1995-10-01a- CIA Conference Report: THE CHALLENGE OF ETHNIC CONFLICT TO NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL ORDER IN THE 1990S GEOGRAPHIC PERSPECTIVES 01-Oct-95

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Geographic Perspectives on Ethnic Conflict and physical patterns. Territory is a rich concept that
encompasses the nature and function of formal ethnic
territories and group sense of place. The environmen-
Alexander Murphy tal concept is concerned with the relationship between
Associate Professor of Geography ethnic groups and their tangible physical setting,
University of Oregon including the ways in which environmental percep-
tions affect group definition and intergroup relations.
There are obvious overlaps among these concepts, and
Introduction they do not encompass all relevant aspects of geo-
graphical inquiry. Nonetheless, they provide a useful
The topic of ethnic conflict has long interested geogra- organizing framework around wh'ich a discussion of
phers, and in recent years the geographical literature the most important geographical insights on ethnic
on the subject has attracted considerable attention. conflict can be built.
Although some of the issues raised in this literature
are similar to those examined by political scientists
and sociologists, the emphasis in geography on spa- Location: A Key To Understanding Relationships
tial, territorial, and environmental issues has trans- Between Ethnic Groups
lated into a distinctly different analytical approach to
ethnic conflict. The purpose of this paper is to summa- In any attempt to understand ethnic conflict, the loca-
rize the most important aspects of this approach and to tion of the groups in question must be taken into con-
discuss how a geographical perspective can help us sideration. On its surface this seems obvious, but many
understand ethnic tensions, identify potentially desta- general analyses of ethnic conflict pay remarkably lit-
bilizing ethnic conflicts, and develop effective policy tle attention to locational issues. Instead, it is simply
responses to those conflicts., assumed that groups live in the political units or histor-
ical homelands with which they are most readily iden-
The ensuing discussion centers around three core geo- tified. Too often studies note that the Bretons live in
graphical concepts: location, territory, and environ- Brittany, the French speakers of Canada in Quebec,
ment. In the United States, the discipline of geography and the Tamils in Tamil Eelam without any consider-
is sometimes equated with efforts simply to locate and ation of the distributional complexities that lie behind
describe the physical and human attributes of the these generalizations.
earth's surface. Geography is, however, much more
than this; it is concerned with analyzing and explain- Approaching ethnic conflict from a geographical per-
ing the nature and significance of the spatial and envi- spective implies a much greater concern with the
ronmental contexts within which events and processes details of location and distribution. This means focus-
unfold. Geographers seek to understand and explain ing on the precise character of ethnic patterns and
the patterns that make up the earth's surface, the rela- their relationship to other political, social, and envi-
tionship among phenomena in particular places, the ronmental patterns. A critical entry-level problem in
situation of places and peoples in relation to one such an endeavor is to decide who does and does not
another, and peoples' understandings of the places belong to a given ethnic group (see Smith 1986). How
where they live. an ethnic group is delimited depends on circumstances
and purpose, of course, but the process is not always
straightforward or obvious. There are more people
Core Concepts that Welsh autonomists would like to include in their
ethnic group than there are people who identify them-
The three core concepts around which this paper is selves primarily as Welsh. The Tamils of Sri Lanka
structured are at the heart of these geographical con- encompass two different groups from a historical and
cerns. The concept of location. deals not only with the religious standpoint. On a larger scale, the Russians in
spatial distribution of ethnic groups but also with the
relationship between ethnic patterns and other human
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