My Google Scholar page is available here. See also my ResearcherID and ORCID.
This research has been funded through research fellowships of the German National Academic Foundation and the
German Academic Exchange Service.
This research has been funded through research fellowships of the German National Academic Foundation and the
German Academic Exchange Service.
Publications
2017. To Claim or not to Claim? How Territorial Value Shapes Demands for Self-Determination. Comparative Political Studies 50 (7):992-1020. doi:10.1177/0010414016666837.
Abstract
The literature on nationalism and civil war provides compelling evidence that territory is highly identity-relevant and strongly associated with conflict. However, it remains unclear which territorial characteristics determine this process, and how groups demanding self-determination differ from their counterparts not seeking greater rights. I argue that groups claim self-rule if they assign symbolic relevance to their land in contrast to material or strategic value, due to the positive effect of symbolic attachments on group cohesion. I present new data on the value of territory and self-determination demands, and propose a new and comprehensive measure of symbolic territory. The findings reveal that variation in symbolic value shows a considerably stronger association with self-determination demands than material and strategic territory. This highlights new research avenues investigating the role of territorial value in subnational conflicts, as well as the systematic differences in conflict behavior between groups demanding self-rule and non-disputants.
Replication Data | Code (Stata & R)
2017. Selbstbestimmung und Gewalt: Zur Rolle von Territorialität in subnationalen Selbstbestimmungskonflikten. Zeitschrift für Politikwissenschaft, 27(4): 509-527. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41358-017-0114-z.
(“Self-Determination and Violence: On the Role of Territoriality in Subnational Demands for Self-Determination“)
Abstract
Substaatliche Konflikte über Selbstbestimmung sind in den vergangenen Jahren zunehmend in den Fokus der Konfliktforschung gerückt. Dieser Literaturbericht untersucht die Bedeutung territorialen Wertes für die Erklärung der Ursachen und der Wahl von Konfliktstrategien in Selbstbestimmungsforderungen. Die Unterscheidung symbolischen, strategischen und materiellen territorialen Wertes leistet einen wesentlichen Beitrag für die Erklärung des Auftretens und der Eskalation dieser Forderungen. Der Literaturbericht offenbart Ansatzpunkte für die differenzierte Definition von Konflikt, die Untersuchung gewaltloser Selbstbestimmungsforderungen und beschränkt gewalttätiger Konflikte, sowie bezüglich einer vertieften Analyse der dargestellten Zusammenhänge.
Abstract
The literature on nationalism and civil war provides compelling evidence that territory is highly identity-relevant and strongly associated with conflict. However, it remains unclear which territorial characteristics determine this process, and how groups demanding self-determination differ from their counterparts not seeking greater rights. I argue that groups claim self-rule if they assign symbolic relevance to their land in contrast to material or strategic value, due to the positive effect of symbolic attachments on group cohesion. I present new data on the value of territory and self-determination demands, and propose a new and comprehensive measure of symbolic territory. The findings reveal that variation in symbolic value shows a considerably stronger association with self-determination demands than material and strategic territory. This highlights new research avenues investigating the role of territorial value in subnational conflicts, as well as the systematic differences in conflict behavior between groups demanding self-rule and non-disputants.
Replication Data | Code (Stata & R)
2017. Selbstbestimmung und Gewalt: Zur Rolle von Territorialität in subnationalen Selbstbestimmungskonflikten. Zeitschrift für Politikwissenschaft, 27(4): 509-527. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41358-017-0114-z.
(“Self-Determination and Violence: On the Role of Territoriality in Subnational Demands for Self-Determination“)
Abstract
Substaatliche Konflikte über Selbstbestimmung sind in den vergangenen Jahren zunehmend in den Fokus der Konfliktforschung gerückt. Dieser Literaturbericht untersucht die Bedeutung territorialen Wertes für die Erklärung der Ursachen und der Wahl von Konfliktstrategien in Selbstbestimmungsforderungen. Die Unterscheidung symbolischen, strategischen und materiellen territorialen Wertes leistet einen wesentlichen Beitrag für die Erklärung des Auftretens und der Eskalation dieser Forderungen. Der Literaturbericht offenbart Ansatzpunkte für die differenzierte Definition von Konflikt, die Untersuchung gewaltloser Selbstbestimmungsforderungen und beschränkt gewalttätiger Konflikte, sowie bezüglich einer vertieften Analyse der dargestellten Zusammenhänge.
