Noxious Fumes of Nationalism

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Noxious Fumes of Nationalism NOXIOUS FUMES OF NATIONALISM Master of Science in Peace and Conflict Studies Thesis Words: 22 987 Submitted: May 22, 2017 Author: Kristen E. Hope Advisor: Angela Muvumba-Sellström ABSTRACT This study is an investigation into the psychosociological causes of ethnic war through the lens of contact theory. Using group identity salience, perceptions of inequality, perception of threat and negative outgroup attitudes (NOAs) including prejudice and nationalism, this study introduces a supra-theory called the negative contact spiral to explain a gap in contact theory, namely the rare but powerful negative effects of intergroup contact. The study predicts that salience of ethnic identity leads to NOAs, both directly and via either perception of outgroups as threat or via perception of intergroup inequalities, but finds weak and mixed support for all predictions. A comparative case study of Yugoslavia from 1978-1982 and from 1987-1991 was used. Strongest support shows that a perception of inequalities leads to NOAs, and unexpectedly, strong support was also found for perception of inequality leading to perception of threat and for perception of threat for one group to lead to perception of threat for another. Support for the predictions of the negative contact spiral in general are weak and mixed. Further study is recommended to parse out the actual relationships between the variables studied in the spiral. The title is inspired by a quote from Warren Zimmerman, the last US ambassador to Yugoslavia: “The aggressive nationalism emanating like noxious fumes from the leaders of Serbia and Croatia and their even more extreme advisers, officials, media manipulators, and allies had cast the die for disintegration and violence.” (Zimmermann 1995) 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract ................................................................................................................................ 2 Table of Contents ................................................................................................................. 3 List of Figures and Tables .................................................................................................... 7 Glossary of Terms ................................................................................................................ 8 Foreword .............................................................................................................................. 9 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 10 Previous Research ............................................................................................................... 12 Contact Theory ............................................................................................................... 12 Current state of the debate .............................................................................................................. 12 Other Known Factors in Contact Theory ............................................................................................................... 13 Research Gap (addressed with ‘psychosocial geology’) ................................... 14 Research Question .......................................................................................................... 15 Theory ................................................................................................................................. 15 The Four Factors: Definition and State of the Literature on each Factor . 18 Salience .............................................................................................................................................. 18 Negative Outgroup Attitudes (Prejudice and Ethnonationalism) ................................ 19 Perception of Outgroups as Threat ............................................................................................... 20 Inequalities ......................................................................................................................................... 20 Interactions between the Four Factors .......................................................................... 21 Salience and Negative Outgroup Attitudes ................................................................................. 22 Salience and Inequalities ................................................................................................................ 23 3 Inequalities and Negative Outgroup Attitudes ........................................................................... 24 Salience and Threat .......................................................................................................................... 25 Threat and Negative Outgroup Attitudes .................................................................................... 26 The Power of Negative Contact ............................................................................................................................... 26 Methods/Research Design .................................................................................................. 28 Case Studies in General .................................................................................................. 28 Structured Focused Comparison (SFC) ........................................................................ 29 Process Tracing (PT) ...................................................................................................... 30 Case Selection ................................................................................................................. 30 Operationalisations ......................................................................................................... 32 Salience .............................................................................................................................................. 33 Negative Outgroup Attitudes (NOAs) ......................................................................................... 33 Intervening Variables ...................................................................................................................... 34 Controls .............................................................................................................................................. 35 Hypotheses ......................................................................................................................................... 36 Falsifiability ....................................................................................................................................... 37 Data Collection ............................................................................................................... 38 Findings and Analysis ........................................................................................................ 39 Analysis structure ........................................................................................................... 39 General Analysis Discussion ........................................................................................... 39 SFC of Salience ................................................................................................................................ 40 SFC Question I: Census Data – Case 1 .................................................................................................................. 40 SFC Question I: Census Data – Case 2 .................................................................................................................. 41 4 SFC Question II: Evidence People often Classified by Ethnicity Case 1 ....................................................... 42 SFC Question II: Evidence People often Classified by Ethnicity Case 2 ....................................................... 43 SFC of NOAs .................................................................................................................. 44 Question III: Everyday People Expressing NOAs in Case 1 ............................................................................. 45 Question III: Everyday People Expressing NOAs in Case Two ....................................................................... 45 Question IV: Leaders Expressing NOAs in Case 1 ............................................................................................. 47 Question IV: Leaders Expressing NOAs in Case 2 ............................................................................................. 47 Question V: Intermarriage in Case 1 ....................................................................................................................... 48 Question V: Intermarriage in Case 2 ....................................................................................................................... 49 Process Tracing .............................................................................................................. 50 Case 1 – 1978-1982 Process Tracing ........................................................................................... 51 1978 – 1980 .................................................................................................................................................................. 51 1981 ................................................................................................................................................................................ 51 1982 ...............................................................................................................................................................................
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