Status: Under Review

Preprint: Available on OSF

Presented: 2025 American Sociological Association Meeting, Chicago IL

Abstract: This paper investigates whether contemporary ethno-religious unrest in India represents emergent social phenomena or the performance of established cultural repertoires. Through computational analysis of news reports and ethnographic case studies, I examine the patterned nature of communal violence.

Methods: Computational text analysis, historical comparison, ethnographic case studies

Key Findings:

• Unrest follows predictable repertoires rather than emerging spontaneously
• Performance scripts are transmitted across time and space
• Media coverage shapes repertoire evolution

Implications: Challenges assumptions about spontaneous violence and demonstrates the importance of cultural repertoires in understanding collective violence patterns.