Intergroup Relations in the Shadow of Conflict: Evidence from the Middle East

Session Submission Type: Full Paper Panel

Session Description

Does intergroup contact reduce prejudice? What explains intragroup policing? Might online interventions alleviate intergroup animosity? Given the prevalence of ethnic, racial and religious diversity in modern states, intergroup relations are central to our understanding of domestic and international politics. Understanding intergroup relations is especially pertinent in conflict and post-conflict environments, as violence and unrest are often driven by, or at least related to group preferences and identities. Yet the empirical study of intergroup relations in conflict prone countries poses logistical and methodological constraints, which often limit the ability of scholars to implement rigorous empirical work. This panel aims to bring together scholars of ethnic politics, conflicts, and intergroup relations, in order to advance a better understanding of the dynamics of intergroup relations in the Middle East. More specifically, the panel will consider rigorous empirical advances which provide new evidence on long lasting questions relating to the emergence of group norms, the transformation of attitudes and behaviors, and the relations between group and state institutions under conflict.

Sub Unit

• DIVISION 21: Conflict Processes

Individual Presentations

• #No2Sectarianism: Experimental Approaches to Reducing Sectarian Hate Speech - Alexandra Arons Siegel, Stanford University

• Frames for Ingroup Policing: Evidence from Group-based Experiments in Israel - David Alexander Romney, Harvard University

• Overcoming the Trust Deficit: Associational Life and Intergroup Contact in Iraq - Salma Mousa, Stanford University

• Intergroup Contact & Attitudes: A Natural Experiment in Israeli Medical Clinics - Chagai Weiss, University of Wisconsin - Madison

Chair

• Donald P. Green Columbia University

Discussant

• Thomas Zeitzoff American University