The Tolerance of Tamils: War-Related Experiences, Psychological Pathways, and the Probability of Granting Civil Liberties to Former Enemies

Rapp, Carolin; Kijewski, Sara; Freitag, Markus

doi:10.1086/704328

Cited by 15 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 53 publications

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“…Without people’s willingness to accept differences and recognize the rights of others in the society, it is challenging to minimize disputes or potential conflicts that arise from the different religious, political, and moral beliefs that people have (Lee, 2014). The legacy of individual-level war exposure on tolerance has received little attention, even though it is known as one of the most important factors defining attitudes and behavior in postwar societies (among others Blattman, 2009; Hirsch-Hoefler et al, 2016; Grossman, Manekin & Miodownik, 2015; Kijewski & Freitag, 2018; Rapp, Kijewski & Freitag, forthcoming). Studies from related fields that explore the relationship between individual exposure to political violence and tolerance, however, show that war exposure ‘hardens’ one’s heart and makes people, among other things, less likely to support peace (Hirsch-Hoefler et al, 2016; Grossman, Manekin, & Miodownik, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Moving forward? How war experiences, interethnic attitudes, and intergroup forgiveness affect the prospects for political tolerance in postwar Sri Lanka

Kijewski

Rapp

2019

Journal of Peace Research

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How does civil war shape the prospects of lasting peace between formerly opposing ethnic groups after the end of violence? This article addresses the complex relationship between war experience, interethnic attitudes, interethnic forgiveness, and the willingness to permit basic civil liberties to former enemies in the context of postwar Sri Lanka. Despite the end of the 26-year-long civil war in 2009, social and political tensions between the two largest ethnic groups, the Sinhalese and the Sri Lankan Tamils, still prevail. Political tolerance is in the literature considered a crucial micro-level condition for peaceful coexistence, yet, its determinants, in particular the role of war experiences, have not received sufficient attention. Using new and unique all-island representative survey data (N = 1,420), we examine the mutual permission of civil liberties of these two ethnic groups. Our analyses reveal two important findings: first, the likelihood of granting civil liberties varies by civil liberty and ethnic group. Whereas most members of both ethnic groups are willing to grant the right to vote, to hold a speech, and to hold a government position, the right to demonstrate is highly contested, with only low shares of both Tamils and Sinhalese being willing to grant the other group this right. Second, the structural equation models reveal that the direct impact of war exposure is less powerful than expected and depends on the political right in question. Not forgiving the other ethnic group, partly driven by war experience and ethnic prejudice, appears to be a more consistent predictor of intolerance. These results imply that postwar efforts to further forgiveness are important to promote political tolerance and thereby long-lasting peace.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Moving forward? How war experiences, interethnic attitudes, and intergroup forgiveness affect the prospects for political tolerance in postwar Sri Lanka

Kijewski

Rapp

2019

Journal of Peace Research

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“…This process explains how wartime experiences increase tolerance toward the enemy after the end conflict (26) but it may also explain increases in civic engagement. In essence, it involves a process of psychological change that sets in motion a complex process of restructuring preferences that are strongly connected to major well-known triggers of civic participation.…”

Section: The Legacies Of War On Civic Engagementmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These results, in turn, are generally associated with hopelessness about the future, feelings of threat, and social withdrawal (25), all of which would lead to lower levels of civic engagement. While posttraumatic stress disorder is an important concern that affects victims of wartime violence, citizens may also transform their psychological makeup in a way that facilitates long-term civic engagement and participatory values through several interrelated processes (26).…”

Section: The Legacies Of War On Civic Engagementmentioning

confidence: 99%

The long-term effects of war exposure on civic engagement

Barceló

2021

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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What are the legacies of war exposure on civic engagement? Recent evidence suggests that domestic war may have short-term effects on participation in social organizations. Yet, it is unclear whether these effects will be present in internationalized conflicts and persist over long periods of time. Further, the pathways of persistence by which war exposure leads to greater civic engagement in the long term are even less understood. In this paper, I contribute to both questions using unique evidence from the Vietnam War. Empirically, I combine a unique US military dataset containing bombing intensity with respondents’ wartime place of residence to generate an objective indicator of conflict intensity. Then, I exploit the distance to the arbitrarily drawn border at the 17th parallel as an instrument for conflict intensity. The results show that individuals who lived in a province heavily affected by the conflict during the war tend to be more engaged in social organizations and hold greater expressive values, at least 26 y later. Further, I empirically explore the mechanisms of persistence. The empirical evidence suggests that both persistence within individuals and community-wide transmission jointly account for the long-term increase of civic engagement after conflict.

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“…Costalli & Ruggeri (2015) similarly find that Italian regions that experienced high levels of Nazi-fascist violence against civilians were more likely to support left-wing parties in postwar elections. In addition, recent work shows that exposure to wartime violence is associated with increased ethnic polarization and support for ethnic parties in Bosnia (Hadzic et al 2020) and lower tolerance of members of the opposing ethnic group in Sri Lanka (Rapp et al 2019). However, Bakke et al (2009) do not find evidence of ethnic polarization or division.…”

Section: Emerging Research On Violence Against Civiliansmentioning

confidence: 97%

Violence Against Civilians During Armed Conflict: Moving Beyond the Macro- and Micro-Level Divide

Balcells

Stanton

2021

Annu. Rev. Polit. Sci.

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Early research on wartime violence against civilians highlighted a distinction between macro- and micro-level approaches. Macro-level approaches, grounded in the international relations subfield, focus on variation across countries or conflicts, while micro-level approaches, more influenced by the comparative politics subfield, focus on variation within countries or conflicts. However, some of the recent research on civilian targeting does not fit neatly into this dichotomy—such as research comparing subnational units or armed groups across conflicts or research relying on geo-referenced event data for multiple conflicts. We review the literature and advocate moving beyond the language of the micro- and macro-level divide, instead focusing on the determinants of violence against civilians at five different levels of analysis: international, domestic, subnational, organizational, and individual. While acknowledging significant advances in the field, we argue for continued research aimed at developing a more integrated theoretical understanding of the multiple actors and interactive social processes driving violence against civilians. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Political Science, Volume 24 is May 11, 2021. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

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The Tolerance of Tamils: War-Related Experiences, Psychological Pathways, and the Probability of Granting Civil Liberties to Former Enemies

Cited by 15 publications

References 53 publications

Moving forward? How war experiences, interethnic attitudes, and intergroup forgiveness affect the prospects for political tolerance in postwar Sri Lanka

Moving forward? How war experiences, interethnic attitudes, and intergroup forgiveness affect the prospects for political tolerance in postwar Sri Lanka

The long-term effects of war exposure on civic engagement

Violence Against Civilians During Armed Conflict: Moving Beyond the Macro- and Micro-Level Divide

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