International Journal of Conflict and Violence (IJCV - Universität Bielefeld)
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The More the Merrier? The Effects of Type of Cultural Diversity on Exclusionary Immigration Attitudes in Switzerland
Get PDFWe investigate how different types of cultural diversity influence anti-immigration attitudes across Swiss municipalities. While from a threat theory perspective, a high number of immigrants within a region increases (perceived) threat which fosters negative immigration attitudes, intergroup contact theory contends that culturally diverse societal contexts increase opportunities for contacts with immigrants, which give rise to more positive immigration attitudes. Prior research on ethnic hierarchies and host society acculturation attitudes led us to hypothesize that the presence of valued, “culturally similar” immigrants from wealthier countries increases contact and decreases threat, thereby reducing anti-immigrant prejudice. The presence of devalued, “culturally distant” immigrants from poorer countries should increase threat perceptions and dissuade contact thus heightening prejudice. A multilevel study was conducted using the 2002 European Social Survey (N = 1472 Swiss citizens, N = 185 municipalities). Replicating previous research, contact reduced exclusionary immigration attitudes through reduced threat. On the municipality level, higher proportion of North and West European immigrants increased contact, thus reducing threat. A larger proportion of Muslims was related to an increase in threat, leading to more pronounced exclusionary attitudes, but also to increased contact. Finally, we discuss how the impact of diversity depends on the social construction of immigrant categories, respondents’ social position and ideological stances, and the prevailing local ideological climate
Holocaust or Benevolent Paternalism? Intergenerational Comparisons on Collective Memories and Emotions about Belgium\u27s Colonial Past
Get PDFAfter publication of Adam Hochschild\u27s King Leopold\u27s Ghost in 1998, asserting that King Leopold II had been responsible for a "holocaust" in the Congo and the heated public debate this provoked, we set out to study Belgian people\u27s reactions to these accusations. In two studies we compared collective memories of and emotions associated with Belgium\u27s colonial action in the Congo in different generations. Results show higher levels of collective guilt and support for reparative actions among young adults than among older generations. This difference can be explained either by referring to the different ideological backgrounds in which different generations were socialized, as evidenced by stark differences in collective memories of colonialism, or by referring to the influence of national identification. Indeed, people could adapt their representations of colonialism in order to avoid experiencing a social identity threat. However, evidence for the identity-protecting functions of collective memories and collective emotions was only found in the older generations: young people held negative representations of colonialism independently of their level of national identification. We refer to the normative dimension of collective guilt to interpret these results
Indigenous Suicide and Colonization: The Legacy of Violence and the Necessity of Self-Determination
Get PDFContemporary indigenous first nations psychologists have developed an alternative frame for viewing suicide that not only shifts the focus from individual-level to group-level explanations, but challenges discourses that position group-level influences as "risk factors" that can be easily subsumed within standard repertoires for suicide prevention. First nations psychologists show the violent legacy of colonization has left a dark shadow on the contemporary lives of young people, so that around the world, suicide rates for indigenous peoples are much higher than for non-indigenous peoples in the same country. These arguments, which rely on historical accounts, cannot be neatly demonstrated using empirical data, but form an important part of a self-determination movement among indigenous peoples, directly challenging unequal power relations in society as a means to seek redress for particular issues of inequity like rates of youth suicide. We present a theoretical case study and analysis of contemporary suicide among Maori youth in New Zealand. In a traditional Maori conceptualization, individual well-being is sourced and tied to the well-being of the collective cultural identity. Therefore, individual pain is inseparable from collective pain and the role of the collective becomes that of carrying individuals who are suffering. The state of kahupo or spiritual blindness (Kruger, Pitman, et al. 2004) is characterized by a loss of hope, meaning, and purpose and an enduring sense of despair. It bears the symptoms of chronic dissociation or separation of the physical from the spiritual and vice versa. We describe community empowerment practices and social policy environments that offer pathways forward from colonization towards tino rangatiratanga, or indigenous self-determination, noting significant obstacles along the way
Atoning for Colonial Injustices: Group-Based Shame and Guilt Motivate Support for Reparation
Get PDFAn investigation of the role of group-based shame and guilt in motivating citizens of ex-colonial countries to support restitution to former colonized groups which were the target of violence and oppression. Study 1 (N = 125) was conducted in Australia during the lead-up to the first official government apology to Aboriginal Australians. Among white Australians, guilt and shame were associated with attitudinal support for intergroup apology and victim compensation. However, only shame was associated with actual political behaviour (signing a petition in support of the apology). Study 2 (N = 181), conducted in Britain, focussed on Britain\u27s violent mistreatment of the Kenyan population during decolonization. It tested a hypothesis that there are two forms of shame-essence shame and image shame-and demonstrated that image shame was associated with support for apology, whereas essence shame was associated with support for more substantial material and financial compensation. The findings are discussed in light of promoting restitution and reconciliation within nations with histories of colonial violence
