Structural Prevention of Ethnic Violence

by Christian P. Scherrer

• ISBN13: 9780333752067
• ISBN10: 0333752066
• Format: Trade Book
• Copyright: 2002-10-04
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Summary

Today, ethnic violence accounts for the majority of the world's conflicts. The question is how ethnic difference is to be recognized. This book argues that the task is to pre-empt destructive forms of interaction between states and peoples. Autonomy arrangements have, since the 1920s, helped to resolve ethno-national conflicts in Europe. Measures reviewed include cultural independence and political representation.

Author Biography

Christian P. Scherrer is Senior Researcher in Conflict and Peace Studies at Copenhagen Peace Research Institute, COPRI, Denmark.

Table of Contents

List of Tables	x
Foreword	xi
Johan Galtung
Preface	xiii
List of Abbreviations	xxi
Introduction: Ethnos, Nations, Ethno-nationalism and Conflict	1	(2)
Minority conflicts? an attempt at definition	3	(1)
The concept of the ethnos	4	(2)
The concept of nationality	6	(2)
Politicization of the ethnic	8	(2)
Contemporary Mass Violence	10	(36)
Ethnicity and mass violence	11	(4)
Non-Clausewitzean wars and mass violence	15	(2)
Typology of violent conflicts	17	(6)
Indexes of contemporary violent conflicts	23	(16)
Trends and perspectives	39	(7)
Approaches to Identifying and Dealing with Violent Conflicts	46	(37)
Legitimate opposition in the unequal struggle for survival	49	(6)
Reorientation of peace and conflict research	55	(6)
Current state of peace research and search for peace: deficiencies and developments	61	(2)
The tasks of peace research in the twenty-first century	63	(2)
General heuristic maxims for research into ethnicity and conflict	65	(4)
The need for applied research methods	69	(1)
Development of appropriate concepts and instruments	70	(1)
The challenges of building peace	71	(12)
Peaceful Conflict Settlement, Go-between Facilitation and the Timing of Responses to Conflict	83	(39)
Dispute settlement as an instrument of international politics	85	(7)
Third party or go-between?	92	(4)
The process of escalation, timing and type of responses	96	(13)
Debate about complex political emergencies	109	(10)
Low chances for the peaceful settlement of protracted conflicts	119	(3)
Autonomy, Free Association and Self-governance	122	(64)
The fundamental right to self-determination in relation to international law	124	(4)
The concept of autonomy and the minorities question in Europe	128	(3)
Transfer of sovereignty rights via bilateral agreements	131	(1)
Self-government: elements and evaluation criteria	132	(1)
Examples of self-governance among indigenous peoples in America	133	(9)
Constructive structural elements for multi-ethnic states	142	(6)
Federation, decentralization and self-governance	148	(7)
Europe of the regions versus EU super-state?	155	(4)
Racism, xenophobia and discrimination in Europe	159	(10)
Combating racism -- ten steps forward	169	(12)
Enlargement of the European Union: dangers and gains	181	(2)
The search for a new configuration for Europe: obstacles towards a European federation	183	(3)
Nationality Policy as Violence Prevention: a Brief Comparison of Large States	186	(25)
Self-government: cases for comparison	187	(1)
The USSR model and what remains of it	187	(5)
China: a large multinational-style state	192	(4)
India's nationality policy as a model for conflict resolution?	196	(9)
The settler states of North America and the Indians: self-governance instead of tutelage?	205	(3)
Significant differences between multinational and settler states	208	(3)
The Imperative of Genocide Prevention and Elimination	211	(19)
Genocide alert and early warning system	214	(6)
Early action: the creation of a rapid reaction mechanism	220	(1)
Prosecution and deterrence	221	(3)
Enforcing international law -- new institutions, sanctions or interventions?	224	(1)
Pressure, vigilance and protection	225	(2)
Anticipating dangers -- learning lessons from past experiences	227	(3)
Summary and Conclusions	230	(4)
Notes	234	(61)
Bibliography	295	(28)
Index	323