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Individuals, Groups and Intergroups: Theorizing About the Role of Identity in Conflict and its Creative Engagement
Abstract
Proactively engaging identity issues in conflict situations has become increasingly common in the last decades, and may be considered as part of a second generation of the growing field of conflict studies and intervention. This paper argues that identity is a distinct category underlying all conflicts, and not just as one of many basic human needs. This paper examines expressions of identity through reference to three distinct levels of analysis – individual identity, group identity, and intergroup identity. A basic argument which the paper promotes is that second generation conflict engagement models (Transformative Mediation, ARIA, and Narrative forms), shift attention from individualistic identity to group identity. We develop a few arguments:First, we believe that it is both theoretically interesting and practically useful to view identity as an underlying layer of all conflicts which is more or less salient. When it is less salient (as in personal conflicts) and most salient (as in group conflicts) this will determine the type of intervention a third party may conduct. We put forward this schema of conflict as both a vehicle for analysis and intervention planning.Second, conflict engagement models should fit the level of identity on which they work, and working on the group level should be a default choice when various levels of identity interact. Individualistic identity "I am like no other" informs an underlying layer which consists of needs and interests. The Group Identity in which "I am like some others" with the major experience of a person being part of a specific group, sees identities as largely socially constructed and collectively expressed. The Intergroup Identity, in which one feels "I am like all others" incorporates the previous notions, since it contains the assumption that individuals are socially constructed as in the group identity level, but it weaves it into a notion of identities at play with each other much as individuals interact and co-create each other in the interactions. Third, working on the group level of identity should be done through a shift to an intermediate level between group and intergroup. Although the intergroup level conceptually is the more accurate and can be used for analysis and theorizing about identity in conflicts, in terms of conflict engagement work, we found that aspiring to an intermediate level in which group identity is challenged, but intergroup identity is not a goal for itself, is the most productive method to deal with what we used to called identity-based conflict.Fourth, this paper lays out the foundation for future extensive conflict engagement research which will articulate in a nuanced way the way in which various model of conflict engagement deal with group identities and reconstruct them. It also calls upon rich case studies of concrete interventions in identity conflict which will examine and code identity expressions by using the conceptual framework suggested above.
... Війна змінює світ. Воєнні конфлікти перекроюють кордони держав, а також межі свідомостей та ідентичностей» [1, С. [19][20][21]. ...
... Ідентичність опору породжується áкторами, які займають позиції, що знецінюються або стигматизуються логікою домінування, тим самим вибудовуючи підґрунтя опору та виживання на основі власних принципів. Проєктивна ідентичність виявляється у здатності соціальних áкторів створювати нову ідентичність, яка перевизначає і трансформує їхню позицію, формує соціальний ідеал та змінює всю соціальну структуру [6, С. [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22]. Конфліктний потенціал присутній у всіх трьох типах ідентичностей, а у двох останніх він превалює. ...
... Прагнучи сформулювати цілісну наукову теорію, він зазначав, що «всі конфлікти мають спільні зразки розвитку й вивчення саме цих спільних елементів може представити феномен конфлікту в будь-якому його специфічному вияві» [13, С. 119]. Утім фахівці з соціальних конфліктів усе ж акцентували увагу на виокремленні етнолого-антропологічних вимірів, що розглядають етнічний конфлікт як феномен культури зі властивими йому специфічними рисами та визначають сутність етнічного конфлікту, що полягає у створенні загроз для регіональної ідентичності соціуму [14, С. [16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30]. В науковій репрезентації етнічних конфліктів широко застосовуються інструменталістські, конструктивістські, примордіалістські підходи, але більшість авторів солідарні в тому, що стихія глобальних і регіональних криз та суперечностей у сучасних реаліях небачено зростає, а етнічний конфлікт виступає однією з форм цих суперечностей і найвищою фазою процесу політизації етнічності. ...
... A common reason for the delegitimization of outgroups is perceived outgroup use of violent, oppressive or hostile behaviour toward the ingroup (Anderson, 1993;Held, 2005;Salnykova, 2014). Other value-based justifications for negative peace involve concerns that win-win solutions can prop up an oppressive status quo (Kreisberg 1997;Winslade and Monk, 2000) or that engagement with the other side will be equated with legitimising their positions or values (Rothman and Alberstein, 2013). Concerns about justice also fit inside this grouping, as some scholars and practitioners assert that "developing harmonious relationships when…injustice remains unaddressed risks embedding structural violence" (Standish et al., 2022, p. 14). ...
