Ethnicity Related Social Conflicts: Concept Variations and Interpretation Gaps

. Contemporary Russian ethnic conflictology is characterized by conceptual ambiguity that somewhat hampers further scientific progress. This is explained by the multiplicity of concepts employed by various authors to denote conflicts arising between representatives of different ethnic groups. Goals. The article aims to identify such conceptual gaps and reviews potential solutions. Results. So, the paper examines a number of key concepts from Russian scholarly discourse, such as ‘межнациональный конфликт’ (Russ. ‘nation to nation conflict’), ‘этнополитический конфликт’ (‘ethnopolitical conflict’), ‘этнический конфликт’ (‘ethnic conflict’), and ‘межэтнический конфликт’ (‘interethnic conflict’). The detected conceptual interpretation gaps often making the terms inadequate and controversial are as follows: categorial synonymity, theoretical and methodological reduction, epistemological abstractedness, and ideological overload. Conclusions. The paper proposes to abandon any unified concept (term) since none can be viewed satisfactory enough — but rather to focus on analysis of social conflict as such with due regard of its diverse and essential ethnic components. It is presumed that the perspective change shall deepen analyses of certain conflict episodes to clarify what stages of conflict dynamics are most vividly dominated by ethnic elements to be further replaced by other factors. Such an approach may be instrumental in widening the field of observation and involve the analysis of differing conflict episodes.