Stronger than Yesterday: The Effect of Ethnic Conflict on Ethnic Identity

Abstract

Previous literature has limited discussion of the effect of ethnic conflict on ethnic identity. The conventional position claims that ethnic conflict hardens ethnic identity, but this claim has yet to be tested quantitatively (Kaufmann, 1996). Moreover, contrasting literature questions the effect of ethnic conflict on identity due to the existence of ethnic defection (Kalyvas, 2008;Lyall 2010). This study argues that ethnic conflict causes ethnic identity to harden because individuals seek out and identify with co-ethnics for survival (Toft, 2012). Using Afrobarometer survey data, a mixed effects logistic regression finds that the presence of ethnic conflict, as well as conflict duration and intensity, has a negative and significant relationship with ethnic identity. These findings indicate that incidents of ethnic conflict cause ethnic identity to weaken, and conflicts with longer duration and higher intensity are more likely to weaken ethnic identity.