Beyond Ethnicity: The Global Comparative Analysis of Ethnic Conflict

Abstract

It is argued that ethnic conflict should not be understood purely in terms of boundaries of difference leading to boundaries of hostility. Instead, it is recommended that further attention be paid to why, & under what conditions, some boundaries of difference become boundaries of conflict. The examples of ethnicity in Serbia & in Malaysia are examined in further detail in order to demonstrate the contingent nature of ethnicity. However, the prominence of ethnicity in the last century is acknowledged for two reasons: the framing of the state as the political organ of the nation opens up the possibility of minoritized ethnicities; &, modern states continue to express nationhood as an ancestral formation. In spite of this, it is argued that ethnic identities only take on prominence at moments of crisis in the nation state. 33 References. R. Prince