Civil Society

The previous two activities focused on international actors and their potential involvement in an intrastate conflict. In this assignment, consider how local community relationships can impact conflict both positively and negatively. The reading is by Ashutosh Varshney, a prominent scholar who conducted a large-scale study comparing Hindu and Muslim relations in different cities in India that did and did not experience riots. In the article, he makes an argument about the importance of civil society in containing violence.
Read his article carefully while considering the questions on the concept of civil society and its character in different locations.
READING (ATTACHED)
Ethnic Conflict and Civil Society: India and Beyond (Ashutosh Varshney) Read pp. 362-398.

ASSIGNMENT:
Based on the reading, write a response paper (450 words minimum) addressing the following questions:
1. What is civil society?
2. Compare the experiences of Aligarh and Calicut, and explain how the differences in their civil societies influenced whether conflicts were managed or escalated.
3. What does Varshney’s argument on interethnic and interethnic engagement tell us about how violence could be prevented in other places around the world? Is it convincing?