An Analysis of the Impact of Ethnic and Racial Conflict on Development

This essay examines the multifaceted impact of ethnic and racial conflicts on national development, drawing on case studies from Guyana and Kenya. It explores how such conflicts, often intertwined with political, cultural, and territorial disputes, can impede economic progress, social stability, and human well-being. The essay delves into the historical context of these conflicts, highlighting their devastating consequences, including loss of life, economic setbacks, and the exacerbation of social divisions. It analyzes the role of political parties and government intervention in perpetuating these conflicts, as well as the impact on various ethnic groups. Furthermore, the essay presents and analyzes three key paradigms related to ethnicity and ethnic conflict: primordial views, instrumentalist views, and constructive views. It also touches on the relationship between ethnic conflict and economic models. The essay concludes by emphasizing the urgent need for conflict resolution strategies and policies that promote inclusivity, equality, and sustainable development in ethnically diverse societies.

Running head: IMPACT OF ETHNIC AND RACIAL CONFLICT ON DEVELOPMENT
IMPACT OF ETHNIC AND RACIAL CONFLICT ON DEVELOPMENT
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IMPACT OF ETHNIC AND RACIAL CONFLICT ON DEVELOPMENT
Ethnic and racial conflict is a very basic occurring in recent times. Conflicts related to
race or ethnicity can be both catastrophic and cohesive depending on the situation. These
conflicts can be a cause for calamity for some groups and can also be used to unite certain
groups. The racial and ethnic groups generally is the maker for boundaries between the
groups that perceive distinct values and interests than them. Conflicts as these, can result in
many negative forces being spread in the society (Tepfenhart 2013). These conflicts can stop
or slow down the development process in many areas, especially in poor countries. Ethnic
and racial conflicts can also be aligned with political, cultural and territorial conflicts which
can result in it being a threat to the security and peace of any country. Depending on the
situation, the conflicts can become violent and leads to suffering among the country and its
people (Stavenhagen 2016). There are many case studies which discusses about the impact of
racial and ethnic conflicts on the development of the people of the poor countries. Conflicts
which arise from such differences can lead to death, destruction and bring suffering into the
lives of the people. The conflicts are many in different parts of the world between various
ethnic groups who try to eliminate one another. This essay will take into account different
case studies which relate to the various ethnic and racial conflicts in different areas and
critically analyse them. The further paragraphs will also present an argument of the analysis,
followed by a conclusion.
According to Bishram (2015), Guyana, a country in South America, have derived
political independence, but not prior to it experiencing a huge racial conflict between the
Africans and the Indians, which left many individuals wounded and even dead. Many
experienced psychological trauma and some face losses in terms of finance and property. The
economy faced a major setback as the money of the country continued to flow out of the
country and hence stopped any kind of investment that the people were making in the
country. The case study used the methodology of historical, interpretive and empirical data to

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do the research. The case study used primary data as well as secondary data to fulfil the
requirement of the research. It has been derived from the case study that Guyana is a country
with individuals from many racial and ethnic backgrounds due to the heavy immigration and
colonization in the country. The white race was very dominant in the country and led forward
the diversification of the different ethnic group and hence creating a division in the country.
The relations between these groups were very unstable and people often reacted to each other
based on these differences which created many problems in the stability of the country. The
groups were also provoked against each other so that there would be more capital gain
because of the competition that would arise among the groups. Guyana is a country which has
lot of plantations where people from different ethnic groups worked as labours and these
plantations were mainly owned by the white people. These while individuals often enraged
the different ethnic groups and created conflicts which would result in emergence of violence,
which mostly turned physical. This kind of conflict was created to divert the attention of the
groups from the exploitation that was being done to them in the plantation, to one another.
This rivalry and tension between the groups was what kept them divided and raised various
serious conflicts. Conflicts like these and also the daily conflicts that arose between different
racial groups in the country, impacted the development of the country. The groups were
continuously at each other’s throats and always found ways to harm each other. These led to
the downfall of the economy and also hurt the population of the country. Political parties also
supported many of these conflicts to gain votes for themselves depending on the number of
people who supported them. Due to government intervention, it became almost impossible to
eradicate the conflict in the country and maintain peace (Ray and Esteban 2017). Hence, to
achieve power, the political parties threw the country at harm. Therefore, the country has not
been able to give equal importance to the whole population and created obstacles for any
betterment in the country and among its people. The conflict had hence stopped the

