Evolutionary Theory and Ethnic Conflict

Evolutionary Theory and Ethnic Conflict PDF Author: Patrick James
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 0313074674
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 286

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Book Description
James and Goetze bring together contributors of varied backgrounds, ranging from evolutionary theorists to game theorists to analysts of specific ethnic conflict. Their work represents a coherent attempt at evaluating the usefulness of evolutionary theories for explaining ethnic phenomena and demonstrates how these theories can be applied in attempts to elucidate real-world behaviors. This study found that kinship theory that posits evolved dispositions to form cooperative bonds with family, ethnic groups and other social groups may go a long way in accounting for the formation of ethnic groups. Also, ingroup-outgroup theory may contribute to understanding how group conflict commences. Likewise, the description of evolved mechanisms for discerning threat, for building reputations, and for recognizing individuals, groups, and states as possible cooperators and long-term allies may facilitate explanation of the outbreak and avoidance of group conflicts. This also may explain the design of conscious strategies for conflict prevention and resolution. Nonetheless, several contributors take a more critical stance and offer ample reason why building these explanations may prove elusive or at least troublesome given the complex character of human societies. This work is a provocative resource for scholars, students, and other researchers involved with ethnicity and ethnic conflict, international relations, social psychology, and social anthropology.

Evolutionary Theory and Ethnic Conflict

Evolutionary Theory and Ethnic Conflict PDF Author: Patrick James
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 0313074674
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 286

Get Book Here

Book Description
James and Goetze bring together contributors of varied backgrounds, ranging from evolutionary theorists to game theorists to analysts of specific ethnic conflict. Their work represents a coherent attempt at evaluating the usefulness of evolutionary theories for explaining ethnic phenomena and demonstrates how these theories can be applied in attempts to elucidate real-world behaviors. This study found that kinship theory that posits evolved dispositions to form cooperative bonds with family, ethnic groups and other social groups may go a long way in accounting for the formation of ethnic groups. Also, ingroup-outgroup theory may contribute to understanding how group conflict commences. Likewise, the description of evolved mechanisms for discerning threat, for building reputations, and for recognizing individuals, groups, and states as possible cooperators and long-term allies may facilitate explanation of the outbreak and avoidance of group conflicts. This also may explain the design of conscious strategies for conflict prevention and resolution. Nonetheless, several contributors take a more critical stance and offer ample reason why building these explanations may prove elusive or at least troublesome given the complex character of human societies. This work is a provocative resource for scholars, students, and other researchers involved with ethnicity and ethnic conflict, international relations, social psychology, and social anthropology.

Evolutionary Theory and Ethnic Conflict

Evolutionary Theory and Ethnic Conflict PDF Author: Patrick James
Publisher: Praeger
ISBN: 0275971430
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Annotation Explores the general usefulness of evolutionary theory to the understanding of ethnic phenomena.

Darwin and International Relations

Darwin and International Relations PDF Author: Bradley A. Thayer
Publisher: University Press of Kentucky
ISBN: 0813181445
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 692

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Book Description
“Shows a mastery of research and theory in both biology and international relations and weaves the two fields together in a compelling fashion.” —Dr. Steven A. Peterson, Director, School of Public Affairs, Penn State Pathbreaking and controversial, Darwin and International Relations offers the first comprehensive analysis of international affairs of state through the lens of evolutionary theory. Using ethnological and statistical studies of warfare among tribal societies, Bradley A. Thayer argues that humans wage war for reasons predicted by evolutionary theory?to gain and protect vital resources but also for the physically and emotionally stimulating effects of combat. Thayer demonstrates that an evolutionary understanding of disease will become a more important part of the study of international relations as new strains of diseases emerge and advances in genetics make biological warfare a more effective weapon for states and terrorists. He also explains the deep causes of ethnic conflict by illuminating how xenophobia and ethnocentrism evolved in humans. He notes that these behaviors once contributed to our ancestors’ success in radically different environments, but they remain a part of us. Darwin and International Relations makes a major contribution to our understanding of human history and the future of international relations. “Obligatory reading for social and life scientists alike, and deserves to become a standard work in political science.” —International History Review “A thoughtful book that can challenge some of our comfortable assumptions.” —Journal of Military History “Outstanding! This book will become a standard work in political science.” —Roger D. Masters, Dartmouth College

Theory and Practice in Ethnic Conflict Management

Theory and Practice in Ethnic Conflict Management PDF Author: M. Ross
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 0230513085
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 280

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Book Description
Throughout the world there are efforts both large and small to address ethnic conflicts-identity based disputes between groups who are unable to live side-by-side in the same state. This book brings together a collection of case studies on interventions in ethnic conflicts throughout the world in which the nature of the state is a core concern (Turkey, Russia, Macedonia, Guatemala, Israel, Cyprus, Northern Ireland, South Africa, US) and asks how the projects themselves understand success and failure in ethnic conflict resolution. It emphasises the complexity and importance of better understanding ways in which small-scale interventions can sometimes have a large impact on large-scale ethnic conflict, and how the goals of the intervenors shift as the participants redefine the identities and interest at stake.

