Lars-Erik Cederman Livres

The book presents a novel analysis of state and nation dynamics following the Cold War, challenging conventional theories that treat these entities as fixed and cohesive. Cederman introduces complex adaptive systems modeling to differentiate between states and nations, viewing them as emergent actors in world politics. This approach shifts the focus from traditional behavioral theories to a dynamic perspective, emphasizing the interdependence of political actors and offering innovative thought-experiments to better understand global interactions.

This book argues that political and economic inequalities following group lines generate grievances that in turn can motivate civil war. Lars-Erik Cederman, Kristian Skrede Gleditsch, and Halvard Buhaug offer a theoretical approach that highlights ethnonationalism and how the relationship between group identities and inequalities are fundamental for successful mobilization to resort to violence. Although previous research highlighted grievances as a key motivation for political violence, contemporary research on civil war has largely dismissed grievances as irrelevant, emphasizing instead the role of opportunities. This book shows that the alleged non-results for grievances in previous research stemmed primarily from atheoretical measures, typically based on individual data. The authors develop new indicators of political and economic exclusion at the group level, and show that these exert strong effects on the risk of civil war. They provide new analyses of the effects of transnational ethnic links and the duration of civil wars, and extended case discussions illustrating causal mechanisms.

Addressing the widespread academic criticism of power sharing, this book uses systematic data and advanced methods to highlight the importance of practices as opposed to formal institutions, their preventive rather than merely post- conflict effect, and how they are invoked by governments in anticipation of potential violent challenges.