This dissertation explains the extent and durability of the institutions of territorial autonomy in multinational states. Its main argument is that the viability of territorial autonomy hinges on the relative economic importance of the minority-inhabited region for the central government. If the fiscal resources of the minority-inhabited region are critical for the funding of the central government’s policy objectives, autonomy is likely to be limited and short lived. If those resources are not as crucial for the governability of the entire state, autonomy is likely to be more extensive and durable. The importance of the minority-inhabited region depends on two sets of factors. The first is the relative level of economic development of majority and minority-inhabited areas. The second is the strategy of governance adopted by the central state elites. Strategies of governance determine the extent of the fiscal burden that the central government will place on the population of the state, thereby exerting significant influence on accommodative outcomes. The theoretical framework developed in this dissertation refers to statist (high spending) and laissez-faire (low spending) strategies of governance. The framework is tested in four multinational states: the former Yugoslavia, the former Czechoslovakia, Canada and Spain. The empirical chapters combine structured-focused comparison with longitudinal case study analysis. The cases largely bear out the hypotheses presented in the dissertation. However, analysis of the cases also demonstrates the importance of minority-group influence at the central state level in accounting for accommodative outcomes. In cases where minority elites have extensive influence at the centre, attempts at limiting the autonomy of minority-inhabited regions tend to be unsuccessful. This thesis contributes to a greater understanding of the design and durability of the institutions of territorial autonomy, which have important consequences for the stability and viability of multinational states.

This dissertation explains the extent and durability of the institutions of territorial autonomy in multinational states. Its main argument is that the viability of territorial autonomy hinges on the relative economic importance of the minority-inhabited region for the central government. If the fiscal resources of the minority-inhabited region are critical for the funding of the central government’s policy objectives, autonomy is likely to be limited and short lived. If those resources are not as crucial for the governability of the entire state, autonomy is likely to be more extensive and durable. The importance of the minority-inhabited region depends on two sets of factors. The first is the relative level of economic development of majority and minority-inhabited areas. The second is the strategy of governance adopted by the central state elites. Strategies of governance determine the extent of the fiscal burden that the central government will place on the population of the state, thereby exerting significant influence on accommodative outcomes. The theoretical framework developed in this dissertation refers to statist (high spending) and laissez-faire (low spending) strategies of governance. The framework is tested in four multinational states: the former Yugoslavia, the former Czechoslovakia, Canada and Spain. The empirical chapters combine structured-focused comparison with longitudinal case study analysis. The cases largely bear out the hypotheses presented in the dissertation. However, analysis of the cases also demonstrates the importance of minority-group influence at the central state level in accounting for accommodative outcomes. In cases where minority elites have extensive influence at the centre, attempts at limiting the autonomy of minority-inhabited regions tend to be unsuccessful. This thesis contributes to a greater understanding of the design and durability of the institutions of territorial autonomy, which have important consequences for the stability and viability of multinational states.

This thesis considers Michael Ignatieff’s theory regarding ethnic conflict and applies Afghanistan as a case study. Ignatieff correlates the outbreak of ethnic violence to the breakdown of state government which creates societal anarchy and war. Ignatieff argues that ethnic relations can improve through the creation of democratic institutions. Afghanistan represents a model empirical case study to explore the central tenets of the Ignatieff thesis. Ignatieff’s argument is critically analyzed by assessing the viability of transplanting democratic institutions into Afghanistan. According to democratic theory a successful democracy requires a strong economy, a vibrant civil society, an advantageous institutional history and a positive security and geopolitical environment. Based on these five key variables it is reasonable to conclude that Afghanistan is not predisposed to pluralistic governance. Such analysis highlights the limitations of Ignatieff’s thesis as his theory is only relevant to those post-conflict societies that possess the requisite preconditions for democracy.

