In much of the developing world, the community is the arena of social interaction. Heterogeneity at this local level, combined with a weak state and economic underdevelopment, has been found to make communities particularly receptive to conflict. We know little about cooperation between members of different groups in such communities, and we know even less about the influence of actors, such as the village chief and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), that substitute for the state at this level. What role do the village chief and NGOs play in governing communities characterized by the influx of migrants? Do NGOs strengthen cleavages in heterogeneous societies? What is the role of the village elite in managing cooperation within a village? And which tools should researchers use to understand behavior at this local level? To answer these questions, this dissertation collected original data in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Sierra Leone. Specifically, this project builds on carefully designed lab-in-the-field and field experiments, as well as original survey and ethnographic data, to explore the political economy of heterogeneous communities. The first essay shows how local institutions in the DRC are resilient to outside intervention. Importantly, I find causal evidence that local institutions, not NGOs, are key in sustaining high levels of intra-village cooperation in the presence of migrants. The second essay shows that NGOs in the same context influence how individuals relate to their social categories. I find that NGO activity can strengthen social categories that relate to access to development resources at the cost of those that benefit local cohesion. The final essay explores discriminatory behavior based on social status in rural Sierra Leone. I find that classic experiments may be insufficient in understanding behavior at the local level. In summary, this dissertation emphasizes the importance of research tools designed to measure local behavior, and challenges the basis for current international interventions by showing the positive role of the village chief and by providing micro-level evidence for the possible harmful role that NGOs can play in heterogeneous communities.

Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2000. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Socio-economic rights are the subject of much debate in South Africa and elsewhere. At first they were simply denied the status of any rights at all. Lately, there is a fair amount of recognition for them as rights. The tendency is, however, to relegate them to paper rights and invest very little effort in bringing about their actual realisation. In this thesis I inquire into the question of what a human right, properly so called, is, and then whether, in the light of that inquiry, there is a basis for the reluctance to embrace socio-economic rights. South Africa is uniquely fortunate in having a constitution that gives recognition to socio-economic rights and requiring the Human Rights Commission to monitor their implementation. But again there is a risk that the recognition of socioeconomic rights is left as a constitutional matter, and nothing or little is done for their practical implementation. Therefore I inquire into the manner in which the Human Rights Commission monitors the implementation of these rights. The inquiry into the Human Rights Commission's monitoring role is largely a question of methodology. Whether, in other words, the methods of the Commission are such as to yield reliable information on the subject. I also inquire whether the government's budgetary allocations indicate a serious approach to these rights. The budgetary allocations that are brought under the microscope relate to the seven core rights enshrined in the constitution, namely, housing, health care, food, water, social security, education, and environmental rights. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Sosio-ekonomiese regte is die onderwerp van vele debatte in Suid-Afrika en elders. Aanvanklik was daar nie erkenning gegee aan die status van hierdie regte nie. Hierdie situasie het die afgelope tyd begin verander. Die tendens is egter steeds om dit te sien as regte slegs op papier en daar word nie 'n poging aangewend vir die realisering van hierdie regte nie. Ek ondersoek in hierdie tesis die kwessie van wat 'n mensereg, korrek so genoem, is en ook of, in die lig van hierdie ondersoek, daar 'n basis is vir die huiwering om sosio-ekonomiese regte te aanvaar. Suid-Afrika is uniek in die sin dat die konstitusie erkenning gee aan sosioekonomiese regte en die Waarheid-en Versoeningskommissie opdrag gegee het om die implementering daarvan te monitor. Daar is egter weereens die risiko dat die erkenning van sosio-ekonomiese regte slegs gesien word as 'n konstitusionele aangeleentheid en dat niks of baie min gedoen word rakende die praktiese implementering daarvan. Ek stel daarom ook ondersoek in na die wyse waarop die Menseregtekommissie die implementering van hierdie regte moniteer. Die ondersoek na die monitering van die Menseregtekommissie is hoofsaaklik metodologies van aard; dus of die metodes wat gebruik is, deur die Menseregtekommissie, betroubare inligting verskaf. Ek ondersoek ook of die regering se begrotingallokasies 'n ernstige ingesteldheid jeens hierdie regte toon. Die begrotingsaspekte wat ondersoek word hou verband met die sewe kernregte soos vervat in die konstitusie naamlik behuising, gesondheidsorg, voedsel, water, sosiale sekuriteit, opvoeding en omgewingsregte.