Work in Progress
The Force Awakens: Territory and Violence in Subnational Conflicts over Self-Determination
Abstract
The quest for self-determination lies at the heart of a large share of conflicts worldwide. While territorial characteristics such as resource wealth or terrain ruggedness are found to affect violent rebellion, it is unclear whether the findings travel to communities employing alternative conflict strategies or seeking self-determination. I propose a theory of violence in conflicts over self-rule conditional on territorial value, accounting for nonviolent, small scale, and large scale violent strategies. Groups benefit from mobilization advantages based on symbolic territory independent of the conflict strategy, whereas strategic and material value is conducive to rebellions. I present new data on self-determination demands worldwide between 2005 and 2015, measuring the degree of violence and territorial value. Using selection models and logit estimations, I find that symbolic attachments are relevant for demands involving nonviolence and small scale violence, whereas strategic terrain is associated with rebellion, and material value conducive to nonviolence.
Change We Can Believe In: On the Role of Religion in Demands for Self-Determination
Abstract
Religious conflicts are an enduring feature of national and international politics. However, the literature is largely silent on whether religion is politically salient in conflicts over political self-determination. This paper investigates the relevance of religion and religious attachments to the contested territory for the incidence and the choice of strategy in demands for self-determination. I contend that a group definition in terms of religion as well as religious attachments to the land provide claimants with mobilization advantages. I argue that groups tend to make demands and use violence to pursue them if membership is defined by religious belonging and if they attach religious relevance to their territory. Using data on self-determination groups worldwide and the religious value of the claimed territory, I find that groups have a higher chance to demand self-rule and employ nonconventional strategies if religion is salient. My analysis offers new insight into the relevance of religion in demands for self-rule.
Affording Independence? Economic Crises and Support for Regionalist Parties in Europe
with Hakan Günaydin
Abstract
European regions such as Catalonia are seeing significant levels of support for increased autonomy and independence, in particular since the economic crisis of 2008. Existing approaches focusing on the economic sources of regionalist support have proposed time-invariant explanations for these developments, uncovering often inconsistent direction of effects. We offer a dynamic account of European regionalism in the wake of economic crises, and propose that widening economic inequality between separatist regions and states increases support for regionalism. Specifically, we argue that equalization payments from the separatist region to the state exacerbate regional perceptions of inequality. By relying on a European sample of regions that are represented by regionalist parties in the national assembly between 1970 and 2010, we find support for our expectation that the widening of economic inequality due to economic crises increases support for regionalism. For parties with secessionist goals the effects are more nuanced and conditional on the relative economic strength of the region in comparison to the host state. The results offer new perspectives on the relation between regional economic status and support for regionalism and independence.
Watch Your Words: Territorial Framing in Mobilization for Self-Determination
Abstract
Territory has been found to affect the incidence of self-determination demands as well as the degree of violence involved. However, the understanding of the underlying mobilization process is limited. I argue that the communication strategies applied in demands for self-rule determine the probability of their success. My theory suggests that public framing of demands for self-determination in reference to symbolic territorial value increases the credibility and perceived legitimacy of the claims by referencing this focal point and thereby fostering mobilization. I use data on self-determination groups worldwide and their territorial value endowment, and show that symbolic territory is strongly related to small scale self-determination violence. I test the findings using case study evidence on the Corsicans and Basques in France, which confirms the relevance of symbolic territory as a collective action frame.
