Resource Competition and Violent Conflict: Cross-Cultural Evidence for a Socio-Ecological Approach
Publisher: Zeitschrift fur Ethnologie
Author(s): Rafael Wittek
Date: 1990
Topics: Conflict Causes, Land, Renewable Resources
The paper provides an statistical test of alternative hypotheses related to the resource scarcity hypothesis in anthropological conflict research. Existing demographical, ecological, and evolutionary theories are criticized for conceptualizating scarcity as an one-dimensional phenomenon. An alternative "socio-ecological" model is developed, in which the distribution of scarce goods plays a key role. The power of the discussed models in explaining ten different forms of violent conflict management is examined by applying a hierarchical logit-analysis. The results provide strong support for the socio-ecological approach.
(PDF) Resource Competition and Violent Conflict. Cross-Cultural Evidence for a Socio-Ecological Approach.