Ethnic Conflicts: Their Biological Roots in Ethnic Nepotism.

Dutton, Edward

Ethnic Conflicts: Their Biological Roots in Ethnic Nepotism

Tatu Vanhanen

The Ulster Institute for Social Research, London, 2012

This book examines four key hypotheses: that ethnic heterogeneity within a single political state is positively associated with the degree and intensity of ethnic conflict, that high cultural heterogeneity (based on such measures of as linguistic and religious fragmentation) is positively associated with ethnic conflict, that economic development is negatively associated with ethnic conflict, and that democracy is negatively associated with the same.

Drawing upon large representative datasets and surveys of studies of ethnic conflicts, Vanhanen convincingly proves that ethnic heterogeneity explains about 66% of ethnic conflict (Vanhanen 2012, 71). Degree of democracy, as distinct from rule by dictatorial governments, only weakly negatively correlates with ethnic conflict (about -0.2), in part because powerful dictatorships are able to suppress ethnic conflict. The weak negative correlation with development (between -0.2 and -0.39) is explained by the fact that ethnic nepotism is deeply rooted in human nature and operates in all societies, whereas economic development tends to override instinctive impulses.

Ethnic Conflicts makes an important original contribution by presenting a uniquely detailed discussion explaining ethnic conflicts in terms of genetics, and by suggesting how these conflicts might be resolved. In addition, each section of the book is independently useful in various ways. Vanhanen begins by looking at the debate over the nature of ethnicity. 'Constructivists' argue that the concept of the 'ethnic group' is a purely cultural construct while the 'primordialists' maintain that there is a genetic core at the heart of ethnicity. Vanhanen argues for the latter perspective, showing that it is indeed true that even in ethnically diverse nations the sense of group identity depends on a belief in either a shared genetic or a shared cultural identity; and that because people tend to mate and breed with those who share similar cultural values, they come to share the same genetic heritage.

Vanhanen then demonstrates that the primordialist perspective is congruous with research indicating that people are highly inclined to engage in ethnic and other forms of nepotism. He uses Salter's (2004) analysis of genetic similarity coefficients to demonstrate that ethnic nepotism makes sense in terms of genetic fitness and that ethnic groups are, in relation to each other, effectively extended families, implying that ethnic nepotism is simply an extension of nepotism. This, along with the robustness and the world-wide nature of ethnic identity, would strongly imply that it is under-pinned by genetic similarity. Likewise, the robustness and world-wide nature of ethnic conflict would also imply, based on the principles of evolutionary psychology, that it is grounded in biological adaptations. Thus, only primordialism is scientifically consilient. This section is thus a well-argued critique of the environmentalist understanding of ethnicity.

Vanhanen implies that we can effectively conceive of a spectrum of genetic difference on which the 'ethnic group' can be placed. Ethnic groups can be defined as relatively homogenous populations which have been inbreeding and either genetically or culturally different for long enough (often due to geographical separation) to develop the feeling that they are a separate family from other populations. Sometimes they have been separated long enough to develop separate languages. Major genetic or racial differences exist as a result of longer geographical separation and differing evolutionary histories under different selective pressures. Cultural, linguistic and religious variations may develop within ethnic groups, and such cultural variations may also promote inbreeding and a degree of genetic homogeneity amongst those who share culturally distinct ethnicities. This is an extremely interesting point and Vanhanen shows how even denominational differences can have a genetic element, thus explaining certain kinds of religiously nepotistic behavior. Perhaps this line of reasoning could be pursued to include ideology or political preference and the nepotistic dimensions involved. In addition, 'religion' or 'denomination' can sometimes act as a proxy for ethnicity or race, as with 'Muslims' in Western countries who are mainly Asian or Arab. Again, this spectrum model is a persuasive counter to environmentalist arguments that categories such as 'ethnicity' or 'race' are 'not scientific.' If they are not scientific, then few categories of apprehension are, because all involve such a spectrum. Drawing the borders between ethnic groups may sometimes be difficult, but is useful if it allows successful predictions.

Vanhanen then presents a regression analysis of the relationships between the degree of ethnic conflict in nations (on a scale ranging from genocide, discrimination and hostility and ethnically-based political parties) and the key variables already outlined. He provides a detailed discussion of all of the outliers, any evidence of ethnic conflict within them, and why they might have more or less ethnic conflict than their degree of development, democracy or homogeneity might predict. This part of the book is, in itself, a good overview of ethnic conflict worldwide and it demonstrates that ethnic conflict occurs even when a relatively homogenous society includes a tiny ethnic minority. Finally, Vanhanen looks at how ethnic conflicts might theoretically be solved, suggesting biological mixing, institutional reforms, democratic compromises and partition.

