Communal violence is one of the deadliest forms of political violence in Nigeria. Research has yet to identify and explain the variation in spread and intensity of violence ‘within’ communal conflicts. This article analyses violence and non-violence in two almost contiguous neighbourhoods located in the city of Jos in central Nigeria that share ethnic, religious, and socio-economic similarities. It shows that structural factors such as geography, demography, or intervention by security forces do not predict non-violence. Rather, preventing killings during communal conflicts was contingent on civilian agency such as leadership, social control over internal youth, and refusal to collaborate with external armed groups. Drawing on narrative interviews, the article explores motivations for violence prevention and finds that knowledge concerning the organization of violence and lived experience in conflict zones were important factors that gave leaders the ability and confidence to persuade mobilized men not to start killings. These findings have important implications for the protection of civilians in communal conflicts.

中文翻译：

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社区战争中的非暴力和民间机构：来自尼日利亚乔斯的证据

社区暴力是尼日利亚最致命的政治暴力形式之一。研究尚未确定和解释社区冲突“内”暴力的传播和强度的变化。本文分析了位于尼日利亚中部乔斯市的两个几乎相邻的社区的暴力和非暴力，这些社区在种族、宗教和社会经济方面具有相似性。它表明，地理、人口或安全部队的干预等结构性因素并不能预测非暴力。相反，在社区冲突期间防止杀戮取决于文职机构，例如领导力、对内部青年的社会控制以及拒绝与外部武装团体合作。借鉴叙事访谈，文章探讨了预防暴力的动机，并发现有关暴力组织的知识和在冲突地区的生活经历是重要因素，使领导人有能力和信心说服动员起来的人不要开始杀戮。这些发现对在社区冲突中保护平民具有重要意义。