... Those who criticise broad positive peace have claimed that focusing on relationship transformation in moments of ongoing or even recently-concluded violence may be premature (Wolff, 2004), "naive" (Thomas, 1992) or potentially coercive, especially in cases when reconciliation is seen as imposed on unwilling parties from the outside (Rothman and Alberstein, 2013;Cleven et al., 2018). Turan claimed that though narrow positive peace could instil tolerance and economic integration, it could not address the relational or structural causes of conflict, which she termed Fundamental Conflicts (FC) (Turan, 2015, p. 131). ...
This thesis proposes that Johan Galtung's theory of positive and negative peace will gain relevance and applicability in contexts of non-armed societal conflicts like the Trump-era culture wars when the theory is adapted to take into account not only dynamics such as violence, but also felt threat. In this project, I reviewed the academic literature on culture war and sociopolitical polarization in the United States, as well as the literature on Galtung's theory. I then adapted positive and negative peace theory to take into account conflict dynamics rising from felt threat, which I argue makes Galtung's theory more applicable to conflicts where violence is invisible, contested or difficult to ascertain. I tested this version of Galtung's theory through 20 exploratory, qualitative interviews with American liberal and conservative partisans. These interviews resulted in a typology of various a) visions of positive and negative peace in the Trump-era culture wars, b) strategies partisans use to achieve them and c) preferences for specific types of peace. These results are discussed regarding their relevance to the field and their contribution to the academic literature.
... Ethnic tension escalates when an ethnocultural group tends to perceive itself as a "victim" of value claims from "other" groups. According to Rothman and Alberstein (2013), if we want to succeed in researching the causes of identity-based con licts, we must start with a de inition that will lead to constructive con lict resolution methods. We consider identity as a self-perception illed with a cultural formula. ...
... Rothman), protecting individual values, pursuing their own interests and expressing individualistic needs; they can be socio-cultural groups and feel part of a collective whole; they may feel themselves to be carriers of multiple identities and enter into con lict at the intergroup level, but all these perceptions are generated by the "cultural formula", identity. Cultural identity becomes the "ideological base" of the parties to the con lict, illed with personal, group and intergroup emotions, values and meanings (Rothman & Alberstein, 2013). Cultural con lict has its own unique characteristics, and in different contexts, some of these elements will be more visible than others, but they are all common denominators of con lict genesis. ...
The article is devoted to comparative analysis of contemporary political theories of socio-cultural integration policy as a way of constructive conϐlict resolution in the North Caucasus. Latent ethno-political conflicts remain the most noticeable of contemporary challenges and threats to civil solidarity and ethnic peace in this unstable region. The fundamental issue that requires a constructive solution in order to ensure political stability in the North Caucasus region is the promotion of multi-level and inclusive sociocultural integration. This study claims that the escalation of protracted, deep-rooted conϐlicts is the result of large-scale social disintegration as a fundamental threat to the North Caucasus stability. Socio-cultural disintegration is superimposed on ethno-territorial and social polarization: ethno-political particularism, religious traditionalism and large-scale demodernization of the North Caucasus archaize regional identities, hindering the formation of civil society.
... The conflicting parties may perceive themselves as "separated maximisers", feel themselves to be carriers of multiple identities, or be part of a collective whole and come into conflict at the intergroup level. Identity becomes the ideological basis of the participants in the conflict, filled with individual and group values (Rothman & Alberstein, 2013). The multidimensionality of the category "identity" makes it https: //doi.org/10.15405/epsbs.2022.12.18 Corresponding Author: Evgenii Aleksandrovich Avdeev Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the Organizing Committee of the conference eISSN: 134 possible to reflect the totality of modern nonlinear sociocultural processes taking place in different social times for different communities. ...
... Identity can be theoretically organized into three main types: individual, group, and intergroup. These different levels construct one's social identity, which shares aspects with others' identities through many emotional and psychological dynamics (Rothman & Alberstein, 2013). This identity can be explained by a comprehensive theory of SIT. ...
