Since independence, Burundi has lost over a million of its inhabitants to ethnic conflict. Political collaboration is divided along ethnic lines and this has destroyed the ethnic solidarity and good social relationships that characterized the pre-colonial period. Ideally, the mission of the Evangelical Church of Central Africa (ECCA) when faced with Burundi’s tragic and successive socio-ethnic wars should have been to promote peace, social justice, ethnic cohabitation, national reconciliation, respect for human rights, national reconstruction and to denounce all harm and discrimination against the human being. The ECCA has a sacred mission to announce the gospel to all humanity and to assist the people towards the positive socio-economic and political transformation of Burundi. This study will be of help to missiological scholars and to the church so that it may better carry out its prophetic mission according to God’s vision and with the purpose of positively transforming Burundian society. / Christian Spritituality, Church History and Missiology / M. Th. (Missiology)

This thesis uses a mixed methods approach to investigate the different levels of Hindu-Muslim violence in Gujarat (western India) in 2002 when at least a thousand Muslims were killed. An original dataset of killings is compiled to analyse macrospatial variation in the violence across towns and rural areas of Gujarat. Data collected from 21 months of ethnographic fieldwork in Ahmedabad city is used to investigate microspatial variation across three neighbourhoods with varying levels of violence.Macrospatial analysis discusses the link between political authority and its capacity to instigate ethnic violence as a response to electoral calculations and identifies the mechanisms by which violence against Muslims was orchestrated by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Ethnographic findings demonstrate the importance of ecological strategies adopted by attackers and targets during the course of attack and urge a re-examination of the intuitive association of spatial proximity with greater interethnic contact. Findings also reveal methods of enforcement used by legitimate and illegitimate institutions of a peaceful slum neighbourhood in resolving commitment problems of cooperation. Finally, the thesis examines the aftermath of the violence, more specifically a political phenomenon of Muslims of Gujarat supporting the BJP nine years after the brutal violence.Methodologically, the main contribution of this thesis is in bridging the quantitative and ethnographic traditions in the sociology of ethnic violence to make possible the linking, and disentangling, of macrolevel risk factors associated with violence from microlevel factors. Findings of the thesis hopefully provide a better understanding of ethnic violence in multi-ethnic democracies and a roadmap of policy-making for India as it continues to struggle with ethnic strife.

Depuis les années 1990, le partage du pouvoir est l’option favorisée pour la consolidation de la paix dans les sociétés multi-ethniques. Or, une importante littérature a remis en cause sa capacité à consolider la paix sur le long terme. Ce mémoire questionne l’approche de l’ethnicité, des institutions et des relations peuple-élites dans la théorie du partage du pouvoir. Il propose de la réapprocher en se basant sur la théorie constructiviste de l’ethnicité, qui reconnaît la multiplicité et la relative fluidité des identités ethniques, sur une approche néo-institutionnaliste, qui étudie les interactions des institutions avec leur environnement, et en accordant une attention particulière au lien entre peuple et élites. Ce mémoire développe trois arguments principaux. 1–La politisation du clivage ethnique nuit au bon fonctionnement d’un système démocratique, menace la durabilité de la paix et transforme la nature de la violence. Le « succès » du partage du pouvoir peut donc être défini comme la dépolitisation de ce clivage. 2–La politisation du clivage ethnique n’est pas naturelle, mais résulte d’un processus dans lequel les institutions formelles et informelles ainsi que la violence jouent des rôles clés. 3–La dépolitisation du clivage ethnique est possible si des garanties pour représentation politique et la sécurité des catégories ethniques sont mises en place, et si des incitatifs pour la mobilisation d’identités non-ethniques sont apportés. Ces principes peuvent guider l’élaboration d’accords de partage du pouvoir. Ce mémoire théorique est complémenté par une étude de plausibilité qui se focalise sur le cas crucial du Burundi. / Since the 1990s, power-sharing has become the favoured option for peacebuilding in multi-ethnic societies. An important literature has however shed light on the limits of this approach and put into question its capacity to establish sustainable peace. This thesis questions three elements of powersharing theory: its approach of ethnicity, institutions and its elite-bias. It proposes to approach power-sharing theory through the lenses of a constructivist theory of ethnicity, which acknowledges the multiplicity and limited fluidity of ethnic identities; a neo-institutionalist approach of institutions, which pays attention to the interaction of institutions with their environment; and in paying attention to citizen-elite linkages. Three main arguments are developed: 1-The politicization of the ethnic cleavage is problematic since it hinders the good functioning of a democratic system, threaten the sustainability of peace, and transform the nature of violence. “Success” of power-sharing is thus defined as the depoliticization of ethnicity. 2-The politicization of ethnicity is not natural but results from a process in which formal and informal institutions as well as violence pay a key-role. 3-The depoliticization of the ethnic cleavage is, at least theoretically, possible if sufficient guarantees for the political representation and the security of the groups are established, and incentives are provided for the mobilization of non-ethnic identities. These principles may guide the design of power-sharing systems. This “theory proposing” thesis is complemented by a plausibility probe which focuses on the crucial case of Burundi.

