Saumitra Jha: Is There an Economic Solution to Ethnic Violence? | Stanford Graduate School of Business

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Indian school children during a henna competition to mark World Population Day, 2014 (Reuters photo by Amit Dave) In 2006, Saumitra Jha traveled to Surat in the Indian state of Gujarat to learn why the medieval port city, like many in the region, were dubbed “oases of peace” during the violent riots in 2002 by Hindus against the minority Muslim population. Jha, an associate professor at Stanford Graduate School of Business, knew that research into the roots of violence in communities, especially in the developing world, has shown that ethnic and religious diversity combined with poverty is often a recipe for disaster. Still, Surat, and other medieval port cities in India, had long histories of ethnic peace even while much of their country was steeped in ethnic violence. What he discovered was an overlooked path to peace: commerce. Jha’s inquiry into the past found that when ethnicities provide complementary services and goods — each giving the other something it needs — their cities ar

February 28, 2014 | by Eilene Zimmerman In 2006, Saumitra Jha traveled to Surat in the Indian state of Gujarat to learn why the medieval port city, like many in the region, were dubbed “oases of peace” during the violent riots in 2002 by Hindus against the minority Muslim population. Jha, an associate professor at Stanford Graduate School of Business, knew that research into the roots of violence in communities, especially in the developing world, has shown that ethnic and religious diversity combined with poverty is often a recipe for disaster. Still, Surat, and other medieval port cities in

Saumitra Jha: Is There an Economic Solution to Ethnic Violence? | Stanford Graduate School of Business

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