Adolescents and the youth experience major psychological changes related to the issues they face. In some countries, local songs broadcasted on YouTube and by local radio stations have been significantly correlated with adolescents’ prejudiced behaviors as songs occupy a central role in their life. This study investigates the effects of exposure to different kinds of songs (national and local) on developing prejudiced attitudes in university students. A Prejudice Attitudes Scale (PAS) was developed and used to evaluate the students’ prejudice levels. A total of 111 undergraduate students who participated in the current study were randomly assigned to one of the two groups: the national song group and the local song group. In both groups, participants were requested to listen to certain songs for one month. The findings of the current study indicate that listening to local songs increased students’ prejudicial attitudes. Further, males tended to produce higher levels of social prejudicial attitudes compared to females.
Introduction. In multi-ethnic regions, which include the North Caucasus and the South of Russia in general, reducing the risks of identity conflict, in particular the conflictogenic potential of ethnic identity, is one of the priority tasks of public administration. The object of this policy, first of all, is the youth of the region, from whose ranks the activists of protest movements are recruited. This situation requires monitoring the social well-being of young people in the context of the combination of all-Russian and ethno-confessional identity. The aim of the study is to identify conflictogenic risks arising in the process of sociocultural interaction in multi-ethnic youth communities of border regions. Materials and Methods. The empirical basis of the research state of social identity of youth in the North Caucasus was the results of surveys conducted by the authors in March – April 2022 and 2023 among students of regional universities. It was assumed that the aggravation of the geopolitical situation and a special military operation acted as a trigger for the transformation of the social identity of youth, which has a different trajectory for groups of youth representing the peoples of the North Caucasus and Russians living in the region. An emotional assessment of closeness with communities of different taxonomic series made it possible to establish the significance of all-Russian identity in comparison with ethnic, regional and confessional ones. Results. A comparative analysis of the collected material indicates that the most significant consolidating values and symbols that unite the youth of the region are the common state and state symbols. By choosing these values, as well as the values of Russian culture and the general historical past, young people who consider themselves to be the peoples of the North Caucasus have come closer to the value profile of Russian youth in the region. In the consciousness of Russian youth, there is a growth in sociocultural values, the significance of which in their ideas has approached all-Russian civil and political values. There continues to be a trend aimed at sociocultural integration and erasing ethnocultural differences among the youth of the groups under consideration. Discussion and Conclusion. All-Russian and ethnic identities among young people living in the region are complementary, not competitive. The challenges the country faces are viewed by them as personal and socially significant. This trend is becoming a significant factor that reduces the conflict-generating risks of ethnocultural foundations of identity in youth communities of the North Caucasus. Scientific results will contribute to the understanding of sociocultural threats and risks of conflict in multiethnic youth communities of frontier regions, and will be useful to the scientific community and government authorities.
The article considers the sociocultural foundations of the Russian, ethnic, confessional and regional identity of the North Caucasus student youth. The influence of the formation and positivity of these identities on the nature of interethnic relations, the social distance between main ethno-confessional groups and the risks of conflicting identities is analyzed. The results of sociological survey in 2022 showed a high degree of severity and positivity of the sociocultural foundations of the Russian, ethnic and regional identity. Significant variability was found in the importance of emotional and psychological connection with the main social groups (ethnos, confession, country, region) varied from one ethnic group to another. These unifying sociocultural meanings-symbols occupy an important place in the structure of the Russian identity of young people. Among youth, attitudes towards interethnic harmony, tolerance, interaction and integration prevail. The social distance between students who identify themselves with the main ethno-confessional groups is insignificant. Respondents' assessments confirm the trend towards depoliticization of ethnicity and a decrease in the conflict nature of the main macro-group identities. At the same time, the conflictogenic potential of the sociocultural foundations of young people's self-awareness is preserved.
