Article

Introducing the Strategies of Resistance Data Project

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Abstract

This article introduces the Strategies of Resistance Data Project (SRDP), a global dataset on organizational behavior in self-determination disputes. This dataset is actor-focused and spans periods of relative peace and violence in self-determination conflicts. By linking tactics to specific actors in broader campaigns for political change, we can better understand how these struggles unfold over time, and the conditions under which organizations use conventional politics, violent tactics, nonviolent tactics, or some combination of these. SRDP comprises 1,124 organizations participating in movements for greater national self-determination around the world, from 1960 to 2005. Despite the fact that few self-determination movements engage in mass nonviolent campaigns, SRDP shows that more organizations employ nonviolent tactics at some point in time (about 40%) than employ violence (about 30%). Many organizations switch among tactics or use both at the same time. This dataset will allow analysts to examine the use of different combinations of tactics and patterns of change. We compare the data with the most-used dataset on nonviolence, the NAVCO 2.0 Data Project, to demonstrate what we gain by employing an organization-level dataset on tactics. We present a set of descriptive analyses highlighting the utility of the SRDP, including an examination of tactic switching. We show that more organizations change from violence to nonviolence than the reverse – challenging the widely held assumption that organizations ‘resort’ to violence. SRDP allows scholars to examine organizational choices about tactics, and trends in these tactics, with much greater nuance.

