Elisabeth King

From Data Problems to Data Points: Challenges and Opportunities of Research in Postgenocide Rwanda

Abstract: While interest in conducting fieldwork in conflict and postconflict societies continues to grow, literature addressing the specific challenges and dilemmas of this kind of research remains scarce. Based on four months of fieldwork and approximately seventy interviews, this article explores the complexities of conducting research in postgenocide Rwanda. I argue that what at first may appear to be data problems can also be important data points; problems such as historical memory, selective telling, and skewed participant demographics illuminate political structures, group relations, and societal cleavages. This article then illustrates this argument by examining how these challenges/opportunities help explain the difficulties involved in teaching history in postgenocide schools. These reflections on research in Rwanda suggest valuable lessons for fieldwork and data analysis in a number of settings by providing examples of pitfalls, dilemmas, and often unseen opportunities that are likely to present themselves in other divided societies.

What Kenyan Youth Want and Why It Matters for Peace

Abstract: The international aid community presents education and employment programs as the keys to mitigating youth participation in violence. Yet, existing evidence suggests that faith in such programs may be misplaced. This study investigates this disconnect between faith and evidence. It argues that education and employment programs are commonly built on an economically-focused “dominant discourse” that makes presumptions about youth and their interests. Based on qualitative research with youth in Nairobi, Kenya, it further argues that this dominant discourse overlooks self-identity and social connectedness factors that are crucial to youth, as well as the limitations imposed by governance and structural conditions. Résumé: Bien que la communauté d’aide humanitaire internationale présente des programmes d’éducation et d’emploi comme la clé pour atténuer la participation des jeunes à la violence, les preuves existantes suggèrent que la foi dans ces programmes peut être déplacée. Basé sur une recherche qualitative menée auprès de jeunes à Nairobi, au Kenya, cet article soutient que les programmes d’éducation et d’emploi reposent généralement sur un discours dominant incluant des hypothèses inexactes ou insuffisantes sur les jeunes et leurs intérêts. Ce discours néglige les facteurs d’identité et de liens sociaux qui sont cruciaux pour les jeunes, ainsi que la gouvernance et les conditions structurelles qui les limitent.

Minorities and mistrust: On the adoption of ethnic recognition to manage conflict

An enduring debate in the conflict management literature concerns the wisdom of recognizing versus avoiding reference to ethnic identities in institutions to manage ethnic conflict. Understanding why ethnic recognition occurs is crucial for informing this debate. We develop a theory based on functional and political mobilization effects of recognizing ethnic groups. Contrary to reasoning that minority leaders would be most interested in recognition, the theory suggests that recognition consistently favors the interests of leaders from larger, plurality groups, whereas minority leaders face a ‘dilemma of recognition’ between functional gains and mobilization threats. We use mixed methods to test our theory. For our quantitative analysis, we draw on an original coding of recognition in constitutions and comprehensive political settlements from 1990 to 2012. We find that for cases with leaders from plurality groups, recognition is adopted 60% of the time. With leaders from minority groups, the rate is about 40 percentage points lower, even after accounting for many background factors. Additional quantitative tests and a qualitative analysis present more detailed evidence to show that the processes correspond to the logic of our theory. Answering these questions about when and why recognition is adopted is a crucial step in evaluating its effects on conflict.

What Framing Analysis Can Teach Us about History Textbooks, Peace, and Conflict

What is taught in schools, of which history curriculum is an important part, is often a reflector of existing social and political conditions. When a historical narrative is published in a textbook, it illustrates the “commonplaces of historical thinking of a certain place and time” and tells us how those in power understand their positions (Dance, 1960, p. 56). The truism that “the victor writes history” reflects this common understanding.

Natural Disasters and Violent Conflicts

Comparisons between disasters and violent conflicts are often noted by political figures and in the news media, and those responding to conflicts and disasters witness similarities on the ground. In contrast, the academic fields studying violent conflicts and so-called natural disasters have developed separately, and practitioners usually separate the two phenomena as soon as the emergency response is over. This chapter, based on interviews with practitioners and a review of scholarly literature, makes a case for increased cross-disciplinary dialogue. We identify common consequences, responses, and even causes of conflicts and disasters. We argue that more and better partnerships between those who work on conflicts and those who work on disasters can lead to advances in understanding and responding to conflicts and disasters.