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List
of articles and abstracts
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Poverty,
Development and Inter-Group Conflict in South Asia:
Covariances and Causal Connections
G
H Peiris
Abstract
This re-examination of the poverty-development-conflict
causal nexus in South Asia is being undertaken against the backdrop
of the prevailing diversity of perceptions on the significance
of poverty as an explanation for the endemicity of violent political
conflict in the region.
The article
is divided into three parts. The first part commences with
a brief clarification on the conceptualisation of the three
phenomena on which the study is focused and the methodological
issues that related to their quantification. It then proceeds
to examine the temporal trends and the spatial patterns of
poverty and development in South Asia over the past 50 years,
bringing together the related statistical information from
diverse sources.
The analysis
of intensity of political conflict to which the second part
of the article is devoted shows, inter-alia, that,
since conflict is hardly ever uni-causal, even if meaningful
measurements concerning its scale of participation, frequency
of occurrence and destructive impact were available, correlative
statistical analyses of such data with poverty measurements
is unlikely to reveal the true nature of their causal links.
The sketches
of a selection of major political conflicts in contemporary
South Asia presented in the third part of the article substantiate
this hypothesis. They illustrate that while in certain types
of conflict, deprivation and other facets of poverty such
as exploitation and oppression constitute the principal cause,
poverty is a key ingredient even in many others in which the
inertia of historical enmity, religious fanaticism, expansionism,
resistance against assimilation and cultural extinction, elite
rivalry, or externally induced subversion are perceived as
providing the main impulses.
Rwanda,
Burundi and Their "Tribal" Wars
Stephen
B Isabirye and Kooros M Mahmoudi
Abstract
This
article demonstrably dispels the assumption that ethnic conflict
in Rwanda and Burundi is a chronic endemic phenomenon. It
emphasises the consolidation of the caste system during the
colonial era, intra-regional disparities within the two communities,
high population densities, very weak economic bases, poverty
and international interference as some of the cardinal dynamics
behind the current deadly contentions within the two states.
An analysis behind the genocidal tendencies in the two countries
is well illustrated, with special emphasis on the Rwandese
tragedy of 1994 as well as its parallels and divergences with
the Nazi Holocaust. The effects of the conflict in the two
countries such as the proliferation of a gigantic refugee
problem and the role of the Non-Governmental Organisations
(NGOs), Globalisation, are critically assessed.
The Diasporisation of Ethnonationalism:
British Sikhs and the Punjab
Therese
Sue Gunawardena
Abstract
In recent
years, the concept of "diaspora" has recaptured
some of its old theoretical currency within the discourse
on globalisation and its impact on state sovereignty. The
aftermath of the cold war resulted in increasingly strident
proclamations for self-determination among numerous factions
across the globe, and starkly demonstrated the belief held
by many ethno-national groups that political maps should coincide
with ethnic ones. Consequently, both policy makers and political
scientists have been compelled to re-evaluate concepts such
as "nation" and "state," hitherto considered
analytically "unproblematic." This essay explores
the various linkages created between diasporas and their homelands,
within the context of ethnonationalism. Employing the case
of the Sikh diaspora in Great Britain and their agitation
for a separate state of Khalistan, I attempt to reveal the
ways in which immigrant identity politics and homeland ethnonationalist
movements are inextricably tied. I contend that the efforts
of the Khalistan Council in emphasising the pan-Panjabi aspect
of the separatist struggle are based both on the exigencies
of separatist politics and the pragmatics of immigrant concerns.
Book Review
Wendy
Cadge
Marilyn Carr,
Martha Chen and Renana Jhabvala (eds), Speaking Out: Women’s
Economic Empowerment in South Asia, New Delhi, Vistaar Publications,
1997.
This book
is one result of the combined efforts of the Aga Khan Foundation
Canada (AKFC) and the United Nations Development Fund for
Women (UNIFEM) to draw out, distil, and analyse lessons from
successful non governmental organisations (NGOs) and non governmental
organisations’ projects in South Asia... |
Ethnic
Studies Report (ESR): Vol.
XVIII, No. 1, January
2000