Conflict as a Determinant of Cognitive Social Capital of Multi-Ethnic Communities in the Post-Conflict Sri Lanka

Abstract

Ethnic conflict is mostly depicted as detrimental, deteriorating mutual understanding, leading to deep-rooted divisions among the members of multi-ethnic communities. Meanwhile, scholars highlighted its potential to promote Cognitive Social Capital (CSC). Therefore, the study attempts to test empirically the effect of conflicts on CSC of multi-ethnic communities in the post-conflict Sri Lanka using a mixed method. Quantitative data was collected from 400 participants through a structured questionnaire and analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). Simultaneously, qualitative data was gathered using six (6) in-depth interviews and thematic analysis was used to analyze those data. The quantitative results disclosed that emotional, cognitive and cultural dimensions of conflict substantially affect the increase of CSC. On the other hand, there was a considerable negative effect of behavioral conflict on CSC, while no such influence was shown by structural conflict on CSC. Qualitative results highlight that conflict improves mutual understanding, multicultural learning, cultural integrity. Further, conflict plays key role as a driver for democratic engagement and societal transformation by gaining experience of social history. Thus, the study empirically confirmed that the conflicts increase the CSC among the multi-ethnic communities in the post-conflict in Sri Lanka.