While many non-governmental organizations provide leadership training in inter-ethnic conflict management to Kenyan youth, relatively little is known about what goes into such training. This dissertation is a case study illustrating how the training structure operates. The purpose of this dissertation is to address the challenges associated with youth leadership training in inter-ethnic conflict management, how these challenges are managed, what differences the training makes, and how it is transferred back into the real-life of the youth. To better understand these issues, a two-month qualitative study was conducted divided in two phases involving trainers, youth participants, program designers, and community leaders. Twenty two interviews and 2 focus groups were completed. Results demonstrated four communicative challenges involved in the design of youth leadership training were: (1) audience analysis, (2) material resources, (3) participant challenges, and (4) diversity. Results showed that trainers addressed the communicative challenges by using the following management strategies: needs assessment, financial management, stakeholder education, and dialogue facilitation. The analysis suggested that the conditions that facilitate transfer of training were: participatory models, training organization, and trainee motivation. Similarly, conditions that inhibit training transfer included: resource constraints, youth motivation, environmental conditions, and diversity. Finally, results also suggested that the differences that leadership training made in the lives of the youth were: behavioral transformation, participant input, improved peaceful relationships, and skill development. Successfully managing the communicative challenges in the design and implementation of the training were the main goals of trainers, and the more they took ownership of these goals the more likely the training would be successful. This dissertation suggests that managing the communicative challenges associated with the design and conduct of youth leadership training is the first step to ensuring the training transfer for youth participants and achieving a workable leadership training in inter-ethnic conflict management.

Anti-Chinese violence in Indonesia reached a climax in Jakarta and elsewhere in May 1998 against a background of dramatic social and political change. This study presents close analysis of selected incidents that occurred mainly in Java in the years prior to this and in its aftermath. It tests explanations of anti-Chinese violence based on economic resentment, religious difference or state-sponsorship. By highlighting ethnicity as the single constant, as well as the importance of locating agency and responsibility, and the sources of representations of events of mass violence, the study challenges existing understandings of “anti-Chinese” violence. The approach taken recognises that violence against ethnic Chinese Indonesians must be viewed within the context of Indonesian nationalism and alongside other violence in Indonesia. It cannot be separated from the national political, social and economic turmoil of that time. In addition, it emphasises the competing representations of “Chineseness” and anti-Chinese violence for what they reveal about the motives behind certain explanations of violence and the events themselves. Of central significance is the way in which anti-Chinese violence is represented and perceived in Indonesian society as normal, natural and everyday. This study stresses the importance of listening to the voices of victims of violence and seeks to recognise the moral concerns related to scholarly and “official” generalisations about violence and suffering in particular. Framed in this way this approach poses the fundamental question, “Is there anti-Chinese violence in Indonesia?”

This thesis examines the 1999–2003 case of political conflict in Ambon, in Eastern Indonesia, in the context of political change in Indonesia from 1950-1998. It is argued that political transformation during this period was closely influenced by a much longer period of unprecedented social change preceding the politics of this period. It is suggested that the ideologisation of ethnic identities is likely to occur when structures of community are disrupted by changes in the contemporary world such as economic fluctuations or state policy interventions. One result is to disrupt traditional village communities so as to place individuals in stress situations making them susceptible to new nationalist ideologies. The other impact is to dislocate authority structures so that both incumbent and aspiring elites lose their power and authority and thus search for new ways in order to re-establish their moral and political legitimacy. It is argued that nationalism is able to offer a resolution to social disruption and thus to the community in search of social cohesion, while also functioning to rebuild elite authority. In ethnic nationalist ideology, insecurities and feelings of isolation are ameliorated by subsequent constructions of ‘us’ and ‘them’ where members of one distinct community are demarcated from other communities. It is suggested that myths of ancestry and homeland together with counterposed moral dichotomies appealed to the Ambonese who needed this form of ideological support. It is the insecurities and fear experienced by disrupted communities which promote this powerful ideological formula. It is asserted that conflict on the island has been characterised by this trend towards ideological absolutism where two conflicting ideological constructions have translated the conflict into a non-negotiable confrontation between opposing national rights. It is argued that these two ideological constructions have remained internalised on the island and embedded within the mindsets of both Ambonese Christians and Muslims, thereby rendering setbacks to conflict resolution.

Zugl.: Graz, Univ., Habil.-Schr.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Canterbury, 2006. / Author's Master of Arts thesis. Includes bibliographical references (p. 173-184). Also available on the World Wide Web.

Thesis (D. Min.)--Catholic Theological Union at Chicago, 2006. / Abstract and vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 187-192).

Thesis (D. Min.)--Ashland Theological Seminary, 2007. / Abstract . Includes bibliographical references (leaves 138, 143-148).