MINORITIES AT RISK (MAR)
www.mar.umd.edu/
 
Last update of this source description: 6 December 2008, information current as of 17 September 2018.
 
Mission/Mandate:
“The Minorities at Risk (MAR) project is an independent, university-based research project that monitors and analyzes the status and conflicts of politically-active communal groups in all countries in the world with a current population of at least 500,000. The project is designed to provide information in a standardized format that aids comparative research and contributes to the understanding of conflicts involving relevant groups." (MAR Website, http://www.cidcm.umd.edu/mar/, accessed on 6 December 2008)
“The MAR project was initiated by Ted Robert Gurr in 1986 and has been based at the University of Maryland's Center for International Development and Conflict Management (CIDCM) since 1988”. (MAR Website, http://www.cidcm.umd.edu/mar/about.asp, accessed on 6 December 2008)
Target group:
Researchers, students, public officials, journalists, activists, and other interested individuals.
Objective:
"MAR tracks 284 politically-active ethnic groups throughout the world from 1945 to the present -- identifying where they are, what they do, and what happens to them. MAR focuses specifically on ethnopolitical groups, non-state communal groups that have 'political significance' in the contemporary world because of their status and political actions. [...]
In 2005, the MAR project began a secondary data collection effort, focusing on organizations claiming to represent MAR groups. The Minorities at Risk Organization Behavior dataset currently covers organizations representing MAR groups in the Middle East and North Africa, covering the years 1980-2004. This data was released in September 2008." (MAR Website,
http://www.cidcm.umd.edu/mar/about.asp, accessed on 6 December 2008)

 
The MAR Project provides the following data:
Minority Group Assessments, consisting of risk assessments and an analytic summaries
Minority Group Chronologies, detailing important events in the history of the group and of the state in which they reside
Minorities at Risk Orgnaizational Behavior (MAROB) data, covering 118 ethnopolitical organizations representing 22 MAR groups in 26 countries of the Middle East and North Africa from 1980 to 2004
(MAR Website,
http://www.cidcm.umd.edu/mar/data.asp, accessed on 6 December 2008)
Funding:
University based project (CIDCM - Center for International Development and Conflict Management, University of Maryland, USA).
Scope of reporting:
Geographic focus: Ethnic groups from all around the world.
Thematic focus: Politically-active ethnic groups from 1945 to the present; special focus on ethno-political groups, non-state communal groups with "political significance"; most threatened and mobilized Minorities at Risk groups, highlighted as "hot spots" on maps; organizations representing MAR groups in the Middle East and North Africa (MAROB data). (MAR Website, http://www.cidcm.umd.edu/mar/about.asp, accessed on 6 December 2008)
Review additional criteria for defining a "Minority at Risk”: http://www.cidcm.umd.edu/mar/definition.asp.
Reporting methodology:
Scientific research, collection and analysis of data; presentation of information on the website (Minority Group Assessments, Minority Group Chronologies) and in various datasets (MAR dataset, Discrimination dataset, MAROB data); no reports by MAR itself, but reference to publications using MAR data.
Publication cycle:
Irregular updates
Languages:
English
Navigation of website:
Data > MAR Qualitative > Minority Group Assessments, Minority Group Chronologies
Hot Spots > Persecution - Political Discrimination OR Repression
              > Mobilization - Protests OR Rebellions
Resources > Links; Publications; Research related to MAR
Additional references:
CIDCM - Center for International Development and Conflict Management: Minorities at Risk Project (accessed on 6 December 2008)
http://www.cidcm.umd.edu/projects/project.asp?id=17

Wikipedia: Minorities at Risk (last update 25 June 2008, accessed on 6 December 2008)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minorities_at_Risk


Human Security Report Project: Minorities at Risk Organizational Behaviour Dataset (accessed on 6 December 2008)
http://www.humansecuritygateway.info/showRecord.php?RecordId=26522