Comparative Politics

Session: B10(a) - Deconsolidation Panels: The Politics of Ethnicity

Date: May 31, 2017 | Time: 03:45pm to 05:15pm | Location: VIC-209 (Victoria Building)| iOS / Outlook

Chair/Présidente: Erica Petkov (University of Toronto)

Discussant/Commentateur: Willem Maas (Glendon College, York University)

Dalal Daoud (Queen's University) : The Islamist Approach to Minorities in MENA: The Cases of Sudan, Turkey and Iran
Abstract: The past four decades have witnessed the rise of political Islamism across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Islamist regimes have emerged in Iran and Sudan, Islamist governments were voted into power in Turkey and Tunisia, and political Islamist parties have strengthened in Jordan and Morocco. Consequently, much interest has been taken on the impact of Islamism on a number of domestic and international issues including minority group treatment. This paper focuses on the intersection of Islamism and minority treatment. Document analysis and field research in Sudan and Turkey have shown that governments influenced by Islamist ideology do not follow a static approach towards their minorities. The question this paper addresses is why do Islamist regimes at times pursue accommodative strategies marked by greater toleration and recognition towards their minorities, while at other times practice repressive strategies. The study employs a comparative methodology analyzing minority groups under three Islamist governments: Turkey’s Justice and Development Party (JDP) (2002-2014), Al-Bashir’s Sudan (1989-2014), and post-revolutionary Iran (1979-2014). This paper is central to exploring peace in instances of ethnic conflict.

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Meghan C Laws (Queen's University) : Becoming ‘Historically Marginalized’: The (Un)making of Batwa Identity in Post-Genocide Rwanda
Abstract: That ‘ethnic identities are socially constructed’ is conventional wisdom in social science circles. Even so, primordialist assumptions continue to influence theorization about the relationship between ethnicity and socio-political processes, which has prompted a shift in the kinds of questions being asked: How mutable are ethnic identities? - How easily can they be constructed and/or de-constructed? – And, does their creation span generations, or do they emerge swiftly at the behest of political elites? Post-genocide Rwanda provides a unique context for scholars to examine these questions, as the state seeks to transform the relationship between ethnicity and nationhood by criminalizing ethnic self-identification. As a result, a recent body of literature examines the origins and impact of the Government of Rwanda’s ethnicity management on processes of reconciliation. Problematically, however, the scholarship focuses almost exclusively on ‘Hutu’ and ‘Tutsi’ identity categories, ignoring Rwanda’s smallest ethnic group, the Batwa. This paper argues that the government’s treatment of the Batwa provides a fascinating case in which to examine the mutability of ethnic identities. Batwa identity has been eliminated from decrees and policies, and replaced with the quasi-official ‘Historically Marginalized Peoples’ label. Based on 7 months of field research, including archival research, interviews, and focus groups, this paper will examine how the HMP label is enacted, lived and experienced by Batwa on the ground. In the end, my research points to the continued relevance of Batwa identity and culture, and thus suggests, the difficulty of state-enforced attempts to de-construct ethnic identities in the aftermath of violence.

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Shelly Ghai Bajaj (University of Toronto) : The Institutional Imperatives for Ethnic Party Moderation: the Electoral Strategies of the Bharatiya Janata Party in India
Abstract: In 2014, under the leadership of Narendra Modi, the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won an unprecedented mandate in India’s 16th general elections. Not only was the BJP elected as the first majority government since 1984, but it was also the only other single party, apart from the historically dominant Indian National Congress party, to form a majority government since India’s independence. The BJP’s image as a right-wing Hindu nationalist party is partially due to its explicit appeal to Hindu identity and its use of ethnonationalist strategies to mobilize and consolidate the Hindu vote in the 1980s and 1990s. Since the early 2000s, however, there has been a shift in the BJP’s political strategy, as it has attempted to appeal to new segments of voters. During the 2014 election campaign, for example, the party’s official election agenda focused on economic development, governance, and the populist appeal of Modi. This paper therefore asks why, and under what conditions, do ethnic parties like the BJP adopt more ‘moderate’ electoral strategies? This paper advances an argument that underscores the importance of institutional changes to the party system and patterns of political competition. In particular, the transition from a single party dominant system to a multiparty system, the mobilization of new social cleavages in electoral politics, and the need for parties to participate in governing coalitions can facilitate or necessitate changes in party strategy, including the adoption of more ‘moderate’ electoral strategies by ethnic parties like the BJP.

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