Places to Hide: Terrain, Ethnicity, and Civil Conflict

Carter, David B.; Shaver, Andrew; Wright, Austin L.

doi:10.1086/704597

Cited by 20 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 34 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Figure 11 and Tables 2-5 illustrate the results of this analysis, following the example from Carter et al (2019). Figure 11 summarizes the main take-away from our results visually, whereas Tables 2-5 display the estimates from our models.…”

Section: Mechanisms Of Backfire: Reducing Movement Of People and Incr...mentioning

confidence: 85%

Why Physical Barriers Backfire: How Immigration Enforcement Deters Return and Increases Asylum Applications

Schon

Leblang

2021

Comparative Political Studies

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

What, if any, effect do physical barriers have on cross-border population movements? The foundational claim that barriers reduce migration flows remains unsupported. We conceptualize barriers as a tool of immigration enforcement, which we contend is one form of state repression. State repression could reduce mobilization (reduce immigration), have no effect on mobilization (barriers as symbolic political tools), or increase mobilization (backfire). We evaluate the relationship between barriers and cross-border population movements using a global directed dyad-year dataset for the 1990–2016 time period of all contiguous dyads and nearby non-contiguous dyads. Using instrumental variables, we find that physical barriers actually increase refugee flows, consistent with the “backfire effect” identified in research on United States immigration enforcement policies on its Mexican border. Furthermore, we find that state repression (immigration enforcement) creates this “backfire effect” via a “sunk costs” problem that reduces movements of people and increases movement of status from migrant to refugee.

show abstract

Section: Mechanisms Of Backfire: Reducing Movement Of People and Incr...mentioning

confidence: 85%

Why Physical Barriers Backfire: How Immigration Enforcement Deters Return and Increases Asylum Applications

Schon

Leblang

2021

Comparative Political Studies

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…40 However, a significant share of the effect of ruggedness on civil war is mediated by political exclusion. 41 States emphasize sovereignty over the group territory based on strategic considerations of maintaining territorial integrity, where territorial control helps to ensure physical survival. 42 Deterring potential secessionists in multinational states avoids precedent setting but might lead to indivisible conflicts.…”

Section: Self-determination and Territorymentioning

confidence: 99%

Why Escalate?: Symbolic Territory and Strategy Choice in Conflicts Over Self-Determination

Kelle

2021

Nationalism and Ethnic Politics

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The quest for self-determination on the basis of shared identities motivates many subnational conflicts worldwide, but our understanding of the linkages between identity, contested land, and strategies is incomplete. What role do symbolic territorial attachments play for strategy choice in self-determination demands? I argue that groups tend to escalate their demands if they can exploit mobilization advantages of symbolic territory, creating identity-based territorial focal points for mobilization. I present new data on strategy choice in self-determination demands worldwide between 2005 and 2015. Using multinomial logit estimations, I find that symbolic territory contributes to limited degrees of escalation, and discourages armed conflict.

show abstract

“…In Africa, for example, numerous regions historically controlled by chiefs still possess their autonomy (Herbst 2000). Peripheral regions with difficult terrains, in particular, have long incubated a variety of local communities, which are often divided along ethnic lines (Carter, Shaver, and Wright 2019;Scott 2010). Due to the geographical barriers, these ethnic groups are segregated from each other and separated from the state (Fearon and Laitin 2003;Hendrix 2011;Tollefsen and Buhaug 2015).…”

Section: State Capacity Restricts State Presencementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Second, regional powers are more likely to be stronger in areas settled by disadvantaged ethnic minorities because these groups are more likely to establish their own authority. Co-ethnics often live concentratedly in their own space (Balcells, Daniels, and Escribà-Folch 2016;Carter, Shaver, and Wright 2019;Cederman, Gleditsch, and Buhaug 2013). This geographic proximity facilitates the construction of a unique social order and mobilization for collective actions.…”

Section: Two Conditions: Remoteness and Ethnic Diversitymentioning

confidence: 99%

How State Presence Leads to Civil Conflict

Ying

2020

Journal of Conflict Resolution

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Political scientists and policy-makers have long argued that state weakness leads to civil conflict while enhancing state power helps prevent violence. Why, then, has increased state capacity worldwide recently coincided with more civil conflicts? This study argues that enhanced state presence at the sub-national level—a symptom of growing state capacity—may induce violent resistance from the established non-state powers such as local leaders and communities in the short term. Empirically, I conduct two analyses, one at the province level and the other at the ethnic group level. To measure state presence, I use accuracy of census data in the first analysis and global ground transportation data in the second analysis. Results demonstrate that increased state presence triggers civil conflict, particularly in the first five years of such increasing state presence, and this effect is stronger in remote and ethnically heterogeneous regions. Evidence also suggests that ethnic groups settled in peripheral regions are prominent resisters to state penetration. This paper thus expands prior understanding of the role of state power in civil conflicts.

show abstract

Places to Hide: Terrain, Ethnicity, and Civil Conflict

Cited by 20 publications

References 34 publications

Why Physical Barriers Backfire: How Immigration Enforcement Deters Return and Increases Asylum Applications

Why Physical Barriers Backfire: How Immigration Enforcement Deters Return and Increases Asylum Applications

Why Escalate?: Symbolic Territory and Strategy Choice in Conflicts Over Self-Determination

How State Presence Leads to Civil Conflict

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About