Multilinguism and Conflict

• In Event: Ethno-National Conflict

Abstract

Language is a prominent marker of groups in research on ethnic conflict and diversity. However, most research has focused exclusively on primary languages, disregarding how individuals often can speak more than one language beyond their primary language. Individuals with different primary languages may have access to shared languages in ways that are not recognized in existing binary measures of primary language differences. Access to shared languages can potentially allow for a range of more complex interactions, with potential impact on the likelihood of conflict onset and prospects resolution. Using survey data on language and existing data on horizontal inequalities we develop new measures of the quantity of multilinguism and its quality in terms of the social and political status of language communities, and we evaluate empirically the relationship to armed conflict onset at the country and ethnic group level.

Authors

• Kristian Skrede Gleditsch, University of Essex

• Brian J. Phillips, University of Essex