POLI 361 Lecture Notes - Lecture 27: Conditionality

• School: UBC
• Department: Political Science
• Course: POLI 361
• Professor: Michael Weaver

Document Summary

As i discussed in class, there is a key dilemma that the material from this course presents. Non- violent efforts to stop or prevent ethnic or racial violence and oppression are direct assaults on the status quo of an ethnic or racial boundary. Moreover, attempts to reduce or eliminate forms of ethnic or racial violence or oppression against a particular group are also, by definition, also attempts to change the relative status of ethnic or racial groups. As we saw when we discussed relational models theory and social identity theory, it is also the case that challenges (perceived or real) to ethnic boundaries and the status of privileged groups also are tightly linked to violence. While these efforts to use non-violence, in part, seek to make violent reprisals backfire, we nevertheless have a potential dilemma that attempts to stop or prevent ethnic or racial violence may in fact intensify it.