| Publication |
2011.
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| Summary/Abstract |
Why people follow the incitement of powerful individuals to participate in collective violence remains one of the most intriguing questions in the study of conflict. By using process-tracing to analyze in detail a violent ethno-religious conflict in Indonesia, this study concludes that rioters are often not provoked by elite propaganda but rather are acting out of their own interest. However, their violence sets off a chain of events that causes large-scale communal conflict. This escalation is most likely in the presence of three causal mechanisms: the immobilization of local security forces; widespread sentiments of sympathy for innocent victims; and the creation of intense feelings of insecurity.
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