Conflict and the Social Bond: Peace in Modern Societies

Description

Is violent conflict inevitable? What is it in our social nature that makes us conduct wars, genocides and persecutions? The answer lies in how we are programmed to bond and form communities that demand loyalty in order to let us belong. The analysis in this book cuts through the social sciences in order to show the fundamentals of violent conflict. The book investigates conflict at the level of sociality. It reorganises existing theories of conflict under that perspective and brings them to bear upon the link between violence and togetherness. It introduces the key concept of closure to describe the conditions under which human groups start to perceive their position as similar and their reality as polarised. This is how normality starts breaking down and fault lines appear. Violent conflict is then analysed as a reaction that seeks change more rapidly than conditions seem to allow. Global comparative data from numerous studies – including M. Mousseau's works – are used to disentangle the factors that contribute to "democratic peace", that is, the fact that democratic societies do not go to war with each other. This inquiry reveals the new dimension of sociodiversity, which allows societies where individuality is strong to constantly produce alternatives and avoid closure. The book concludes with a coda on peace and sociodiversity which explains how contemporary societies can ensure durable peace and adequate social justice at the same time. Written in a clear and direct style, this volume will appeal to students, researchers and scholars with an interest in political sociology, anthropology, international relations, war studies, as well as conflict and peace studies. Cover Half Title Series Page Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Table of Contents List of figures List of tables Preface Acknowledgements 1 Introduction: human sociality and the origins of conflict Conflict or peace Cooperation Theories of conflict: internal social differentiation Theories of conflict: external differentiation Theories of conflict: biosocial traits Conflict and the effects of a new, limited world Violence and togetherness Notes 2 Conflict as closure Peace and the decline of community Becoming ‘we’ Openness and closure The role of institutions ‘Late modern’ versus ‘traditional’ settings Conclusion Notes 3 Conflict as change Sociodiversity and the conscious path to peace Change and legitimacy of outcomes Belonging, sacrifice, division ‘Branching out’ Conclusion Notes 4 Persistence of conflict and conversion to the enemy Perceptual proximity Cycles of uncertainty The social cycle of conflict Conversion to the enemy Conclusion Notes 5 Plurality and the rise of the individual The dark side of democracy – and the luminous one Pax mercatoria Individuation and plurality Alternatives within tradition Conclusion Notes 6 A turn in human sociality From direct to institutional sociality Institutional control and conflict Conclusion: conflict dissolves into individuality Notes A coda on peaceful social change and the benefits of sociodiversity Notes References Index