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1. How Social Trust Shapes Civil Resistance: Lessons from Africa

Author:
Jacob S. Lewis
Publication Date:
08-2021
Content Type:
Book
Institution:
International Center on Nonviolent Conflict (ICNC)
Abstract:
What role does trust play in shaping the outcomes of civil resistance campaigns? Trust has been found to be a critical factor in building political and social capital, encouraging group cohesion, and overcoming collective action problems. Despite this, trust has not been directly addressed by the civil resistance scholarship. This monograph addresses this lacuna by examining how trust shapes – and is shaped by – three levels of mobilization: trust at the individual level, trust within activist groups, and trust across resistance campaigns.
Topic:
Mobilization, Local Cooperation, Trust, and Civil Resistance
Political Geography:
Africa

2. How does exposure to conflict events shape social trust? A spatiotemporal approach

Author:
Jacob S. Lewis and Sedef A. Topal
Publication Date:
10-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Afrobarometer
Abstract:
This article examines how proximate exposure to violent conflict events affects levels of social trust. We argue that since exposure to conflict heightens perceptions of threat, individuals who were proximately exposed to conflict events should exhibit lower levels of generalized and out-group social trust than individuals not subject to such exposure. We also argue that individuals subject to exposure to conflict should show higher levels of in-group social trust due to existential concerns that increase their desire to find security within their group. Using geocoded survey data from more than 25,000 respondents in 16 African countries surveyed in 2005 and from the Armed Conflict Location Event Database, we draw spatiotemporal buffers around each respondent. We find that exposure to violent conflict events reduces all forms of social trust across all models. Such findings run counter to arguments suggesting that proximate exposure to violent conflict increases in-group social trust.
Topic:
Civil Society, Conflict, Social Order, and Trust
Political Geography:
Africa