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Dividing and Ruling the World?: A Statistical Test of the Effects of Colonialism on Postcolonial Civil Violence
- Social Forces
- The University of North Carolina Press
- Volume 88, Number 2, December 2009
- pp. 785-817
- 10.1353/sof.0.0255
- Article
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To test claims that postcolonial civil violence is a common legacy of colonialism, we create a dataset on the colonial heritage of 160 countries and explore whether a history of colonialism is related to indicators of inter-communal conflict, political rebellion and civil war in the years 1960-1999. The analysis provides evidence against sweeping claims that colonialism is a universal cause of civil violence but finds that some forms of colonialism increase the risk of some forms of civil violence. Specifically, the findings support claims that inter-communal violence is a common legacy of colonialism – especially of British colonialism and colonialism by minor colonial powers – but suggest that a history of colonialism has only a limited impact on political rebellion and civil war.