The given study focuses on the analysis of specific mental socio-semiological phenomenon of conflict of different types of identities within the same social subject (individual, social group, ethnic group). Studying the identity, a scientist faces a whole complex of the latter. They have different effects on the formation and development of religious worldview. These identities can be defined as primary and secondary ones. Primary identities are ethnic, social; secondary socio-cultural and religious. The basis for the formation and development of the social process of Ukrainian autocephaly is the cognitive process of the conflict of ethnic, religious and religious identities. Hyperbolization of ethnic identity leads to the formation of a special phenomenon of “rural” Orthodox identity. The latter is characterized by a reduction of philosophical and theological meanings and an increase in the semantic potentials of ideological, political and mythological discourse. Rural folklore discourse makes it possible to determine the confessional identity of socio-psychological qualities of the ethnic Ukrainian mentality. The dichotomy of the Ukrainian mentality, the presence in it of Western Ukrainian and Eastern Ukrainian cognitive mental units leads to the structuring of specific “centaur ideas” (the term belongs to Zh.T. Toshchenko), which complicate the cognitive conflict of identities and becomes the basis for the development of regional traditionalism, politicization of identities, which leads to the aggravation of socio-cultural and mental conflicts and contradictions and serves as the basis of the archaization of Ukrainian society. The basic discourses serving Ukrainian autocephaly are political, ideological and mythological onesPrimary identities are ethnic, social; secondary socio-cultural and religious. The basis for the formation and development of the social process of Ukrainian autocephaly is the cognitive process of the conflict of ethnic, religious and religious identities. Hyperbolization of ethnic identity leads to the formation of a special phenomenon of “rural” Orthodox identity. The latter is characterized by a reduction of philosophical and theological meanings and an increase in the semantic potentials of ideological, political and mythological discourse. Rural folklore discourse makes it possible to determine the confessional identity of socio-psychological qualities of the ethnic Ukrainian mentality. The dichotomy of the Ukrainian mentality, the presence in it of Western Ukrainian and Eastern Ukrainian cognitive mental units leads to the structuring of specific “centaur ideas” (the term belongs to Zh.T. Toshchenko), which complicate the cognitive conflict of identities and becomes the basis for the development of regional traditionalism, politicization of identities, which leads to the aggravation of socio-cultural and mental conflicts and contradictions and serves as the basis of the archaization of Ukrainian society. The basic discourses serving Ukrainian autocephaly are political, ideological and mythological ones
Concerns specificity of the sociocultural integration and considers the principle factors producing the identitybased conflicts. The author emphasises the destabilising role of ethnicity politicisation and lists the civic identity crisis, traditionalisation, and ethnic tensions among the systemic circumstances that support escalation of the identitybased conflicts.
This article explores the different approaches to study of conflict resolution strategyfrom a variety of interdisciplinary perspectives. It argues that conflict resolution strategy aspolitical integration resource is a necessary tool for overcoming deep-rooted ethnic conflictsin the instable region of North Caucasus. The author considers structural factors of protractedconflicts and emphasizes a destabilizing role of the re-politicization of ethnicity of a regionsociety in crisis. The concept of ethnic “identity-based” conflicts is the heuristic theoreticalmodel of exploring causes for increased ethno-confessional tensions in the North Caucasus.The article focuses on the ability of conflict resolution theory to de-escalate growing ethnoconfessionaltensions and transform protracted ethnic conflicts. Interdisciplinary approach toanalyzing conflict resolution strategy as political integration resource, while combining conflicttheory and neo-functionalistic paradigm, is the methodological basis of this research. The needto stimulate political integration is caused by moral and structural causes: from the ethical pointof view, the creation of an inclusive society is the fundamental societal goal; structural factorsare related to the need to reduce inequalities and differences leading to social fragmentationand escalation of ethnic conflicts. Among the socio-political conditions of the North Caucasianconflicts, the author calls social inequalities, civil identity crisis, authoritarian and ethnopolitical“renaissance”, economic polarization, “ideological combat” between the secular modernizationand fundamentalism. Discussing conflict resolution strategy as political integration resource,it is necessary to consider the following: 1) North Caucasian integration is a macro-politicalproject, the content of which is determined by issues of social security of multiethnic Russia;2) development of the North Caucasus after the end of armed ethnic conflicts shows theinadmissibility of structural demodernization, fundamentalism and cultural isolationism. Today,the North Caucasus remains a crucially geopolitical macro-region, as it forms the southernvolatile frontier of Russia. In this case, conflict resolution strategy must serve as preventive tool onthe conflict environment by way of providing structural solutions for deep-rooted socio-culturalproblems, transforming and rationalizing regional ethnic contradictions.
- Johan Galtung
- Transcend
- Transform
JOHAN GALTUNG, TRANSCEND AND TRANSFORM: AN INTRODUCTION To CONFLICT WORK
(2004);