Perpetual Exclusion and Second-Order Minorities in Theaters of Civil Wars

Abstract

This article is a departure from a mainstream inquiry of giving too much credence to ethnic minorities that have the agency to mobilize revolutionary armies against the state. There is a need to pay attention to the plight of second-order minorities who do not have the capacity for rebellion but are usually victims of violence and displacement. The knowledge is sparse about the plight of subaltern communities that are in constant struggle for recognition of their rights and demands for representation in conflictual societies. Therefore, this chapter aims to answer the question of why second-order minorities in conflict-ridden communities are frequent subjects of marginalization, exclusion, and deprivation. Using two case studies of Aceh, Indonesia, and Bangsamoro, Philippines, this chapter seeks to contribute to the limited state of knowledge about considerably powerless second-order ethnic minorities in communities that are theaters of domestic wars. This chapter concludes that weaker groups who constitute the second-order minorities are facing repression and their demands for recognition of their identity and territorial domains are often undermined or subordinated to the wishes of dominant ethnic minorities who went into negotiating tables with governments.