Editing Ethnic cleansing (section)

== Causes ==
[[File:Lipniki massacre.jpg|thumb|[[Massacres of Poles in Volhynia]] in 1943, carried out by [[Ukrainian nationalism|Ukrainian nationalists]]. Most [[Polish people|Poles]] of Volhynia had either been murdered or had fled the area.]]

According to [[Michael Mann (sociologist)|Michael Mann]], in ''[[The Dark Side of Democracy]]'' (2004), murderous ethnic cleansing is strongly related to the creation of democracies. He argues that murderous ethnic cleansing is due to the rise of [[nationalism]], which associates citizenship with a specific [[ethnic group]]. Democracy, therefore, is tied to ethnic and national forms of exclusion. Nevertheless, it is not democratic states that are more prone to commit ethnic cleansing, because minorities tend to have constitutional guarantees. Neither are stable authoritarian regimes (except the nazi and communist regimes) which are likely perpetrators of murderous ethnic cleansing, but those regimes that are in process of democratization. Ethnic hostility appears where ethnicity overshadows social classes as the primordial system of social stratification. Usually, in deeply divided societies, categories such as class and ethnicity are deeply intertwined, and when an ethnic group is seen as oppressor or exploitative of the other, serious ethnic conflict can develop. Michael Mann holds that when two ethnic groups claim sovereignty over the same territory and can feel threatened, their differences can lead to severe grievances and danger of ethnic cleansing. The perpetration of murderous ethnic cleansing tends to occur in unstable geopolitical environments and in contexts of war. As ethnic cleansing requires high levels of organisation and is usually directed by states or other authoritative powers, perpetrators are usually state powers or institutions with some coherence and capacity, not failed states as it is generally perceived. The perpetrator powers tend to get support by core constituencies that favour combinations of [[nationalism]], [[statism]], and violence.<ref>[https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/dark-side-of-democracy/7E75A132A188A2804E91F4F209B6FE1F] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200503062111/https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/dark-side-of-democracy/7E75A132A188A2804E91F4F209B6FE1F|date=May 3, 2020}}, Mann, Michael (2005), The Dark Side of Democracy: Explaining Ethnic Cleansing. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, Ch. 1 "The Argument," pp. 1–33.</ref>

Ethnic cleansing was prevalent during the [[Age of Nationalism]] in Europe (19th and 20th centuries).<ref name="Müller-Crepon-Schvitz-Cederman-2024">{{Cite journal |last1=Müller-Crepon |first1=Carl |last2=Schvitz |first2=Guy |last3=Cederman |first3=Lars-Erik |date=2024 |title="Right-Peopling" the State: Nationalism, Historical Legacies, and Ethnic Cleansing in Europe, 1886–2020 |url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/00220027241227897 |journal=Journal of Conflict Resolution |language=en |doi=10.1177/00220027241227897 |issn=0022-0027|hdl=20.500.11850/657611 |hdl-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Mylonas |first=Harris |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/politics-of-nationbuilding/C9E4A27E97D35705F0549C0FC1C03457 |title=The Politics of Nation-Building: Making Co-Nationals, Refugees, and Minorities |date=2013 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-107-02045-0 |doi=10.1017/cbo9781139104005}}</ref> Multi-ethnic European engaged in ethnic cleansing against minorities in order to pre-empt their secession and the loss of territory.<ref name="Müller-Crepon-Schvitz-Cederman-2024" /> Ethnic cleansing was particularly prevalent during periods of interstate war.<ref name="Müller-Crepon-Schvitz-Cederman-2024" />