Geography as Motivation and Opportunity
Group Concentration and Ethnic Conflict
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6285801 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Nils B Weidmann (0000-0002-4791-4913, Center for Comparative and International Studies ETH Zürich, Switzerland, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2009 |
| Volume | 53 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 526-543 |
| Publication date | 2009-08-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Conflict Resolution (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0022-0027 • E-ISSN: 1552-8766 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1177/0022002709336456 |
| OpenAlex | W2018793471 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 125 |
| References cited | 45 |
The literature suggests that geographically concentrated groups face a higher likelihood of conflict. While this finding seems to be commonly accepted, there is no clear consensus that explains why this is the case. Two competing mechanisms have been proposed: first, a motivation-driven mechanism, where the existence of a well-defined group territory makes the group more likely to fight for it; and second, an opportunity-driven link, where concentration facilitates group coordination for collective action. This article aims to resolve this controversy by developing new settlement pattern indicators based on Geographic Information Systems (GIS) data. Using conflict data at the level of ethnic groups, I show that there is clear evidence in favor of the opportunity mechanism. Thus, the effect of group concentration on conflict seems to be driven by the strategic advantages for group coordination that the spatial proximity of group members provides
Action (physics · Collective action · Economic geography · Economics · Epistemology · Ethnic group · Face (sociological concept · Geography · Group (periodic table · Group conflict · Mechanism (biology · Political science · Politics · Settlement (finance · Social science · Sociology · Culture, Economy, and Development Studies · Law · Political Conflict and Governance · Psychology · Social Capital and Networks · Social Psychology
Geographies of Conflict
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Social Media, Echo Chambers, and Political Polarization
How Insurgency Begins
Giant oil discoveries and conflicts
The sources of secessionist war
Demographic Engineering and Population Alteration in Iranian Kurdistan
Territorial self-governance and proportional representation
Tying the Hands of Militants
The Decision to Use Violence
Deciphering ‘Sons of the Soil’ Conflicts
ELF Must Die
Inequalities Between Ethnic Groups, Conflict, and Political Organizations
Bringing Perpetrator and Victim Identities into Empirical Ethnic Conflict Research
Ethnic Autonomy as a Dual-Use Technology
External Cultural Ties and the Politics of Language in China
Making exit costly but efficient
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The Changing Geography of Violence in Russia's North Caucasus, 1999-2011
Integrating the Quantitative Research on the Onset and Incidence of Violent Intrastate Conflicts
Autonomist and secessionist parties in post-communist democracies. Structural and institutional factors in the study of a dynamic phenomenon
La relation entre timing de formation des répertoires du conflit et variation du degré de violence. Une analyse comparée du Liban et de la Belgique
Not Too Distant
Factionalisation from Below
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Politically Relevant Ethnic Groups across Space and Time
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Institutional Outcomes of Territorial Contestation
Natural resource wars in the shadow of the future
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Resources, violence and the telluric geographies of small wars
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A Conditional Model of Local Income Shock and Civil Conflict
Networks and Interethnic Cooperation
The Intrastate Contagion of Ethnic Civil War
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Regions of Exception
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Unraveling Secessions
Violence and Civilian Loyalties
Conflict-induced IDPs and the Spread of Conflict
Horizontal Inequality, Crosscutting Cleavages, and Civil War
Manufacturing Dissent
Explaining Violent Intra-Ethnic Conflict
Segregation, Polarization, and Ethnic Conflict
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Unequal Ground
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Ethnicity and Violence in Weak States
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World handbook of political and social indicators
The Geography of Ethnic Violence
Social mechanisms
Greed and grievance in civil war
Peace and War
The Rebel's Dilemma
Ethnicity without groups
Geography and war
Fighting over Oil
The tyranny of distance
Possible and Impossible Solutions to Ethnic Civil Wars
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One for all
Ethnic groups in conflict
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Frequency of wars and geographical opportunity
A Return Journey
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Rationalist explanations for war
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Ethnic Unmixing and Civil War
Indivisible Territory, Geographic Concentration, and Ethnic War
Local determinants of African civil wars, 1970-2001
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Atlas Narodov Mira (Atlas of the Peoples of the World)
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Relative Capability and Rebel Objective in Civil War
Armed Conflict 1946-2001
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| Unique citing works | 125 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 7,35 |
| Citation span | 2009 - 2025 (17) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | Yes |
| Citation types | Neutral: 125 |