Rioting for Representation: Local Ethnic Mobilization in Democratizing Countries (Problems of International Politics)

Ethnic riots are a costly and all too common occurrence during political transitions in multi-ethnic settings.  Why do ethnic riots occur in certain parts of a country and not others? How does violence eventually decline? Drawing on rich case studies and quantitative evidence from Indonesia between 1990 and 2012, this book argues that patterns of ethnic rioting are not inevitably driven by inter-group animosity, weakness of state capacity, or local demographic composition.  Rather, local ethnic elites strategically use violence to leverage their demands for political inclusion during political transition and that violence eventually declines as these demands are accommodated. Toha breaks new ground in showing that particular political reforms―increased political competition, direct local elections, and local administrative units partitioning―in ethnically diverse contexts can ameliorate political exclusion and reduce overall levels of violence between groups.

Risa Toha is Assistant Professor of Political Science at Yale-NUS College in Singapore. Her work has focused on questions related to political violence, identity, and political economy, appearing in journals such as the British Journal of Political Science, Terrorism and Political Violence, and Journal of Contemporary Southeast Asia.