Bringing perpetrator and victim identities into empirical ethnic conflict research

Abstract

Recent research situated at the sub-national level has vastly increased our understanding of the motives and conditions that drive the outbreak of ethnic conflict. Data- collection efforts that have focused on identifying group-level characteristics, such as their geographic location, the types of discrimination they endure, and the relationship they have with the state, have been crucial to this process. I argue that we now need to advance data-collection efforts at the individual level, with regards to perpetrator and victim characteristics, in order to understand the intricate and changing dynamics of contention that occur once collective violence has already begun. This includes expanding our theoretical and empirical knowledge on the dynamics of non-lethal forms of violence, such as displacement, gender-based violence, and the use of forced labour.