Securing a State: How Traditional Institutions foster Self-Determination Demands
with Clara Neupert-Wentz
Abstract
Traditional institutions have been found to affect a variety of societal processes, including intra-state conflicts, development outcomes, and electoral processes. How do these domestic political arrangements affect groups’ incentives to demand greater self-determination? We argue that functioning subnational traditional institutions of societal groups increase the capacity to self-govern, fostering mobilization for autonomy or independence. Moreover, the presence of competing jurisdictions confronts members of subnational groups with insecurity in their daily interactions with the state. This gives rise to a situation similar to an ethnic security dilemma, which incentivizes them to employ nonconventional strategies, and in particular violence, to reach maximal security through independence. We use data on socially relevant groups worldwide, their traditional political organization, and their strategy choice between 2005 and 2015. Employing logistic regression and matching methods, our findings demonstrate that groups adhering to their own set of traditional institutions are more likely to demand self-determination and to employ nonconventional conflict strategies. The results suggest new perspectives on the interactions of regional and national political systems with the propensity of subnational conflict.
Divisive Riches: Resource Ownership and Social Conflict in Sub-Saharan Africa
with Tim Wegenast and Gerald Schneider
Abstract
Empirical tests of “resource curse” thesis have provided inconclusive evidence for the inter-related claims that natural resource abundance lowers economic growth and increases the risk of social conflict. The present article argues that it is important to analyze how states regulate the access to their natural resources in order to better understand the interrelationship between resources, economic development and public resistance against resource extraction arrangements. We claim that the resource ownership affects the protest potential and that the siphoning out of resource rents to international owners instigates resentment among the local population, fueling especially mass protests rather than civil wars. Distinguishing between private and public ownership arrangements, we assess the effects of natural resources using new GIS-based data on diamond and gold mines in Sub-Sahara Africa. We show that different control rights regimes indeed have different effects on social mobilization, low-level political violence and major forms of conflict. Grids hosting international gold mining companies are found to have an increased risk of experiencing local protests and violent riots, while the incidence of civil wars as well as demonstrations and riots is smaller in grids with public domestic gold extraction. Furthermore, our results indicate that international diamond ownership increases the local risk of civil war onsets.
Symbols and Support: Territorial Value and the Success of Self-Determination Demands
Abstract
Self-determination groups rarely reach their initial goals of self-rule. Existing research has identified structural conditions and the state’s fear of precedent setting as critical conditions for successful claims. I suggest that the value attached to the disputed land lies at the heart of demand success. My argument is that symbolic territorial value is a critical aspect in increasing claimant’s mobilization potential and bargaining leverage. However, narrow definitions of demand success have been prevalent, focusing on claim content and the corresponding outcomes. Conceptualizing success more broadly as a strengthening of the claimant’s bargaining position allows for a more nuanced picture of the sources of claim success. I employ a combination of quantitative data and case study evidence on self-determination groups worldwide and the (intermediate) outcomes of their demands. I find that states are more willing to grant concessions when claimants value their territory for symbolic reasons. Symbolic attachments are furthermore associated with more limited forms of success, in particular increases in party strength and electoral support. The results shed light on the relevance of territory for demand success as well as on the bargaining processes underlying a variety of demand outcomes.
Zwischenstaatliche Argumente für föderale Prozesse: Territoriale Argumentationsstrukturen in der Debatte um die Gebietsreform in Thüringen 2017
("Interstate Reasoning in Federal Processes: Territorial Arguments in the Debate on Territorial Reform in Thuringia 2017“)
Abstract
Die territoriale Umstrukturierung auf föderaler Ebene kann signifikante Auswirkungen auf den Alltag der betroffenen Bevölkerung haben und Gebietsreformen werden von den betroffenen Akteuren mit großem Einsatz verhandelt. Was für Argumente kommen dabei zum Einsatz? Argumentationsstrukturen, die sich in anderen Kontexten als wirkmächtig erwiesen haben, können bestimmten Positionen besonderen Nachdruck verleihen. Ich argumentiere, dass Begründungen aus dem Umfeld zwischenstaatlicher Territorialkonflikte in diesem Zusammenhang angewendet werden. Die Analyse befasst sich mit der Debatte um die Funktional- und Gebietsreform in Thüringen 2021. Mithilfe von Structural Topic Models untersuche ich die Berichterstattung der landesweiten Tageszeitung „Thüringer Allgemeine“ im Jahr 2017. Erste Ergebnisse zeigen, dass, meinen Erwartungen entsprechend, staatliche und nicht-staatlichen Akteure solche Argumentationsstrukturen verwenden, die auch im Kontext von internationalen territorialen Konflikten gebraucht werden. Die Befunde demonstrieren, dass Ansätze aus den Internationalen Beziehungen fruchtbar auf Themen der Föderalismusforschung angewendet werden können.
