Capturing post-conflict anxieties: towards an analytical framework

Abstract

This paper proposes an analytical framework for the study of post-conflict anxieties. The literature has so far been elaborate, both in terms of the analysis of the structural frame underpinning a post-conflict society (political, socioeconomic, spatial, and historical factors) and the experiential frame that determines the ethnic distance in such society (broader setting that underpins interpersonal and intergroup relations). However, both frames have been studied within separate research lines, which has led to limited results in explaining why ethnic distance is challenging to reduce. By making structural and experiential frames mutually reflexive in determining the outcome of interethnic relations in post-conflict societies, an analytical framework suited for analyzing post-conflict anxieties is carved out. In this way, we show how the structural frame that shapes post-conflict societies can create a general sense of unease among people that is not tied to a particular object or situation.