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individuals of the ethnic and racial groups to not being able to understand their full potential
and contribute to the development of the country. Another case study that describe the impact
of ethnic and racial groups on the development of the country is the impact that it had on
Kenya (Nyiri 2014). The case study mostly used secondary data to collect information about
the impact of ethnic conflict on the economy and the development of Kenya. The conflict in
Kenya have always been between the three ethnic groups namely Bantu, Nilotes and
Cushites. These three ethnic communities have around 42 tribes which constitutes of
individuals of different cultures. These ethnic groups have been on war among themselves to
make themselves powerful than the other and to gain control over the land and other aspects
of the country and to be powerful that one another. Even though the magnitude of the
conflicts that occur in Kenya are small, however, there have are many areas where the
conflicts are often repeated and hence a greater impact is created (Venkatasawmy 2015). Due
to these ethnic groups, there are many political parties which take the advantage of the
conflicts that arise and make use of it to gain political power and precedence over the public.
The leaders target those individuals of the ethnic groups who are not able to contribute well
to the development of the country and hence this lowers the productivity of the country.
Stability and peace is required for any country to flourish and hence when conflict arises in
any part of the country, the peace is disrupted resulting in major unrest within the country.
Moreover, any kind of conflict can destroy every aspect of the environment that was created
during a stable time. The violence that erupts destroys infrastructures, buildings, contributes
to the loss of the lives of people and affects the economic aspect of the country to a great
deal. The after effects of a conflict are such that it could take a lot of time to bring the country
to its old condition and hence the country suffers a lot of drawback during that period. In the
case study, Reksulak discusses about a model which is known as the Standard growth
regression model. According to this model, the per capita growth rate of a country is affected

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by ethnic conflicts and polarization. The tension that arises due to these conflicts makes the
public lethargic and unwilling to work and hence the production becomes very low during
this time. The conflicts makes the people doubt the condition of the country and the
government and hence they become uncertain to carry put any kind of activity for the
economic development or are willing to invest in any structure, in the fear that their effort or
investment might go to waste. People also spend most of their income in finding safe
solutions for residence where they would not be affected by the conflict. Ethnic conflicts can
be unequal for the public of a country, while sine are affected to a great deal by the violence,
some can also flourish from the negative aspects of the conflict. The conflicts results in
exploiting the natural resources of the country and reducing the GDP of the manufacturing
sector if the country. The labour class is also affected by the conflicts that arise in many of
the manufacturing sectors. It can be said that most conflicts normally arise among the labour
class and the working people itself because many individuals from different ethnic and racial
backgrounds work together and can differ in values and ideas which might result in conflicts.
The conflicts that arise in African are the major contributor for the slow growth process of
development in different African countries. The conflicts provide a huge impact on the
economic policies, the financial condition and the income of the people of the country.
Hence, it has been derived from the case study that even though ethnicity itself is not the
cause for war, however, the unrest that is caused due to the divisions of the groups is what
results in war and further impacts the development of a country such as Kenya. There are
many theories that explain ethnicity and the ethnic conflicts that arise and their reasons.
There are mainly three paradigms to this issue that the mostly discussed (Mohammadzadeh
2016). First and foremost is the primordial views which emphasizes on the basis of ethnicity
and the impact that it has on the structuring of different individuals. The scholars who
propose the primordial views states that the ethnic groups are in existence due to the views