A revised edition of this book, however, could be improved in a number of ways. There are a number of places where Vanhanen makes assertions without substantiating them or providing sufficient detail. For example, he writes that 'Indian castes are thousands, or at least hundreds, of years old, although it should be noted that caste classifications are vague' (Vanhanen, p.8) with no further elaboration. Elsewhere he states 'the correspondence between linguistic families and the genetic tree of the world's major populations is close' (Vanhanen, p.51). This leaves us asking, 'How close?' or at least demanding more detail. In that this book is relatively short, this reviewer would encourage the author to provide such detail in any future edition even if only in endnotes (of which there are none in this study).

Vanhanen's defense of the primordialist perspective could be improved by a more in-depth discussion of J. Philippe Rushton's Genetic Similarity Theory. Some of Rushton's research (e.g. Littlefield and Rushton 1986) demonstrated that people assort genetically even within families, which strongly implies most kinds of behavior will, in-line with primordialist theories, involve a genetic dimension (see also C.C. Josey, 1995).

The author calculated his correlations by scoring each country on a scale of One to Five in terms of ethnic conflict. One of the appendices that accompany the text assigns scores indicating the level of ethnic conflict in the selected countries, and the basis on which these scores have been allocated. Thus Estonia is assigned a 2 because it has 'ethnically based political parties,' while Finland is assigned only a 1 for the same reason. As Vanhanen discusses in the section on Estonia within the book (Vanhanen, 163-164), there have been violent inter-ethnic riots in Estonia between Estonians and ethnic Russians who were settled there when Estonia was under Soviet communist rule in postwar years. As an aside, this reviewer would also suggest avoiding Wikipedia as a source (Vanhanen, pp.252 and 253), as it can be unreliable.

Though Vanhanen's discussion of residual nations is detailed, there seem to be important omissions in regard to a number of countries. Vanhanen mentions not just genetically based ethnic minorities in his 'country reviews,' but religious minorities, tribal minorities, and, in the case of Nepal, 'castes.' For consistency's sake, he might have mentioned not just the Chinese, Koreans and Ainu in Japan but also the Barakumin, whose status is in some respects comparable to that of the Untouchables in historic India--although he perhaps excludes these on the grounds that there is little open ethnic conflict in Japan. Other omissions include no discussion of the Ethiopian Jews in Israel or of the Sami in Norway or Finland. If these omitted groups are not mentioned in Vanhanen's sources, it is worth stating this and explaining why (perhaps because they are very small as a population percentage). There is definitely published evidence of, for example, ethnic conflict between the Sami and the majority populations in the countries in which they live (e.g. Lehtola 2004) and the Sami have their own political organizations, a measure of ethnic conflict following Vanhanen's criteria.

Finally, this reviewer would suggest that the drawbacks, as well as merits, of two of the proposals listed by Vanhanen on how to solve ethnic conflict might be examined. 'Democratic compromises is discussed in some detail in terms of drawbacks. Vanhanen notes that democratic compromises are difficult to institute because dominant ethnic groups will struggle to maintain their dominance, and minority groups their separate identity. The struggles between Shia and Sunni sects that are currently creating major ethnic conflict in the Muslim world are a classic example. Likewise, Vanhanen points out that when two ethnically distinct populations are incorporated into a single political state, long-term tense relations usually result (a view also expounded by L.F. Thomay, 2011).

Although this reviewer would be ready to suggest some significant revisions and an expansion of coverage, it should be emphasized that this is an important monograph that achieves what it sets out to do. Vanhanen's message will not be comfortable reading for policy makers, but he fearlessly proves his case. There will always be ethnic conflict when widely different ethnic groups are in contact within the boundaries of a single political state.

References

Josey, Charles Conant, 1995. The Philosophy of Nationalism (Originally published as Race and National Solidarity.) Washington D.C.: Scott-Townsend Publishers

Lehtola, V-P. 2004. The Sami People: Traditions in Transition. Inari: Kustunnus Puntsi.

Littlefield, C. H. and Rushton, J. P. 1986. 'When a child dies: the sociobiology of bereavement' in Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, 797-802.

Lynn, R. 2011. Dysgenics: Genetic Deterioration in Modern Populations. London: Ulster Institute for Social Research.

Lynn, R. 2001. Eugenics: A Reassessment. New York: Praeger Publishers.

Lynn, R. and Vanhanen, T. 2012. Intelligence: A Unifying Construct for the Social Sciences. London: Ulster Institute for Social Research.

Salter, F. 2004. Welfare, Ethnicity and Altruism: New Findings and Evolutionary Theory. London: Frank Cass.

Thomay, L.F. 2011 The Natural Law of Race Relations. Washington D.C. Scott-Townsend Publishers

Vanhanen, T. 2012. Ethnic Conflicts: Their Biological Roots in Ethnic Nepotism. London: Ulster Institute for Social Research.

Edward Dutton

University of Oulu