Civil War and the Polarization of Ethnic Identities: Evidence from Bosnia - Chris Price (2.20.20)

While recent findings suggest that violence during civil war can generate pro-social behavior, why do we often see polarization between groups based on ethnic, religious, or sectarian differences after conflict? What conditions explain why we see this in some cases, but not others? These questions matter, given that polarization complicates peacebuilding, affects post-war party politics, and may lead to a return to conflict. Presenting evidence from Bosnia, Price argues that how violence is targeted during civil war is essential to explaining the observed variation. Collective violence increases the salience of group identity while selective violence is unlikely to provoke these responses. Where these changes are widespread, they aggregate into cleavages, the social divisions which define political competition, and these results may persist well past the initial conflict.