The Relationship between Objective and Subjective Horizontal Inequalities: Evidence from Five African Countries

Abstract

In recent years an increasing amount of both qualitative and quantitative research has shown that the presence of severe inequalities between 'culturally' defined groups, such as ethnic or religious groups -or what Stewart (2002) has termed 'horizontal inequalities'-makes countries more susceptible to a range of political disturbances, including violent conflict and civil war. Most quantitative studies that have found evidence in support of the relationship between the presence of horizontal inequalities and the emergence of violent conflicts have used an 'objective' measure of socioeconomic horizontal inequality in their statistical models, such as a household asset index or a schooling inequality index rather than a measure of perceived inequalities. While the quantitative studies on horizontal inequalities and violent conflict have contributed enormously towards establishing the relationship between these two concepts, the operationalization of horizontal inequalities in objective terms is to some extent problematic because people act on the basis of their perceptions of the world they live in, and these perceptions may differ substantially from the 'objective' reality. The question to what extent objective and subjective horizontal inequalities are consistent in practice is an important empirical question, which this paper explores in five African countries: Ghana,

When the Virtuous Circle Unravels: Unfair Service Provision and State De-legitimation in Divided Societies

“…As Davies (1962, 8) identifies in his analysis of the cause of revolutions, a crucial factor motivating rejection of the state is 'the vague or specific fear that ground gained over a long period of time will be quickly lost'. Similarly, surveys of horizontal inequalities in African countries, for example, have found significant mismatches between measurable inequalities and perceptions of inequalities between groups (Langer and Mikami 2013). These findings, along with the in-depth Sri Lankan case, open up the possibility that perceptions of distributive injustice and unfairness may matter as much as lived experience in relation to the impact on state legitimacy.…”

Resisting “Changes That Make Things Worse”: Decremental—Not Relative—Deprivation Motivates Political Violence

“…So far, only a few studies have collected systematic data on individual participation in violence (e.g., Humphreys and Weinstein 2008) or perceptions of inequality (e.g., Langer and Mikami 2013;Langer and Smedts 2013), or perceptions of inequality and attitudes towards violence (e.g., Rustad 2016). Importantly, these studies have challenged the claim that subjective and objective inequalities correspond-a correspondence that macro-level analyses have hitherto unequivocally assumed.…”

“…Importantly, these studies have challenged the claim that subjective and objective inequalities correspond-a correspondence that macro-level analyses have hitherto unequivocally assumed. Specifically, based on surveys in five African countries, Langer and Mikami (2013) have shown that members of some ethnic groups that were not the most disadvantaged perceived themselves as the most disadvantaged, whereas members of other ethnic groups perceived their status as better than it actually was. Furthermore, using Afrobarometer data, Langer and Smedts (2013) found a negative association between actual and perceived horizontal inequalities.…”

Societal dynamics and fragility: engaging societies in responding to fragile situations

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