Rioting for Representation

Local Ethnic Mobilization in Democratizing Countries

Risa J. Toha

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN:
  9781316518977
• eBook ISBN:
  9781009020084
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Politics
• Index: Politics & International Relations

Ethnic riots are a costly and all too common occurrence during political transitions in multi-ethnic settings.  Why do ethnic riots occur in certain parts of a country and not others? How does violence eventually decline? Drawing on rich case studies and quantitative evidence from Indonesia between 1990 and 2012, this book argues that patterns of ethnic rioting are not inevitably driven by inter-group animosity, weakness of state capacity, or local demographic composition.  Rather, local ethnic elites strategically use violence to leverage their demands for political inclusion during political transition and that violence eventually declines as these demands are accommodated. Toha breaks new ground in showing that particular political reforms—increased political competition, direct local elections, and local administrative units partitioning—in ethnically diverse contexts can ameliorate political exclusion and reduce overall levels of violence between groups.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-title
• Series information
• Title page
• Copyright information
• Dedication
• Contents
• List of Figures
• List of Tables
• Acknowledgments
• 1 Introduction
• 2 Exclusion and Violence during Democratic Transitions
• 3 The Emergence of Identity-Based Cleavages in Indonesia
• 4 Ethnic Politics in Soeharto's New Order Regime
• 5 Golkar's Dominance and Ethnic Riots
• 6 Micro Dynamics of Exclusion and Riots
• 7 How Riots Dissipated
• 8 Conclusion
• Appendix A Data Collection Protocol
• Appendix B Additional Tables and Figures
• Glossary
• References
• Index