Collective Action, Transformation of Ethnic Boundaries and Civic Violence

• In Event: 066 - Section on Political Sociology Roundtables (one-hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 02. Citizenship and Inclusion

Abstract

With the dual rise of democracy and ethnic conflict in the post-Cold War period, various scholars contested the view that democracy is a magical solution to ethnic conflicts that plague various parts of the developing world and particular attention was given to the conflict bearing potential of democracy in ‘multi-ethnic’, plural, divided/ post-conflict societies. However, current scholarship on ‘democracy in divided/post-conflict societies’ fails to capture the dynamic nature of ethnic conflict-democracy relationship due to its formalistic/elite-centered approach towards democratization and static understanding of inter-group relations. Guided by this dual critique and through an analysis of the case of Turkey, which has witnessed an upsurge of civic ethnic violence directed to the Kurdish migrant population in Western cities of Turkey in the post-2000 period, this paper provides a more grounded picture of the relation between democracy, ethnic relations, and violence in so-called ‘divided’ societies. Instead of taking the ‘political cleavages’ and boundaries between groups as static and given, this paper inquires how ‘us-them’ boundaries between Kurdish and Turkish civilians are formed, transformed and activated in the course of democratization process. Drawing insights from boundary-making approaches in ethnic relations and literature on social movements/contentious politics, and based on 75 in-depth interviews conducted in districts with high levels of ethnic violence in Turkey, this paper shows the prominent role of democratization movements from below the formation of ethnic boundaries, and emergence of violent ethnic relations.

Author

• Sefika Kumral, Johns Hopkins University