Gilley Bruce. Against the concept of ethnic conflict

Despite a boom in studies of ethnic conflict, the empirical and
conceptual justification for this field remains weak. Not only are claims of
surging ethnic conflict unsubstantiated, but the concept itself is problematic. The
concept tends to homogenise quite distinct political phenomena. Making valid
causal inferences about ‘ethnic conflict’ is nearly impossible as a result, a
shortcoming reflected in the un-robust nature of the literature on the subject. For
both practical and normative reasons there is a good argument for abandoning
the field of ethnic conflict studies.