Abstract
The quest for self-determination lies at the heart of a large share of conflicts worldwide. While territorial characteristics such as resource wealth or terrain ruggedness are found to affect violent rebellion, it is unclear whether the findings travel to communities employing alternative conflict strategies or seeking self-determination. I propose a theory of violence in conflicts over self-rule conditional on territorial value, accounting for nonviolent, small scale, and large scale violent strategies. Groups benefit from mobilization advantages based on symbolic territory independent of the conflict strategy, whereas strategic and material value is conducive to rebellions. I present new data on self-determination demands worldwide between 2005 and 2015, measuring the degree of violence and territorial value. Using selection models and logit estimations, I find that symbolic attachments are relevant for demands involving nonviolence and small scale violence, whereas strategic terrain is associated with rebellion, and material value conducive to nonviolence.
Change We Can Believe In: On the Role of Religion in Demands for Self-Determination
Abstract
Religious conflicts are an enduring feature of national and international politics. However, the literature is largely silent on whether religion is politically salient in conflicts over political self-determination. This paper investigates the relevance of religion and religious attachments to the contested territory for the incidence and the choice of strategy in demands for self-determination. I contend that a group definition in terms of religion as well as religious attachments to the land provide claimants with mobilization advantages. I argue that groups tend to make demands and use violence to pursue them if membership is defined by religious belonging and if they attach religious relevance to their territory. Using data on self-determination groups worldwide and the religious value of the claimed territory, I find that groups have a higher chance to demand self-rule and employ nonconventional strategies if religion is salient. My analysis offers new insight into the relevance of religion in demands for self-rule.
Affording Independence? Economic Crises and Support for Regionalist Parties in Europe
with Hakan Günaydin
Abstract
European regions such as Catalonia are seeing significant levels of support for increased autonomy and independence, in particular since the economic crisis of 2008. Existing approaches focusing on the economic sources of regionalist support have proposed time-invariant explanations for these developments, uncovering often inconsistent direction of effects. We offer a dynamic account of European regionalism in the wake of economic crises, and propose that widening economic inequality between separatist regions and states increases support for regionalism. Specifically, we argue that equalization payments from the separatist region to the state exacerbate regional perceptions of inequality. By relying on a European sample of regions that are represented by regionalist parties in the national assembly between 1970 and 2010, we find support for our expectation that the widening of economic inequality due to economic crises increases support for regionalism. For parties with secessionist goals the effects are more nuanced and conditional on the relative economic strength of the region in comparison to the host state. The results offer new perspectives on the relation between regional economic status and support for regionalism and independence.
Watch Your Words: Territorial Framing in Mobilization for Self-Determination
Abstract
Territory has been found to affect the incidence of self-determination demands as well as the degree of violence involved. However, the understanding of the underlying mobilization process is limited. I argue that the communication strategies applied in demands for self-rule determine the probability of their success. My theory suggests that public framing of demands for self-determination in reference to symbolic territorial value increases the credibility and perceived legitimacy of the claims by referencing this focal point and thereby fostering mobilization. I use data on self-determination groups worldwide and their territorial value endowment, and show that symbolic territory is strongly related to small scale self-determination violence. I test the findings using case study evidence on the Corsicans and Basques in France, which confirms the relevance of symbolic territory as a collective action frame.
Securing a State: How Traditional Institutions foster Self-Determination Demands
with Clara Neupert-Wentz
Abstract
Traditional institutions have been found to affect a variety of societal processes, including intra-state conflicts, development outcomes, and electoral processes. How do these domestic political arrangements affect groups’ incentives to demand greater self-determination? We argue that functioning subnational traditional institutions of societal groups increase the capacity to self-govern, fostering mobilization for autonomy or independence. Moreover, the presence of competing jurisdictions confronts members of subnational groups with insecurity in their daily interactions with the state. This gives rise to a situation similar to an ethnic security dilemma, which incentivizes them to employ nonconventional strategies, and in particular violence, to reach maximal security through independence. We use data on socially relevant groups worldwide, their traditional political organization, and their strategy choice between 2005 and 2015. Employing logistic regression and matching methods, our findings demonstrate that groups adhering to their own set of traditional institutions are more likely to demand self-determination and to employ nonconventional conflict strategies. The results suggest new perspectives on the interactions of regional and national political systems with the propensity of subnational conflict.
