Doctoral Dissertation Research in Political Science: Claiming Land: Institutions, Narratives, and Political Violence

肯尼亚选举期间的政治暴力形式多种多样，从激烈的城市骚乱和大规模的流离失所运动，到村级的抢牛和财产纠纷。地方一级暴力的动态产生了该项目的核心问题：为什么自多党选举开始以来，肯尼亚各地的政治暴力的发生率、强度和形式有如此显著的差异？最近对政治暴力的解释主要集中在选举、国家实力、种族认同和叛乱的可行性上。相比之下，该项目表明，土地保有权制度的变化是影响政治暴力发生和动态的一个关键但被忽视的因素。土地制度之所以重要，是因为它们塑造了准入、索赔以及选举期间的赞助和胁迫的政治。该项目解释了政治暴力在国家以下一级展开的过程。两个具体的问题指导着这项研究。首先，肯尼亚土地保有权关系的类型有相当大的差异--跨地理区域、不同族裔群体和社区内部。为什么这些不同的土地保有权关系在某些情况下会引发有争议的土地主张，而在许多其他情况下，保有权关系仍然没有争议？第二，争议性的土地要求何时以及如何成为政治暴力的动员工具？土地叙事提供了将制度关系的变化与暴力的变化联系起来的因果机制。它们是个人、团体和政客用来谈论或框定土地和财产问题的故事，为提出土地主张提供了一种群体认同和战略话语的语言。当两个或更多的群体利用对特定地区或领土的土地所有权、访问权或归属权的竞争主张时，叙事就会产生争议。政治行为者将它们用作煽动、动员和招募人们参与暴力的工具。该项目使用了一系列社区的微观比较研究，展示了土地保有权安排的强度、围绕土地的集体叙述以及政治暴力的发生率和形式的差异。基于五个阶段的研究设计，它依赖于采访、土地和人权报告的分析、一项调查和一项全国性的量化研究，将土地所有权与肯尼亚所有地区的暴力模式进行比较。这项研究形成了三篇关于非洲政治暴力、种族认同以及土地和财产政治的重叠文献。首先，通过使用土地作为解释性类别，该项目将机构的作用、对机构的集体看法以及精英在动员暴力方面的调解作用结合在一起。其次，该项目展示了土地权等制度如何塑造种族认同的政治意义。第三，通过研究土地保有权关系的变化、围绕土地的有争议的叙述以及国家以下一级的暴力，该项目旨在对从科特迪瓦到斯里兰卡的一系列冲突环境中的暴力模式提出更大的主张，在这些冲突环境中，土地要求、资源和身份是冲突和暴力的交织主题。该项目还具有更广泛的影响。更好地了解政治暴力的根源可以为旨在促进和平与稳定的政策提供依据。该项目可以为各国政府和致力于管理与土地有关的冲突的国际组织提供宝贵的见解。

The forms of political violence during elections in Kenya range from intense urban riots and large-scale campaigns of displacement, to village-level cattle raids and property disputes. The dynamics of local-level violence generate the central overarching question of this project: Why has there been such significant variation in the incidence, intensity, and forms of political violence across Kenya since the onset of multiparty elections? Recent explanations of political violence focus on elections, state strength, ethnic identity, and the feasibility of rebellion. By contrast, this project suggests that variation in land tenure institutions is a crucial yet overlooked factor in shaping the occurrence and dynamics of political violence. Land institutions matter because they shape the politics of access, claim-making, and election-time patronage and coercion. This project explains the process of political violence as it unfolds at the sub-national level. Two specific questions guide the research. First, there is considerable variation in the types of land tenure relationships in Kenya--across geographic regions, between different ethnic groups, and within communities. Why do these diverse land tenure relationships provoke contentious land claims in some cases, while in many others, tenure relationships remain uncontested? Second, when and how do contentious claims to land become a mobilizing tool for political violence?Land narratives provide the causal mechanism linking variation in institutional relationships with variation in violence. They are stories that individuals, groups, and politicians use to talk about or frame issues of land and property, offering a language of group identification and strategic discourse for making claims to land. Narratives become contentious when two or more groups draw upon competing claims to land ownership, access, or the right to belong in a particular region or territory. Political actors use them as a tool to incite, mobilize, and recruit people to participate in violence.This project uses a micro-comparative study across a set of communities displaying variation in the strength of land tenure arrangements, collective narratives around land, and the incidence and forms of political violence. Based on a five-stage research design, it relies on interviews, analyses of land and human rights reports, a survey, and a national-level quantitative study comparing land titling with the patterns of violence across all districts of Kenya.This research contributes to three overlapping literatures on political violence, ethnic identities, and the politics of land and property in Africa. First, by using land as an explanatory category, the project integrates the role of institutions, collective perceptions of institutions, and the mediating role of elites in mobilizing violence. Second, this project demonstrates how institutions such as land rights can shape the political significance of ethnic identities. Third, by looking at variation in land tenure relationships, contentious narratives around land, and violence at the sub-national level, the project aims to make larger claims about patterns of violence across a range of conflict settings--from Cote d'Ivoire to Sri Lanka--where land claims, resources, and identities are interwoven themes of conflict and violence. The project has broader implications as well. A better understanding of the origins of political violence can inform policies aiming to foster peace and stability. The project can generate valuable insights for governments and international organizations working to manage land-related conflicts.