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... Recent research on conflict points out self-determination (SD) disputes as one of the more prevalent around the world. Cross-country databases on SD conflicts (?), movements (Sambanis et al., 2018), and organizations (Cunningham et al., 2020) have contributed to delimiting the scope and importance of these struggles. To further improve our knowledge about SD conflicts, it is relevant to develop detailed data at a more disaggregated level and to understand differences among movements claiming SD. ...
... 2 Considering groups described in MAR (Gurr, 1993), 38% of the SD movements reported by Sambanis et al. (2018) and 25% of the SD organizations in Cunningham et al. (2020) are indigenous. Nevertheless, many SD movements are not included in the list by MAR. ...
... To address this issue, we have used a broader list of indigenous groups based on ILO's definition. Using that list, we find that 42% of the SD movements in Sambanis et al. (2018) and 46% of SD organizations in Cunningham et al. (2020) are indigenous. conflict micro-level datasets. ...
Article
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This article introduces MACEDA, a micro-level data set on the self-determination (SD) conflict between the Chilean state and the indigenous Mapuche. Although SD disputes are one of the most common conflicts in the world, and indigenous movements represent about 40% of all SD movements, this is the first micro-data focused on an indigenous SD conflict. MACEDA covers the period 1990-2016, including more than 2,600 events collected from local media. As indigenous conflicts are much less violent in terms of casualties, we take a flexible definition of conflict, based on its constituent events, and we discuss the comparability and generalization of our approach. To illustrate the usefulness of these micro-data in the analysis of conflict-related theories, we present a descriptive empirical analysis on the strategies of indigenous resistance, and we discuss how the data can be used in the causal analysis of conflicts.
... Recent research on conflict points out self-determination (SD) disputes as one of the more prevalent around the world. Cross-country databases on SD conflicts (Cunningham, 2014), movements (Sambanis et al., 2018), and organizations (Cunningham et al., 2019) have contributed to delimiting the scope and importance of these struggles. To further improve our knowledge about SD conflicts, it is relevant to develop detailed data at a more disaggregated level and to understand differences among movements claiming SD. ...
... 2 Considering groups described in MAR (Gurr, 1993), 38% of the SD movements reported by Sambanis et al. (2018) and 25% of the SD organizations in Cunningham et al. (2019) are indigenous. Nevertheless, many SD movements are not included in the list by MAR. ...
... To address this issue, we have used a broader list of indigenous groups based on ILO's definition. Using that list, we find that 42% of the SD movements in Sambanis et al. (2018) and 46% of SD organizations in Cunningham et al. (2019) are indigenous. ...
Preprint
Full-text available
This article introduces MACEDA, a micro-level data set on the self-determination (SD) conflict between the Chilean state and the indigenous Mapuche. Although SD disputes are one of the most common conflicts in the world, and indigenous movements represent about 40% of all SD movements, this is the first micro-data focused on an indigenous SD conflict. MACEDA covers the period 1990-2016, including more than 2,600 events collected from local media. As indigenous conflicts are much less violent in terms of casualties, we take a flexible definition of conflict, based on its constituent events, and we discuss the comparability and generalization of our approach. To illustrate the usefulness of these micro-data in the analysis of conflict-related theories, we present a descriptive empirical analysis on the strategies of indigenous resistance, and we discuss how the data can be used in the causal analysis of conflicts.
... Moreover, this study is the first, to our knowledge, to empirically analyze specifically the effect of a land reform process on conflict with indigenous communities. 3 These kinds of conflicts are part of the denominated "self-determination conflicts", prevalent around the world, but until recently with few empirical studies given the lack of data in cases where intensity is below full-scale wars (Cunningham, 2014;Cunningham et al., 2019). We take advantage of a novel data set on indigenous self-determination conflict (Cayul et al., 2022), partially developed for this study, to fill this gap. ...
... It is also a contribution to the recent literatures on indigenous economics and the historical determinants of conflicts. The main findings shed light on self-determination indigenous conflicts, a kind of conflict common worldwide, but also one of the least studied, despite its relevant impact on social and economic development in rural areas of the world (Cunningham et al., 2019;Cayul et al., 2022). Our evidence is relevant for the implementation of policies toward indigenous communities and other groups involved in conflicts fueled by failed land reforms as well as other failed policies. ...
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Land reforms are one of the most profound institutional changes in developing countries. Nevertheless, these reforms often fail, due to interruptions, reversals, and partial implementations. Unsuccessful policies for land redistribution are likely to produce grievances and social unrest, further deterring economic development in areas with historically excluded populations such as peasants and indigenous groups. This paper analyzes the persistent effects of the Chilean land reform (1962-1973) on a current indigenous self-determination conflict. A large land redistribution process took place in the study area but was almost fully reverted in a counter-reform following a military coup. Using a detailed plot-level database, we find evidence suggesting a persistent effect of the land reform. Our results imply that expropriated plots were at least ten times more likely to be invaded and attacked between 1990 and 2016, an effect that is larger in plots of which indigenous communities were beneficiaries. These results are confirmed with instrumental variable estimates, based on our evidence that unexpected productivity shocks affected plot participation in the land reform. Potential channels underlying our results are the grievances of the failed reform and changes in the economic structure after the counter-reform.
... These data are paired with information on self-determination movement fragmentation from the Strategies of Resistance Data Project (Cunningham et al., 2020), which include yearly, time varying data on the number of organizations in movements for self-rule between 1960 and 2020. Our sample includes 79 referendums held by 42 different self-determination movements challenging 28 countries. ...
Article
From Catalonia to Kurdistan to Scotland, referendums have increasingly become popular strategies of self-rule movements. Despite this, many referendums are considered failures by the movements (revealing a dearth of support), some are marred by violence, and few garner external backing. Given this, when are they likely to be employed? We argue that internal competition serves as one driving force for actors to use referendums as a way to gain or uphold status within the movement. Using novel data and two case studies, we highlight the ways these movements arrive at a vote for self-rule, underscoring the role of internal competition.
... Others use both or shift between the two. 8 While there has been significant interest in studying the group-level characteristics of resistance groups and explanations of such features, the proceeding section shows that another area of research that has received attention from scholars is the reactions of domestic states facing resistance movements and their use of repressive tactics against them. ...
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Does the regime type of a foreign state supporter of a resistance movement influence violent repression by domestic states facing resistance? Studies on resistance movements have recently begun to explore the effects of third-party support on the behaviors and successes of the movements themselves and the governments they oppose. While this literature has unearthed important findings on the impact of external interventions on behalf of resistance groups, one area of research that remains unexplored is how the political features of third-party actors shape the behavior of governments that face resistance movements. This study investigates how the domestic political characteristics of foreign supporters of resistance movements affect the repressive behaviors of domestic states facing resistance. Looking specifically at the regime type of foreign state supporters of opposition groups, we argue that resistance movements that receive assistance from democratic foreign states deter domestic governments facing resistance from using violent repression. Such governments recognize the selection effects associated with democratic intervention and the reputational costs associated with human rights practices and thus, they are less likely to commit physical violence against dissidents. Our findings for resistance campaigns during the period of 1981–2013 support our expectations that external support from democratic states for resistance movements reduces the likelihood of domestic governments facing resistance using violent repression against dissident groups.
... The Strategies of Resistance 43 Wucherpfennig et al. (2012). 44 Cunningham, Dahl and Frugé (2020). Data Project (SRDP) records violent and nonviolent activities by self-determination organizations. ...
Article
Scholars have shown that nonviolent movements tend to be more successful than violent movements. A key explanation is that nonviolent movements have a mobilization advantage over violent campaigns. As nonviolent movements have lower barriers to active participation, they can expand quickly by mobilizing much larger numbers than violent movements. We argue that such a mobilization advantage is not universal, and that different movements are likely to have a comparative advantage in one tactic over another. We develop a simple model emphasizing how the ex ante potential for mobilization and prospects for success steer the choice of dissident tactics. Nonviolent tactics can be relatively more effective when a movement can mobilize more active participants than with violence, but movements with limited mobilization potential can have feasible prospects for violent dissent and a nonviolent mobilization disadvantage. We examine the implications of the model against empirical data for different types of dissident tactics and on resort to nonviolent and nonviolent dissent. We demonstrate very different actor profiles in nonviolent dissent and violent conflict, and show how each of the two types of dissent are more likely under very different settings. To compare success by types of dissent we must account for how differences in potential numbers or mobilization shape tactical choices.
... Secession is a radical political option, akin to revolutions and civil wars. It is certain to produce economic costs (Reynaerts and Vanschoonbeek 2016) and may result in physical harm for those who pursue it (Cunningham, Dahl, and Frugé 2019). Secessionist movements are unlikely to obtain international recognition due to the territorial status quo bias of the international system (Coggins 2011). ...
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Minorities At Risk organizational behavior data and codebook, version 9/2008
  • Asal
  • Victor
  • Amy Pate
  • Jonathan Wilkenfeld
Minorities At Risk organizational behavior data and codebook
  • Asal Victor
  • Pate Amy
  • Wilkenfeld Jonathan