Political Marginalisation and Political Violence in the Niger Delta

dc.contributor.advisorJolobe, Zwelethu
dc.contributor.advisorGovender, Rajendran
dc.contributor.authorKiernan, Christopher
dc.date.accessioned2020-02-28T12:58:19Z
dc.date.available2020-02-28T12:58:19Z
dc.date.issued2019
dc.date.updated2020-02-28T09:00:57Z
dc.description.abstractThis study analyses the relationship between perceived marginalisation and the willingness of civilians to participate in, and justify political violence in Nigeria’s Niger Delta region. The dominant literature in this area tends to highlight political, economic and identity marginalisation as the causal factors behind political violence. However, there remains a lack of clarity in the conceptualisation and operationalisation of the purported political and socioeconomic marginalisations. This because large portion of the literature fails to take into account the psychological aspect of marginalisation. Using a statistical analysis of Afrobarometer1 survey data collected in 2003, the study applies two regression models to measure the predictive effects of 16 variables on attitudes towards both political violence justification and the willingness to participate in political violence in the Niger Delta. The benefit of survey methodology is it is a more accurate measurement of the term marginalisation, as marginalisation is perceived by people and is thus a psychological phenomenon. By disaggregating these broad marginalisation terms into discrete items, this study provides a more nuanced analysis of the motivating factors behind political violence. Interestingly, no measures of economic marginalisation were statistically significant in either model. Two elements of political marginalisation exhibited a statistically significant effect on the justification of political violence. Multiple aspects of political marginalisation and identity group prioritisation exhibited statistically significant effect on the willingness to participate in political violence, however not all items exhibited effects predicted by the majority of the literature. This analysis does confirm that the relationship between citizen and state is a salient predictor of attitudes towards political violence. However, the results also demonstrate that the blanket marginalisation terms used in political science literature are overly simplistic and lack nuance. Nevertheless, both scholars and policy makers should prioritise the government’s relationship with society when crafting policy designed to minimise political violence.
dc.identifier.apacitationKiernan, C. (2019). <i>Political Marginalisation and Political Violence in the Niger Delta</i>. (). ,Faculty of Humanities ,Department of Political Studies. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/31397en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationKiernan, Christopher. <i>"Political Marginalisation and Political Violence in the Niger Delta."</i> ., ,Faculty of Humanities ,Department of Political Studies, 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/31397en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationKiernan, C. 2019. Political Marginalisation and Political Violence in the Niger Delta. . ,Faculty of Humanities ,Department of Political Studies. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/31397en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Thesis / Dissertation AU - Kiernan, Christopher AB - This study analyses the relationship between perceived marginalisation and the willingness of civilians to participate in, and justify political violence in Nigeria’s Niger Delta region. The dominant literature in this area tends to highlight political, economic and identity marginalisation as the causal factors behind political violence. However, there remains a lack of clarity in the conceptualisation and operationalisation of the purported political and socioeconomic marginalisations. This because large portion of the literature fails to take into account the psychological aspect of marginalisation. Using a statistical analysis of Afrobarometer1 survey data collected in 2003, the study applies two regression models to measure the predictive effects of 16 variables on attitudes towards both political violence justification and the willingness to participate in political violence in the Niger Delta. The benefit of survey methodology is it is a more accurate measurement of the term marginalisation, as marginalisation is perceived by people and is thus a psychological phenomenon. By disaggregating these broad marginalisation terms into discrete items, this study provides a more nuanced analysis of the motivating factors behind political violence. Interestingly, no measures of economic marginalisation were statistically significant in either model. Two elements of political marginalisation exhibited a statistically significant effect on the justification of political violence. Multiple aspects of political marginalisation and identity group prioritisation exhibited statistically significant effect on the willingness to participate in political violence, however not all items exhibited effects predicted by the majority of the literature. This analysis does confirm that the relationship between citizen and state is a salient predictor of attitudes towards political violence. However, the results also demonstrate that the blanket marginalisation terms used in political science literature are overly simplistic and lack nuance. Nevertheless, both scholars and policy makers should prioritise the government’s relationship with society when crafting policy designed to minimise political violence. DA - 2019 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town KW - Political Studies LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PY - 2019 T1 - Political Marginalisation and Political Violence in the Niger Delta TI - Political Marginalisation and Political Violence in the Niger Delta UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/31397 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/31397
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationKiernan C. Political Marginalisation and Political Violence in the Niger Delta. []. ,Faculty of Humanities ,Department of Political Studies, 2019 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/31397en_ZA
dc.language.rfc3066eng
dc.publisher.departmentDepartment of Political Studies
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Humanities
dc.subjectPolitical Studies
dc.titlePolitical Marginalisation and Political Violence in the Niger Delta
dc.typeMaster Thesis
dc.type.qualificationlevelMasters
dc.type.qualificationnameMSocSci
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