Conflicts between Afar Pastoralists and their Neighbors: Triggers and Motivations
Get PDFParticularly pervasive violent conflicts in the Horn of Africa have detrimental effects on people\u27s livelihoods there. While the intensity, causes, and repercussions of violent conflicts vary spatially and temporally, pastoral areas are currently the hotspots. This paper examines the causes and consequences of violent conflicts in Ethiopia between Afar pastoralists and two of their neighbors, the Issa and the Karrayyu. The findings are based on primary data (individual interviews, group discussions, and field observations) and secondary data (documents and publications) collected in 2005 and 2006. The results indicate that contemporary challenges such as recurrent droughts, resource appropriation, livestock raiding, proliferation of small arms, and illicit trade contribute to the perpetuation of violent conflicts. While traditional institutions manage inter-clan conflicts, their effectiveness is quite limited with regard to inter-ethnic conflicts, where the contemporary challenges in pastoral areas are too diverse and complex to be managed solely by traditional institutions. The perpetuation of violent conflicts has affected the livelihoods of pastoralists, thereby causing humanitarian crisis and limiting access to resources and opportunities
Editorial: Letter from the Editors
Get PDFOur focus section this time concentrates on prejudice and intergroup conflicts, and especially on a comparative approach to understanding prejudice. Many thanks go to our guest editors Katharina Schmid (Oxford University, United Kingdom) and Andreas Zick (University of Bielefeld, Germany) who have put together a fine collection on the topic.Fortuitously, the first two of the three articles featured in our open section this time are closely related to the focus topic (and are therefore introduced in the guest editorial). The issue closes with Denis Ribeaud and Manuel Eisner’s promising exploration of the possibilities for developing a unified scale of moral neutralization of aggression
Anti-Semitism in Poland and Ukraine: The Belief in Jewish Control as a Mechanism of Scapegoating
Get PDFSystemic transition in post-communist Eastern Europe resulted in high inflation, rapid economic changes, and increased lack of control in everyday life. Atthe same time, anti-Semitic incidents were reported in this region after 1989. The ideological model of scapegoating (Glick 2002; 2005) might serve asan explanation of anti-Semitic prejudice in post-transition Eastern Europe. The model predicts that the ideology defining Jews as powerful, cunning, anddangerous would gain popularity in times of crises and would lead to greater discrimination against Jews. In two nationwide representative sample studiesof anti-Semitism, in Poland (n = 1098) and Ukraine (n = 1000), we applied the ideological model of scapegoating to study various forms of anti-Semitism(conspiracy-based belief in Jewish control and discriminatory intentions toward Jews). In both samples, economic deprivation led to increased discriminatoryintentions toward Jews; however, only in the Polish sample was deprivation linked with higher beliefs in Jewish control (scapegoat-defining ideology). InPoland the rise of conspiracy beliefs about Jewish control partially explained the effect of deprivation on discriminatory intentions toward Jews. The implicationsof these results are discussed
Are Moral Disengagement, Neutralization Techniques, and Self-Serving Cognitive Distortions the Same? Developing a Unified Scale of Moral Neutralization of Aggression
Get PDFCan the three concepts of Neutralization Techniques, Moral Disengagement, and Secondary Self-Serving Cognitive Distortions be conceived theoretically and empiricallyas capturing the same cognitive processes and thus be measured with one single scale of Moral Neutralization? First, we show how the different approaches overlap conceptually. Second, in Study 1, we verify that four scales derived from the three conceptions of Moral Neutralization are correlated in such a way that they can be conceived as measuring the same phenomenon. Third, building on the results of Study 1, we derive a unified scale of Moral Neutralization which specifically focuses on the neutralization of aggression and test it in a large general population sample of preadolescents (Study 2). Confirmatory factor analyses suggest a good internal consistency and acceptable cross-gender factorial invariance. Correlation analyses with related behavioral and cognitive constructs corroborate the scale’s criterion and convergent validity. In the final section we present a possible integration of Moral Neutralization in a broader framework of crime causation
Ethnicised Politics: Patterns of Interpretation of Rwandans and Burundians
Get PDFFollowing Peter Berger and Thomas Luckmann (1991) this study focuses on taken-for-granted notions, i.e. knowledge (defining ethnicised politics asexclusioninterpreted with reference to ethnic categories). This represents a departure from the conventional academic discussion of ethnicised politics, which focuseson exclusion inherent to the structures of political systems when seeking to explain violent conflict aligned along ethnic cleavages. The study compares twoneighbouring countries, Rwanda and Burundi, where different institutional models have been introduced to overcome ethnicised politics following comparableepisodes of ethnic violence. Whereas the Rwandan system avoids political representation based on ethnic categories, the Burundian system prescribes ethnicquotas. Semi-standardised interviews with twenty-two Rwandans and twenty Burundians conducted between September 2007 and May 2008 investigated ethnicisedpolitics as patterns of interpretation (i.e. knowledge). The study found that notwithstanding the different political institutional systems in Rwanda andBurundi (both aiming to overcome ethnicised politics), exclusion in both systems is interpreted with reference to ethnic categories, i.e. politics are ethnicisedin both countries. This result points to the importance of conceiving ethnicised politics as historically produced knowledge, i.e. patterns of interpretation