Poverty, Economics and Conflict Management

• Author: Thomas B. Singh
• Pages: 397-409

Thomas Singh 397397

397397

397

Poverty, Economics and Conflict Management

T H O M A S B. S I N G H

University of Guyana

26

Introduction

In many discussions of the economics of

conflict (civil wars, protests, political turmoil,

strikes, et cetera), the poor are treated as being

in opposition to those who, by exploiting them,

became rich, and conflict itself is traced to

underlying disparities in such things as income

and opportunities. Obvious questions following

from such discussions are whether conflict

reduces inequalities, and if so, whether it can

be avoided by adopting redistributive policies.

But there are many instances of poor groups

being at sometimes violent odds with other

equally poor groups. This paper proposes

some explanations, based on standard

economic theory, of why this might happen

among groups of the same income class that

might otherwise feel solidarity with each other,

and why societies characterised by

generalised poverty might be trapped in an

equilibrium of inter-group hostilities and

internecine antagonisms that are replicated

over generations. It employs a neoclassical

model of conflict that provides insight into the

conflict between haves and have-nots, but

adds to it the actions of a third party (the

government) towards identifiable groups to

address conflict in the context of generalised

poverty.

The infamous divide-and-rule tactic has

continued in many postcolonial countries,

involving the cultivation of support from a

segment of the population by enhancing their

economic prospects while neglecting other

segments. Various countries have

experimented with the mechanisms by which

this tactic is pursued, one such innovation being

the strategic provision by the central

government of local public goods to

sympathetic jurisdictions. This paper argues

that just as there are innovations in the divide-

and-rule tactic, there are also innovations in

government that could be readily adopted to

break the vicious cycle of conflict in the context

of generalised poverty.

Though the discussion of conflict among the

poor attempts to be general, it is actually based

on the experience of conflict in Guyana, a

country that is one of 41 Heavily Indebted

Poor Countries (HIPCs). Conflict is not new to

Guyana, having existed from the time of

slavery and indentureship. Though the conflict

had originally taken the form of protests

against plantation owners, conflict between

slaves and indentured servants emerged due

to the clever divide-and-rule tactics adopted

by plantation owners, and remains in post-

colonial Guyana as conflict between the

country’s two major ethnic groups — the scions