Ethnocracy Without Groups: Conceptualising Ethnocratiser States Without Reifying Ethnic Categories

Abstract

Attwell, K. (2016) Ethnocracytheir populations. They do so by demarcating the population into ethnic categories. They apply labels to individuals and hierarchically order the categories to which they are deemed to belong, awarding one cohort more privilege than the other. Existing literature on such states has obscured the processes by which states reify and institutionalise identity, instead presenting it through groupist frames in which ethnicity is a pre-existing variable. Reconceptualising the doing of ethnicity as a process enables us to study internal dissent against ethnic privilege and consider its transformational capacity in inspiring new nationalist discourses.

Unbuilding from the Inside: Leadership and Democratization in South Africa and South Korea

“…Moving towards a multiparty competitive regime does provide an option for the dictatorial party to extract itself from power, but the lack of an established base of verifiable legitimacy means that such a move involves a significant degree of risk. In cases of ethnic, tribal or religious divisions within society, the risk of losing power may be amplified as previously excluded groups may seek retribution (on ethnocracies see Attwell 2015). Therefore, the desire of a party-based authoritarian system to maintain power will probably be greater than that of a military regime.…”

“…In cases of ethnic, tribal or religious divisions within society, the risk of losing power may be amplified as previously excluded groups may seek retribution (on ethnocracies see Attwell 2015). Therefore, the desire of a party-based authoritarian system to maintain power will probably be greater than that of a military regime.…”