A sociological look at the evolution of recent scholarship on ethnic conflicts

Abstract

It is commonly held that there was increased scholarly interest in ethnic conflicts following the end of the Cold War, though what this greater interest has meant in terms of the evolution of this subfield in subsequent decades has rarely been studied. To fill this gap, this article looks at all articles (n = 246) on the causes of ethnic conflicts, out of a total of 20,105 articles published in 30 key journals between 1990 and 2012. Adopting a sociological stance, it argues that the subfield expanded over the period. However, ethnic conflict literature appears to have been at key points largely driven by external factors. There is also indication that duels as opposed to dialogue were the modus operandi for this period. Overall, the broad notion of expansion needs to be nuanced in light of some concerning trends behind the subfield’s sociological evolution.