Quantcast
Channel: ReliefWeb Updates
Viewing all articles
Browse latest Browse all 14548

Nigeria: Solidarity with a sharp edge: Communal conflict and local collective action in rural Nigeria

0
0
Source: Institute of Development Studies
Country: Nigeria

Max Schaub
HiCN Working Paper 183

September 2014

Abstract: This paper provides new insights into the link between the experience of violent conflict and local collective action. I use the temporal and geographical information from four rounds of survey data from Nigeria to relate measures of cooperation to past and future incidences of communal conflict. I show that local collective action, measured in terms of community meeting attendance and volunteering, is highest before the out-break of violence – higher than both post-conflict levels and the generally lower levels of cooperation in regions not affected by violence. I develop a ‘mobilisation mechanism’ to explain these findings, arguing that, rather than being an indicator of ‘social capital’, collective action ahead of communal violence is inherently ambiguous, and driven by a form of situationally adaptive (and potentially aggressive) ‘solidarity with an edge’. I further show that the positive link between previous exposure to civil war-type violence and co-operation holds for Nigeria, too, but that it holds for rural areas only.

read the full report


Viewing all articles
Browse latest Browse all 14548

Latest Images

Trending Articles





Latest Images