Mankind Quarterly, Vol. 50, No. 4 (Summer 2010)
pp. 332-360
An Initial Assessment of “Market-Dominant Minorities” and Inter-group Conflict
Aldric Hama|
University of Miami
Obtaining and maintaining control over limited resources are of primary importance for group survival. Group cohesion and “high abilities,” such as self-discipline, work ethic, ambition and intelligence, are crucial for successful inter-group competition, especially upon initial migration into an area in which that group is vastly outnumbered. Although wealth and status may at first lie exclusively within the domain of the indigenous majority, these may shift over time to the numerically inferior but more cohesive and able group. Shifts of wealth and status from the majority to the minority, especially between distinct ethnic and racial groups, have frequently sparked inter-group conflict. Economic disparity (Gini index) and, interestingly, degree of political freedom (index of democracy) positively correlate with violence. Efforts to equalize social-economic disparities in multicultural states that do not consider group differences in innate abilities will fail.
