{"id":{"repo_id":"umn","oai_identifier":"oai:conservancy.umn.edu:11299/154889"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/umn/oai:conservancy.umn.edu:11299/154889","repository":{"repo_id":"umn","name":"University of Minnesota","base_url":"https://conservancy.umn.edu/server/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"The inevitable clash? Inter-religious violence and local power-sharing in Nigeria","abstract":"Since the end of the Cold War, intra-state or ethnic conflict has emerged as one of the most serious threats to the peace and stability of states in the international system. Inter-religious violence, in particular, and the politicization of new forms of resurgent religion are now a major challenge. Not all religiously pluralistic communities witness violence, however: what explains why inter-religious violence breaks out in some communities and not others? Under what conditions does religious identity - as opposed to other salient ethnic cleavages - become the fault line and mobilizing narrative of communal violence? Examining the variation in Muslim-Christian post-1980 violence in northern Nigeria, I suggest that a community's vulnerability to inter-religious violence is a function of pre-existing ethno-tribal power-sharing arrangements at the local level. While scholars and policy-makers are disappointed by the ability of formal, national-level power-sharing institutions to avert ethnic conflict and instability, they overlook the peacebuilding capacity of informal local government power-sharing. From nearly a year of case study research and original data collection in northern Nigeria, I find that religious change in Nigeria has introduced a powerful narrative of group identity and difference that, depending on informal local power-sharing arrangements, can be leveraged for violence or peace.","abstract_html":"Since the end of the Cold War, intra-state or ethnic conflict has emerged as one of the most serious threats to the peace and stability of states in the international system. Inter-religious violence, in particular, and the politicization of new forms of resurgent religion are now a major challenge. Not all religiously pluralistic communities witness violence, however: what explains why inter-religious violence breaks out in some communities and not others? Under what conditions does religious identity - as opposed to other salient ethnic cleavages - become the fault line and mobilizing narrative of communal violence? Examining the variation in Muslim-Christian post-1980 violence in northern Nigeria, I suggest that a community's vulnerability to inter-religious violence is a function of pre-existing ethno-tribal power-sharing arrangements at the local level. While scholars and policy-makers are disappointed by the ability of formal, national-level power-sharing institutions to avert ethnic conflict and instability, they overlook the peacebuilding capacity of informal local government power-sharing. From nearly a year of case study research and original data collection in northern Nigeria, I find that religious change in Nigeria has introduced a powerful narrative of group identity and difference that, depending on informal local power-sharing arrangements, can be leveraged for violence or peace.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Vinson, Laura Thaut"],"institution":null,"degree_name":null,"degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2013,"date_issued":"2013-05","date_published":"2013-05","updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:20:09Z","subjects":["Ethnic conflict","Inter-religious Violence","Muslim-Christian conflict","Nigeria","Power-sharing","Religion"],"languages":["en_US"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://purl.umn.edu/154889","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Vinson, Laura Thaut"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2013-08-01T19:21:28Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2013-08-01T19:21:28Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2013-05"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis or Dissertation"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Ethnic conflict","Inter-religious Violence","Muslim-Christian conflict","Nigeria","Power-sharing","Religion"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language.iso","label":"Language (ISO)","values":["en_US"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["http://purl.umn.edu/154889"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["University of Minnesota Ph.D. dissertation. May 2013. Major: Political science. Advisors: David Samuels, Kathleen Collins. 1 computer file (PDF); viii, 412 pages, appendices A-G."]},{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Since the end of the Cold War, intra-state or ethnic conflict has emerged as one of the most serious threats to the peace and stability of states in the international system. Inter-religious violence, in particular, and the politicization of new forms of resurgent religion are now a major challenge. Not all religiously pluralistic communities witness violence, however: what explains why inter-religious violence breaks out in some communities and not others? Under what conditions does religious identity - as opposed to other salient ethnic cleavages - become the fault line and mobilizing narrative of communal violence? Examining the variation in Muslim-Christian post-1980 violence in northern Nigeria, I suggest that a community's vulnerability to inter-religious violence is a function of pre-existing ethno-tribal power-sharing arrangements at the local level. While scholars and policy-makers are disappointed by the ability of formal, national-level power-sharing institutions to avert ethnic conflict and instability, they overlook the peacebuilding capacity of informal local government power-sharing. From nearly a year of case study research and original data collection in northern Nigeria, I find that religious change in Nigeria has introduced a powerful narrative of group identity and difference that, depending on informal local power-sharing arrangements, can be leveraged for violence or peace."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["The inevitable clash? Inter-religious violence and local power-sharing in Nigeria"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:creator":["Vinson, Laura Thaut"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2013-08-01T19:21:28Z"],"dc:date.available":["2013-08-01T19:21:28Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2013-05"],"dc:description":["University of Minnesota Ph.D. dissertation. May 2013. Major: Political science. Advisors: David Samuels, Kathleen Collins. 1 computer file (PDF); viii, 412 pages, appendices A-G."],"dc:description.abstract":["Since the end of the Cold War, intra-state or ethnic conflict has emerged as one of the most serious threats to the peace and stability of states in the international system. Inter-religious violence, in particular, and the politicization of new forms of resurgent religion are now a major challenge. Not all religiously pluralistic communities witness violence, however: what explains why inter-religious violence breaks out in some communities and not others? Under what conditions does religious identity - as opposed to other salient ethnic cleavages - become the fault line and mobilizing narrative of communal violence? Examining the variation in Muslim-Christian post-1980 violence in northern Nigeria, I suggest that a community's vulnerability to inter-religious violence is a function of pre-existing ethno-tribal power-sharing arrangements at the local level. While scholars and policy-makers are disappointed by the ability of formal, national-level power-sharing institutions to avert ethnic conflict and instability, they overlook the peacebuilding capacity of informal local government power-sharing. From nearly a year of case study research and original data collection in northern Nigeria, I find that religious change in Nigeria has introduced a powerful narrative of group identity and difference that, depending on informal local power-sharing arrangements, can be leveraged for violence or peace."],"dc:identifier.uri":["http://purl.umn.edu/154889"],"dc:language.iso":["en_US"],"dc:subject":["Ethnic conflict","Inter-religious Violence","Muslim-Christian conflict","Nigeria","Power-sharing","Religion"],"dc:title":["The inevitable clash? Inter-religious violence and local power-sharing in Nigeria"],"dc:type":["Thesis or Dissertation"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:20:09Z"}