Violence Through Environmental Discrimination : Causes, Rwanda Arena, and Conflict Model

Günther Baechler

ISBN 10: 0792354958 / ISBN 13: 9780792354956

Editore: Springer Nov 1998, 1998

Riguardo questo articolo

Neuware - Since all-out interstate wars for the time being seem to belong to the past, con flict studies focus more and more on domestic conflicts. This is a broad field, not only because the arbitrary line between war and sub-war violence disap pears and the analyst is confronted with phenomena reaching from criminal violence and clashes between communities to violent conflicts of long duration and civil wars with massacres and genocides as their characteristics. It is also because there are so many different types of conflicts to be analyzed, so many different types of behavior to be studied, whereas there is often little informa tion available on what is really going on. Against the background of internal conflicts, which tend to be as protracted as diffuse in terms of time, intensity, actors, and their goals, this study aims to follow a specific pathway through the current thicket of violent circumstances. It focuses on causation patterns by exploring the causal role of the environ mental factor in the genesis of violent conflicts occurring today and probably even more so tomorrow. This approach, which for once does not focus on a specific level of the conflict system, on one area in the conflict geography, or on a specific category of actors, analyzes causation dynamics.

Codice articolo 9780792354956

Dati bibliografici

• Titolo: Violence Through Environmental Discrimination : Causes, Rwanda Arena, and Conflict Model
• Editore: Springer Nov 1998
• Data di pubblicazione: 1998
• Lingua: Inglese
• ISBN 10: 0792354958
• ISBN 13: 9780792354956
• Rilegatura: Buch
• Condizione: Neu
• Dimensioni: 241 L x 160 A x 24 P (millimetri) 241 millimetri di larghezza per 160 millimetri di altezza per 24 millimetri di profondità
• Peso: 688 grammi

Descrizione articolo

Riassunto

The degradation of renewables, both land and freshwater, worldwide leads to conflict over access and distribution of these resources. However, not all conflicts become violent. Environmentally-caused violence is hardly found in relations between states. Today, mainly in developing countries, there is a correlation between environmental degradation and violent conflicts. This synthesis of 40 case studies indicates, there are different causal pathways of current violent conflicts and wars that can be traced to the environmental roots of the conflict. Rwanda is used as an example to demonstrate the interaction of ethnic, social, political and ecological factors. Whereas most studies in this field focus on classical security issues, the author here puts an emphasis on growing structural heterogeneity in agricultural societies which tend to discriminate chiefly against those rural producers who are the victims of bad resource allocations, unequal resource distribution, high dependence on natural capital, and bad state performance. One major conclusion to be discussed among scholars, teachers, and advanced students and to be taken seriously by professionals in international organizations is the following: competing land tenure systems, unclear property rights, large-scale farming, and nationalizing land by discriminating against small-holders, pastoralists and the landless. This provides a considerable potential for conflict and, thus, contributes to unsustainable resource use, social unrest, and political instability.

Contenuti

1 Introduction: The Transformation of Society-Nature Relationship.- 2 Discussion: State of the Art.- 3 Correlations: Environment, Maldevelopment, and Violent Conflict.- 4 Typology: Types of Conflicts and the Role of the Environment.- 5 Case Study: Why Environmental Discrimination Caused Violence on the ‘Mille Collines’.- 6 Model: Causal Relationship between Environmental Transformation and Violent Conflict.- 7 Empirical Evidence: Six Area Studies and Six Control Cases to Check the Model.- 8 Outlook: Conflict Potential, Sustainable Development, and Environmental Security.- 9 Appendix: Tables.- 10 Glossary.- 11 Bibliography.