Divisive Riches: Resource Ownership and Social Conflict in Sub-Saharan Africa
with Tim Wegenast and Gerald Schneider
Abstract
Empirical tests of “resource curse” thesis have provided inconclusive evidence for the inter-related claims that natural resource abundance lowers economic growth and increases the risk of social conflict. The present article argues that it is important to analyze how states regulate the access to their natural resources in order to better understand the interrelationship between resources, economic development and public resistance against resource extraction arrangements. We claim that the resource ownership affects the protest potential and that the siphoning out of resource rents to international owners instigates resentment among the local population, fueling especially mass protests rather than civil wars. Distinguishing between private and public ownership arrangements, we assess the effects of natural resources using new GIS-based data on diamond and gold mines in Sub-Sahara Africa. We show that different control rights regimes indeed have different effects on social mobilization, low-level political violence and major forms of conflict. Grids hosting international gold mining companies are found to have an increased risk of experiencing local protests and violent riots, while the incidence of civil wars as well as demonstrations and riots is smaller in grids with public domestic gold extraction. Furthermore, our results indicate that international diamond ownership increases the local risk of civil war onsets.
Symbols and Support: Territorial Value and the Success of Self-Determination Demands
Abstract
Self-determination groups rarely reach their initial goals of self-rule. Existing research has identified structural conditions and the state’s fear of precedent setting as critical conditions for successful claims. I suggest that the value attached to the disputed land lies at the heart of demand success. My argument is that symbolic territorial value is a critical aspect in increasing claimant’s mobilization potential and bargaining leverage. However, narrow definitions of demand success have been prevalent, focusing on claim content and the corresponding outcomes. Conceptualizing success more broadly as a strengthening of the claimant’s bargaining position allows for a more nuanced picture of the sources of claim success. I employ a combination of quantitative data and case study evidence on self-determination groups worldwide and the (intermediate) outcomes of their demands. I find that states are more willing to grant concessions when claimants value their territory for symbolic reasons. Symbolic attachments are furthermore associated with more limited forms of success, in particular increases in party strength and electoral support. The results shed light on the relevance of territory for demand success as well as on the bargaining processes underlying a variety of demand outcomes.
Zwischenstaatliche Argumente für föderale Prozesse: Territoriale Argumentationsstrukturen in der Debatte um die Gebietsreform in Thüringen 2017
("Interstate Reasoning in Federal Processes: Territorial Arguments in the Debate on Territorial Reform in Thuringia 2017“)
Abstract
Die territoriale Umstrukturierung auf föderaler Ebene kann signifikante Auswirkungen auf den Alltag der betroffenen Bevölkerung haben und Gebietsreformen werden von den betroffenen Akteuren mit großem Einsatz verhandelt. Was für Argumente kommen dabei zum Einsatz? Argumentationsstrukturen, die sich in anderen Kontexten als wirkmächtig erwiesen haben, können bestimmten Positionen besonderen Nachdruck verleihen. Ich argumentiere, dass Begründungen aus dem Umfeld zwischenstaatlicher Territorialkonflikte in diesem Zusammenhang angewendet werden. Die Analyse befasst sich mit der Debatte um die Funktional- und Gebietsreform in Thüringen 2021. Mithilfe von Structural Topic Models untersuche ich die Berichterstattung der landesweiten Tageszeitung „Thüringer Allgemeine“ im Jahr 2017. Erste Ergebnisse zeigen, dass, meinen Erwartungen entsprechend, staatliche und nicht-staatlichen Akteure solche Argumentationsstrukturen verwenden, die auch im Kontext von internationalen territorialen Konflikten gebraucht werden. Die Befunde demonstrieren, dass Ansätze aus den Internationalen Beziehungen fruchtbar auf Themen der Föderalismusforschung angewendet werden können.
Please email me if you are interested in reading any of the working papers.
