The Spatial Distribution of Riots: Patronage and the Instigation of Communal Violence in Gujarat, India

Ward Berenschot

World Development, 2011, vol. 39, issue 2, 221-230

Abstract: Summary Why does violence erupt in some areas and not in others? The Hindu-Muslim violence that engulfed Gujarat in 2002 did not spread uniformly throughout the state, as a sizable number of towns and villages remained unaffected by the killing, looting, and raping that took place. This article takes up the different levels of violence within one city as a clue to understand the local dynamics that lead to riots. This ethnographic study of events in a violent and a peaceful locality suggests that violence is more likely in neighborhoods where inhabitants gain access to state institutions through patronage networks that derive electoral gains from communal violence.

Keywords: ethnic; violence; patronage; Hindu-nationalism; civil; society; India; Gujarat (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2011
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:39:y:2011:i:2:p:221-230

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