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and beliefs that they share towards prehistoric things such as biological features and various
territorial areas. The concept of the primordial account depends on the friendship and the
closeness that people of same ethnicity and belonging to an ethnic group share with each
other. In this view there are many sociologists and scientists that say that ethnic conflicts
between different groups are non-existent in reality and that conflicts arise due to political,
economic and institutional reasons. They argue that the ethnic wars between different groups
is a misleading concept as people are bound to fight each other due to the difference in
political views and not due to their traditional and belief differences (Vermunt 2017). The
instrumentalist view is the second paradigm regarding ethnicity and ethnic conflicts. This
view states that ethnic conflicts are caused due to many reasons. This view came into
existence in the year 19060 and 1970 in America, when the debate arose that the white ethnic
group was more persistence in the melting pot of the country. In this view, ethnicity and
racial groups are found to have instrumentalist individuals who are organized in such ways so
as to reach articular solutions (Harff 2018). In the instrumentalist view, the fact that ethnic
diversity is the reason for major conflicts is not rejected and many individuals believe that
even they fight or engage in conflicts due to the same differences. They share the view that
ethic differences might not be the only reason for a conflict and that there are various other
reasons along with ethnic diversity such as inequality among the people of various groups in
a social relation and the discrimination that is done to the people of those groups. Lastly,
constructive view stresses on the importance that socially made ethnic groups have in the
society and the nature of those groups in a particular community (Caselli and Coleman 2013).
The scholars who proposed this view focused on the example of Rwanda where the Tutsi and
Hutu difference was segmented by the Belgian colonial power according to the cattle
ownership, the physical measurements and the church records of the individuals. The identity
cards that were issued to the individuals were done on those bases and the documents played

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a very important role in the genocide of 1994. The scholars who dealt with ethnicity and
ethnic conflicts derived many new theories and concepts from involving and combining these
three paradigms. In the Geography of Ethnic Violence, it is shown the settle patterns of the
ethnic groups and how socially built up identities, leader of the groups, the issue of
indivisibility can lead the people of the group to escalate a small dispute to a conflict. This
concept is based on the three traditional school of thoughts combined. Another model that
was built that stated that relative deprivation which is the lack of basic resources of life are
what results in the discrimination of different groups (Rutherford et al. 2015). When an
individual or a group is relatively deprived from the way of living that they are accustomed to
then conflicts arise with time. Various other case studies have also been conducted which
explains the impact that racial and ethnic conflicts have on the development process of the
poor countries like Kenya, Papua New Guinea, Guyana and others. The increase in the ethnic
and racial diversity in these countries and the poor government system that these countries
have are also a result if the conflicts. Proper policies and steps are not been taken by the
government to ensure that people of different ethnic and racial groups can live together in
peace and harmony. Moreover, political parties make the use of this difference among the
groups and use it to their advantage to gain more political access and misuse their power, not
thinking about the effect that it would cause on the economy and the development of the
country. Furthermore, the cultural difference is also a reason of the conflicts and emerging
violence among the people. The difference in social and political views also acts as a catalyst
for those conflicts (Smith and Pettigrew 2015). People start violence when they are unable to
manipulate the thoughts and the views of other groups and try to do so by violent methods or
by complete eradicating the problems with conflicts and harming individuals. Hence, it can
be said that the ethnic and racial conflicts have a great deal of negative impact on the
development and economy of especially the poor countries as they do not possess the strong

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government policies to tackle and eradicate the issue. Even though there might be other
reasons for the lack of development in these countries, ethnic and racial diversity remains the
major cause.
As discussed in the previous paragraphs, it is said that ethnic conflicts have a great
impact on the development of poor countries. However, there have been many arguments
regarding this issue, where it is said that ethnic conflicts are not the main or even the major
reason for the lack of development in poor countries. It is evident that a conflict in any part of
the country affects the whole country, but the conflict does not primarily arise due to ethnic
and racial diversity. There are various other reasons for conflict and also for the slow
development process in poor countries. Firstly, the main reason for lack of development of
any less developed country is the corruption among the political parties of that country and
the individuals who have power (Justesen and Bjørnskov 2014). Political parties are mostly
engaged in a political power war with one another and they use the resources of the country
to gain more power and establish their precedence in the country. In doing so, they so not
think about the effect that it might have on the country itself and disrupt the wellbeing of the
nation. People are not been taken care of and the political parties make use of the
disadvantages among the people of the country to fulfil their desire of ruling the country.
They try to manipulate the people into gaining their trust to rule the country without thinking
about the things that it can do for the betterment of the country (Rose-Ackerman and Palifka
2016). Secondly, the population rate of poor countries are relatively higher than any other
country (Buhaug and Urdal 2013). This is because of the lack in proper income among the
families as most of them live in poverty. Hence to compensate for their economic drawback
they increase the population in their families so that more income can be incurred by more
members of the family. However, this gives a negative effect on the economy of the country
as the country is unable to supply the increasing population with proper food, resources and

