In recent months, Muslims and Hindus in India have been involved in a deadly cycle of riots, and concerns about religious and ethnic violence in other parts of Asia are on the rise. On October 31, the Institute hosted a special session to share lessons learned from two Institute grant-funded projects on communal violence and to explore such issues as:

• Why have the majority of lethal communal riots occurred in only four of India's 28 states?
• Is there a pattern to deadly communal violence with respect to timing, location, participants, aims, and impact?
• What characteristics are common to ethnically mixed municipalities that have remained peaceful, and what are the implications for policymaking?
• Is ethnic conflict essentially immutable, or can it be addressed through government policy and community action?

Moderated by Grant Program Director Judy Barsalou, the discussion was webcast live (audio only) and followed by questions from the floor and the Internet audience.

Speakers

• Donald L. Horowitz
  Professor, Duke University and author of The Deadly Ethnic Riot (University of California Press, 2001)
• Ashutosh Varshney
  Associate Professor, University of Michigan and author of Ethnic Conflict and Civic Life: Hindus and Muslims in India (Yale University Press, 2002)

Archived Audio

Opening Remarks and Prof. Horowitz's Remarks
Running Time - 34 min • 9M Download

Prof. Varshney's Remarks
Running Time - 35 min • 10M Download

Q& A Session
Running Time 48 min • 13M Download

All audio & video available in QuickTime format only.