Horizontal Inequalities and Sons of the Soil Conflict in China |
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Authors: | Isabelle Côté |
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Affiliation: | Department of Political Science, Memorial University of Newfoundland, Science Building SN 2044, St John’s, NL A1B 3X9, Canada |
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Abstract: | Why are large population movements conflict-prone in some regions while they remain peacefully integrated elsewhere? I argue that clashes between ethnically distinct indigenous populations and migrants – i.e. ‘Sons of the Soil (SoS) conflict’ – erupt when there are large socio-economic and political horizontal inequalities between ‘dominant migrants’ and locals. A comparative case study of two Chinese minority regions based on ethnographic fieldwork and population data provides a vivid illustration of the mechanisms linking migration to SoS conflict. With fewer HIs between migrants and locals, Inner Mongolia avoided many of the violent clashes that were commonplace in Qinghai, a province fraught with disparities. |
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