Darwin and International Relations: On the Evolutionary Origins of War and Ethnic Conflict

Darwin and International Relations: On the Evolutionary Origins of War and Ethnic Conflict PDF Author: Bradley A. Thayer
Publisher: University Press of Kentucky
ISBN: 9780813129464
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 452

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Book Description


Fundamental Theories of Ethnic Conflict

Fundamental Theories of Ethnic Conflict PDF Author: Kyendo, Muli wa
Publisher: Syokimau Cultural Centre
ISBN: 9966702067
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 156

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Book Description
This book develops and expands on theories that aim at explaining the root causes of ethnic and racial conflicts. The aim is to shift focus from research, policies and strategies based on tackling the effects of ethnic and racial conflicts, which have so far been ineffective as evidenced by the increase in ethnic conflicts, to more fundamental ideas, models and strategies. Contents extend across many disciplines including evolution, biology, religion, communication, mythology and even introspective perspectives. Drawn from around the world, contributors to the book are respected and experienced award winning authors, scholars and thinkers with deep understanding of their special fields of contribution. The book was inspired by the conditions in Kenya, where ethnic violence flared up with terrifying consequences following a disputed election in 2008. Although the conflict was resolved by the intervention of the international community, Kenyans – like many other Africans - continue to live in fear of ethnic conflicts breaking out with more disastrous consequences. The book will be useful to policy makers, NGOs and others involved in promoting peace. It will also be useful in guiding research and as a text book in universities and colleges.

Darwinian Politics

Darwinian Politics PDF Author: Paul H. Rubin
Publisher: Rutgers University Press
ISBN: 9780813530963
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 250

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Book Description
An examination of political behaviour from a modern evolutionary perspective. Paul H. Rubin discusses group or social behaviour, including: ethnic and racial conflict; altruism and co-operation; envy; political power; and the role of religion in politics.

The Origins of Unfairness

The Origins of Unfairness PDF Author: Cailin O'Connor
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0198789971
Category : Equality
Languages : en
Pages : 255

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Book Description
In almost every human society some people get more and others get less. Why is inequity the rule in these societies? In The Origins of Unfairness, philosopher Cailin O'Connor firstly considers how groups are divided into social categories, like gender, race, and religion, to address this question. She uses the formal frameworks of game theory and evolutionary game theory to explore the cultural evolution of the conventions which piggyback on these seemingly irrelevant social categories. These frameworks elucidate a variety of topics from the innateness of gender differences, to collaboration in academia, to household bargaining, to minority disadvantage, to homophily. They help to show how inequity can emerge from simple processes of cultural change in groups with gender and racial categories, and under a wide array of situations. The process of learning conventions of coordination and resource division is such that some groups will tend to get more and others less. O'Connor offers solutions to such problems of coordination and resource division and also shows why we need to think of inequity as part of an ever evolving process. Surprisingly minimal conditions are needed to robustly produce phenomena related to inequity and, once inequity emerges in these models, it takes very little for it to persist indefinitely. Thus, those concerned with social justice must remain vigilant against the dynamic forces that push towards inequity.

Risky Transactions

Risky Transactions PDF Author: Frank K. Salter
Publisher: Berghahn Books
ISBN: 9781571817105
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 328

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Book Description
Trust is a central feature of relationships within the Mafia, oppressed minorities, kin groups everywhere, among dissidents, nationalist freedom fighters, ethnic tourists, ethnic middlemen, exchange networks of Kalahari Bushmen, and families subjected to Stalinist social control. Each of these types of trust is examined by a leading scholar and compared with the expectations of neo-Darwinian theory, in particular the theories of kin selection and ethnic nepotism. The result is a fascinating, theoretically focused yet empirically eclectic contribution to the overlapping fields of human ethnology, evolutionary psychology, and bio-politics. The common thread uniting these diverse phenomena is a trusting relationship predicated on altruism. Chapters examine the strengths and limits of human trust under various stressers and temptations to defect. By exploring the relationship between kin and ethnic altruism and showing its sensitivity to culture, Risky Transactions recasts the evolutionary approach to ethnicity as a blend of primordial and instrumental factors.

The Oxford Handbook of Evolutionary Perspectives on Violence, Homicide, and War

The Oxford Handbook of Evolutionary Perspectives on Violence, Homicide, and War PDF Author: Todd K. Shackelford
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0199738408
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 564

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Book Description
This volume synthesizes the theoretical and empirical work of leading scholars in the evolutionary sciences to produce an extensive and authoritative review of this literature.