Mobilizing inequalities: from grievances to conflict

The project addresses the relationship between structural inequality and the mobilization of ethnic minorities and is funded by the Cluster of Excellence "The Politics of Inequality". In collaboration with linguistics, we analyze how elites use rhetoric to generate feelings of disadvantage among members of ethnic minorities in order to motivate support in elections or participation in protests. The crucial question is whether such rhetoric of injustice must be tied back to an actual structural disadvantage of a group in order to mobilize effectively. In comparative case studies, we look specifically at indigenous mobilization in Bolivia, Ecuador, and Peru. Lea Haiges and Christina are working together on this project.