Grievances and rebellion: Comparing relative deprivation and horizontal inequality

Abstract

Social science answers to the essential question of group conflict have focused on two main explanations—their motivating “grievances” and their mobilization “capacity” for collective action. Recent years have seen a renewed focus on grievances in the form of horizontal inequalities (between-group inequality), but the important conceptual and potential empirical differences between horizontal inequality and relative deprivation have not yet been incorporated into this discussion fully. This article first discusses these distinctions, and then assesses how they influence collective violence using new global evidence. Consistent with the theoretical discussion, the empirical results indicate that these concepts are not substitutes, and indeed are only weakly correlated, but rather tap into distinct aspects of grievance. The paper discusses the implications of these results, validates them in a series of robustness checks, and concludes with possible extensions along with future directions.

Horizontal inequality and multi-sectarian societies

“…Their support explains why the Islamist movements failed to mobilize the Sunni population in the countryside against the regime during the internal conflicts in the 1970s and 1980s (HINNEBUSCH, 2012). 5 Authors of social psychology (SIROKY et al, 2020) show that people tend to evaluate the situation of their social group in comparison with other groups in society. However, researchers need to distinguish people's perceptions of social status and the social and economic reality of the country.…”

“…In recent years, several authors have highlighted the need to complement the analysis of socioeconomic indicators with research that addresses groups' perceptions of deprivation as a way of understanding what motivates groups to engage in contentious policies (SIROKY et al, 2020). Some studies find robust evidence that perceived grievance, rather than material indicators, is associated with violent contentious policy support, particularly in cases where the political system does not favor political negotiation to redress the many groups' discontents (DYRSTAD; HILLESUND, 2020).…”

Protests in Postwar Societies: Grievances and Contentious Collective Action in Kosovo

“…The literature on ethnic conflict and civil wars demonstrates how perceived ethnic grievances play an important role in shaping ethnic mobilization in civil war (Gurr 1993(Gurr , 2000Horowitz 2000;Petersen 2002Petersen , 2011Cederman, Gleditsch, and Buhaug 2013;Cederman, Gleditsch, and Wucherpfennig 2017;Siroky et al 2020). This literature emphasizes grievances such as perceived threats to survival of group cultures or physical existence (Rothchild and Hartzell 1999) and concerns about political exclusion, relative deprivation and group status, and the possibility of downward mobility (Petersen 2011;Cederman, Gleditsch, and Buhaug 2013;Siroky et al 2020). We argue that perceived ethnic grievances such as threats to group security or concerns about the group's power status also generate protest mobilization in postconflict societies, because of two interrelated sets of factors.…”

Secessionist conflict as diversion from inequality: The missing link between grievance and repression

“…Researchers have pointed to material grievances of peripheral groups that prompt them to rebel and states to suppress uprisings in response (Cederman et al, 2015;Gurr, 1970;Hechter, 1992;Siroky et al, 2020). Another influential strand of research has argued that civil violence is primarily explained by opportunities for rebellion rather than grievances (Collier and Hoeffler, 2004;Collier et al, 2009).…”

“…Income inequality arguably affects everyone in the country, but culturally distinct groups are likely to be affected more than the dominant group as extant literature suggests (Alesina et al, 1999;Jackson, 2013;Miguel and Gugerty, 2005). Horizontal inequalities (inequalities between groups rather than individuals) in particular have been linked to the propensity of groups to rebel (Cederman et al, 2011(Cederman et al, , 2015Siroky et al, 2020). I argue that the violent response of the state to peripheral groups' grievances is conditioned by vertical inequality (inequality between individuals) at the national level, as it provides incentives for elites to protect their elevated social status by pushing the state to engage in diversionary violence.…”