization, but she urges us to find ways to spread its benefits and curb its most destructive aspects.

The breakup of the former Yugoslavia demonstrates the limitations of international law in the face of ethnic conflict. The contributors to this book examine the various roles international law and international institutions play in dealing with ethnic conflict. International Law and Ethnic Conflict first covers general philosophical, historical, and cultural issues arising from attempts to apply international law to ethnic conflict. The authors assess the legitimacy of demands based on group identity, the legal rights of ethnic groups, the validity of various entitlement claims, and the meaning of statehood. They then consider the institutional and policy responses of international organizations and states in their attempts to deal with ethnic conflict and analyze the extent to which various forms of intervention prove successful.