Ethnic Segregation and Violence

Abstract

Does the spatial separation of ethnic groups promote peace or conflict? The existing literature on ethnic demography and conflict offers no consensus on this question. Scholars studying ethnic geography primarily focus on national-level outcomes because measuring local ethnic composition is difficult where ethnic tension is high. Using a new dataset measuring ethnic composition and violence across approximately 700 small localities in Kenya’s Rift Valley Province, this paper examines the relationship between local segregation and violence in Kenya’s 2007/08 post-election crisis. It contributes to research on political violence by showing that ethnic segregation correlates with violence and that areas where violence occurs become more segregated over time, two correlations that have rarely been established in the literature. In addition to exploring mechanisms linking ethnic segregation and violence at the local level, this paper uses historical data to construct an instrument for segregation, demon- strating a causal relationship between local segregation and violence.