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the desired income sources as well (Simon 2014). The lack of proper sources results in the
population being diverted towards negative ways to gain income for their livelihood which
gives a negative impact on the country. However, if the countries can find out the right ways
to properly train the surplus population, then huge positive gains can be derived from them
which can help majorly in developing the economy of the country. Thirdly, the economic
inequality among the different population groups is huge in poor countries (Milanovic 2013).
This is because the population of the country is comprised of either rich people or people who
live in poverty. This economic inequality creates an unrest among the poor people as they are
not able to gain anything through their hard work, whereas the rich society is getting richer
due to their power and wealth. Moreover, in such countries the labour class is not paid
according to the kind of work that they do. They are exploited and discriminated and might
not even be paid on some occasions Ostry, Berg and Tsangarides 2014). Due to this
persistence inequality in the country, much if the female population are trafficked or
exploited each year for money. Even children are taken away from schools by their family
and involved in many jobs where they are appointed as child labours. The poor people also
find various ways to earn money to attain their daily livelihood which might not always be
ethical and safe and are also creating huge impact on the country in the long run. Lastly, the
external factors mentioned above are not always the reasons for the lack of development in
the poor countries. Even internal factors like the mentality of the poor people also act as an
obstacle for the development of the country (Landes 2015). Poor people are generally used to
the idea of being poor and do not believe in adopting proper ways to elevate their status in the
society even if opportunities are provided to them. They focus on only one thing and that is
incurring money in any way to live their life. The concept of education is not always adopted
within the poor people as they do not believe that education can make their lives better. Even
if they do not want to educate their children, there are numerous small jobs which can be

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done by the people to earn a daily income. Instead of doing so, they create issues and
conflicts which they feel would help them get out of their poverty. However, this does not
happen as they further deteriorate due to these conflicts and face the same problems that they
have been facing before (Royce 2018). Therefore, it can be said that there are many reasons
which can be established to explain that the lack of developmental progress in poor countries
cannot always be blamed on the ethnic groups and their conflicts. The above mentioned cam
also be reasons for various conflicts and also among the people who belong to the same
ethnic group. There is always a constant war which have been persistent for a long time
among the rich and the poor people. This conflict have been taking place for ages due to the
economic imbalance among the population of the country. It can happen that some of those
people belong to the same ethnic group, however, it does not stop them from being involved
in conflict with each other. Furthermore, people of the same community also engage in
conflict due to issues which might arise among themselves ignoring all ethnic or racial
differences that they might have among themselves. Therefore, it is the work of the
government of the poor countries to first stabilize themselves and make clear policies and
views regarding the development of the country. A clear economic and development vision is
required by those in power to elevate those who have are dependent on them. If the people in
power work together for the betterment of the people of the country and themselves in an
honest way then everyone can work together to form a developed country.
Hence, it can be concluded from the above paragraphs that ethnic and racial conflicts
have a great impact on the development of the poor countries. This is evident from the case
studies of Guyana and Kenya, where the impact of the ethnic conflicts are critically analysed
and explained. The reasons mentioned in both case studies are almost similar, mainly
concentrating on the misuse of the conflict of the ethnic groups by the political parties.
However, as discussed above the ethnic conflicts are not the main reason which creates an

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impact on the development of the poor countries. There are various other reasons like
corruption in the government, the existing mentality of the poor people, the lack of
opportunity in the poor countries or the lack of trained people or the proper training methods
to use the surplus population properly. Hence, ethnic and racial diversities cannot be blamed
alone for the lack of progress in the development of the poor countries. It can be concluded
that a country will only be able to develop if all aspects of the society are kept in order.

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