Drawing on perceptions survey research conducted in Ghana and Nigeria, this article explores whether differences in the salience of ethnic and religious identities and interethnic and religious attitudes and interaction, might contribute to explaining the different histories of violence and...

Through a comparative analysis of ethnic relations in two multi-ethnic cities in southern Nigeria, this article seeks to isolate factors that might explain why some countries manage to avoid violence in the midst of longstanding ethnic conflicts while ethnic relations in other countries are...

In this article it is argued that, although the study of ethnicity in Nigeria bears the imprint of almost all the different perspectives that have been deployed towards the study of ethnicity; perspectives that privilege the role of the state and critical elites in ethnic mobilization have...

Today, the cohesion of multi-ethnic societies is at risk across the globe. Throughout history, to the present day, African countries have been facing this challenge. Historical inequalities and social division undermine cohesion and sow seeds of instability. How can Africa build a future where...

This introduction provides an overview of the special issue. The papers in this issue contribute to our understanding of the contrasting histories of Ghana and Nigeria. The papers confirm the importance of horizontal inequalities as a source of political instability and violent conflict, and...

While recent scholarship has highlighted the role of horizontal inequalities in provoking political instability and violent group mobilisation, some countries have been able to prevent their ethnic, religious or regional inequalities from escalating into widespread violence at the national...

This article develops a general framework for considering the relationship between international trade and horizontal inequalities. Horizontal inequalities (inequalities between ‘culturally’ defined groups) affect people's well-being and can lead to violent conflicts. They are the product of...

This paper critically reviews the ontological debates over the nature of ethnicity and the different ways in which it is operationalized and “measured” for quantitative research. It is argued that while moving away from a “primordealist” position on ethnicity renders measurement of the...