Article in Sociology · August 000 doi: 10. 1177/S0038038500000304 citations 37 reads 5,200 author

Ethnic bargaining

Mobilisers may present themselves as altruists, as willing to make personal

sacrifices in the service of their ethnic group. Sometimes these claims are genuine,

but their motives may be more complex. Mobilisers may draw personal benefit

(either psychological or material) from a position of leadership. Since these are such

difficult areas to investigate, particular attention should be paid to the evidence of

Valery Tishkov, who was in a privileged position to observe how the ethnic dimen-

sion affected the actions of persons involved in the dissolution of the former Soviet

Union. Describing the conflict in Chechnya, he (1997b:428) testified that ‘the

personal motivations of the Chechen leaders were not limited to concerns for the

well-being and freedom of their people, even if altruism and fanatical faith could be

found among them’. He found in that particular case further persuasive evidence for

his thesis that ‘conflicts are instigated by a small faction of people promoting

interests and slogans which seem to them important and just’. An almost identical

view was expressed by the President of Burundi, Pierre Buyoya. He told a journalist

Ethnic Conflict

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that ‘There’s never been any ethnic conflict between the groups on the level of the

village. It’s the politicians who transfer their political conflicts onto the hillsides. If

the leaders say nothing, the killings don’t happen …’

Further examples showing the interests of political elites in ethnic mobilisation

feature in observations from other regions of the world. In Belgium ethnic relations

between Flemings and Walloons are often confounded with linguistic relations and

have a religious dimension also, but a political scientist (Covell 1993:293) concluded

that: