Social identity, inequality and conflict |
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Authors: | James A Robinson |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Political Science, University of California at Berkeley, 210 Barrows Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA (e-mail: jamesar@socrates.berkeley.edu) , US |
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Abstract: | I extend the standard materialistic rational choice model of conflict to consider groups. In particular, I consider how the
aggregate amount of conflict in society depends on which groups form and oppose each other. The study is motivated by empirical
findings about the relationship between inequality, conflict and economic development. I focus on a salient comparison: ethnic
groups vs. social classes. I show that, contrary to the conventional wisdom, class conflict is not necessarily worse than
ethnic conflict. In fact, ethnic conflict is general worse when the distribution of income is more equal. I also investigate
the impact of the fact that while ethnicity is immutable, since there is social mobility, class is not. I show that the direct
impact of mobility of conflict is as conventionally believed, but that there are important indirect effects which make the
net effect ambiguous.
Received: June, 1998 / Accepted: November 22, 1999 |
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Keywords: | :groups social mobility cleavages conflict |
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