What kinds of civic ties between different ethnic communities can   contain, or even prevent, ethnic violence? This book draws on new research on Hindu-  Muslim conflict in India to address this important question. Ashutosh Varshney examines   three pairs of Indian cities--one city in each pair with a history of communal violence,   the other with a history of relative communal harmony--to discern why violence between   Hindus and Muslims occurs in some situations but not others. His findings will be of   strong interest to scholars, politicians, and policymakers of South Asia, but the   implications of his study have theoretical and practical relevance for a broad range of   multiethnic societies in other areas of the world as well.  The book focuses on the   networks of civic engagement that bring Hindu and Muslim urban communities together.   Strong associational forms of civic engagement, such as integrated business   organizations, trade unions, political parties, and professional associations, are able to   control outbreaks of ethnic violence, Varshney shows. Vigorous and communally   integrated associational life can serve as an agent of peace by restraining those, including   powerful politicians, who would polarize Hindus and Muslims along communal lines.

Ethnic Conflict and Civic Life: Hindus and Muslims in India PDF

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