Security studies II

19-20 octobre 2012

Dr. Ravi Bhavnani, Associate Professor, Political Science and International Relations, Graduate Institute, Geneva

Dr. David Backer, Assistant Director, Center for International Development & Conflict Management, University of Maryland, College Park

Karsten Donnay, Chair of Sociology, Modelling and Simulation, ETH Zurich

Research on the causes of violence in civil war is divided on the question of ethnicity.  On one hand, scholars argue that ethnicity plays a significant role in motivating individuals to initiate and/or participate in violence.  In contrast, others suggest that ethnicity is at best secondary to economic and other material considerations that motivate individual participation in violence.  The second security studies module will address scholarly debates, both theoretical and methodological, on the role of ethnicity in civil war.  

Day 1 provides an overview of theoretical approaches.  Specifically, we introduce the concept and commonly used measures of ethnicity, review grievance and opportunity-based based explanations for violence, and explanations that emphasize the geography of violence.

Day 2 covers issues of methods, introducing prominent datasets and methodological approaches used by scholars to assess the role of ethnicity in civil war.  Here, we review key datasets in use and under development, as well as different methods of analysis, including regression, spatial regression, agent-based and evidence-driven models. 

Program:

Friday, 19 October 2012

10h00 – 10h30

Welcome and Introduction

Backer, Bhavnani, and Donnay

10h30 – 12h00

The Role of Ethnicity: Concept and Measures

Bhavnani and Donnay

14h00 – 16h00

Grievance and Opportunity Based Explanations for Violence

Backer and Bhavnani

16h30 – 18h00

Disaggregating Violence: The Role of Geography

Bhavnani and Backer

Saturday, 20 October 2012

10h00 – 12h00

Data Sets on Civil War

Donnay and Backer

14h00 – 16h00

Methods for (Spatially and Temporally) Disaggregated Analysis

Donnay and Bhavnani

16h30 – 18h00

Concluding Discussion

Backer, Bhavnani, Donnay

IHEID

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