Based on two theoretical approaches to the study of ethnicity – constructivism and instrumentalism – this Master’s thesis researches how individual consequences of climate change affect the conditions under which individuals begin to act on behalf of the ethnic community in a way that increases the risk of the development of ethnic conflicts. Using constructivist assumptions, the thesis shows that the consequences (especially indirect) of climate change deepen structural violence, threaten symbols of ethnic identity, and create feelings of helplessness, injustice and inequality among members of the affected ethnic community, leading to the development of personal, including ethnic, violence. It follows from instrumentalism that members of ethnic communities (either 'ordinary' or elites) manipulatively exploit ethnicity and conflicts related to it in the context of climate change as a tool for achieving political goals or obtaining the desired resources. Based on a case study of the ethnic conflict between nomadic Fulani and farming communities in Nigeria, the Master's thesis concludes that to understand the development of ethnic conflicts, it is necessary to consider the context of the simultaneous and mutual influence of various factors (economic, historical, demographic, climate) on the conditions under which ethnic affiliation deepens and the risk of the development of ethnic conflicts increases.
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