MAAS / Department of Development Studies / See the attached abstract below

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This dissertation analyzes several topics related to political life in ethnically divided societies. In chapter 2, I study the relationship between ethnic social conflict, such as protests, riots, and armed inter-ethnic violence, and bloc partisan identification. I find that protests have no effect on bloc support for political parties, riots increase bloc partisan identification, and that armed violence reduces this phenomenon. In chapter 3, I analyze the factors that influence the targeting of ethnic groups by ethnic parties in social conflict. I find some empirical evidence that conditions favorable to vote pooling across ethnic lines reduce group targeting by ethnic parties. In chapter 4, I analyze the effects of ethnic demography on ethnic party behavior. Through a qualitative analysis of party behavior in local elections in Macedonia, I find that ethnic parties change their strategies in response to changes in ethnic demography. I find that co-ethnic parties are less likely to challenge each other for power under conditions of split demography. In fact, under conditions of split demography, I find that co-ethnic parties have political incentives to unite behind a single party because intra-group competition jeopardizes the group's hold on power.

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The purpose of this research was to analyse the impact of forced migration on women and development in northern Uganda. The armed conflict in northern Uganda, which started in 1986, led to gross violations of human rights against women forcing them to flee their homes and ftnd refuge in overcrowded resettlement camps. The main objective of the study was to critically analyse the causes of displacement and the experiences of internally displaced women so as to contribute to available knowledge on women and development Qualitative and feminist research techniques were carried out in Erute Camp located in Lira Municipality among intemally displaced women, using observation and interviews. The findings reveal that forced migration was caused by the armed conflict between the LRA rebels and the government solders. The conflict destroyed in:frastructw·e and socio-economic service delivery systems. This consequently par·alysed the northern Uganda's development as many civilians were forced to abandon their homesteads due to traumatic experiences of killings, torture and abductions. This resulted in human disintegration and the collapse of economic and social development in the region that was based on agriculture. The prolonged insecurity disrupted education, health, communication and commercial activities resulting in absolute poverty and underdevelopment Despite effo11s by government and some humanitarian agencies to provide the needs of the affected civilians, peace and reconciliation seems to be hard to achieve. Insecurity continues to spread making normal life, relief and economic activities impossible. Due to lack of effective implementation, coordination and monitoring of programmes, the situation poses great challenges to government and international h\Unanitarian agencies present such as: WFP, UNHCR, WHO, World Bank and others. Therefore, forced migration has a significant impact on women's social, economic, cultural and environmental development. However, a positive impact regar·ding women's empowe1ment and gender equality due to changed roles was eminent. I conclude by recommending that the stakeholders need to increase the capacity to restore peace. There is need to coordinate the development projects and programmes through increased flexibility and transparency. However, the need to involve women in the reconciliation and reconstruction processes to restore peace in northern Uganda is vital / Development Studies / D. Litt. et Phil.