Politics & International Relations
Political Conflict
Political conflict refers to disagreements and disputes between individuals, groups, or institutions over power, resources, or values within a political system. It can manifest in various forms, such as protests, strikes, or violence, and can have significant impacts on the stability and legitimacy of a political system.
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7 Key excerpts on "Political Conflict"
eBook - PDF- Cees van der Eijk(Author)
- 2018(Publication Date)
- Amsterdam University Press(Publisher)
Chapter 2 Conflict and Cooperation As indicated in Chapter 1, we understand politics as an aspect of conflictua l and cooperative interactions between people and groups about matters that must be settled for a society or community. In this chapter, I will elaborate this perspective by examining the concepts of conflict and cooperation, and by analysing the consequence of the existence of many conflicts. I will start by defin ing conflict and cooperation in terms of interests or goals on the one hand, and behaviour on the other hand. This leads not only to a defin ition of these terms, but also to some non-trivial implica-tions about the inferences to be drawn from, for example, the absence of conflict. Having done this, I will continue by developing the argument that conflict (and cooperation) is unavoidable, and that, therefore, so is politics too. A further ref inement of our understanding of conflict and cooperation, and thus also of the nature of politics, is introduced by arguing that, although politics is understood in terms of conflict and cooperation, there are nevertheless some instances in which conflict and cooperation are not political in character. The last part of this chapter discusses the relations between conflict and cooperation, and between dif ferent conflicts. The simultaneous existence of multiple conflicts may lead to quite dif ferent consequences, depending on how they are related to each other. Conflicts may reinforce each other, or they may be ‘cross-cutting’, and each of these scenarios has quite dif ferent consequences for the sustainability of the political system, as well as for the ‘political capital’ that is created by conflict and cooperation. What is conflict and cooperation? In everyday language, the terms conflict and cooperation have not only a descriptive meaning, but they also carry evaluative loadings.
eBook - PDF- F. Pfetsch(Author)
- 2007(Publication Date)
- Palgrave Macmillan(Publisher)
Political confl ict concerns public goods, fl namely national interests or values, such as national territory and its borders (national independence), constitutional rights (self- determination), as well as the monopoly over decision-making. The incompatibilities of interests can relate to the price of a good or its quantity or quality, the affiliation of a certain territory, the appoint- fi ment of a political office, the rights held by a minority group etc. fi 2.3 The dynamics of confl ict evolution: A dynamic model fl of conflict fl The assumption is made that there exists a recurring pattern of sequences of events throughout the process of conflict evolution and fl that different stages in the evolution process are identifiable. Figure 2.2 fi shows the basic model. The first phase in the evolution process (initia- fi tion phase) is determined by the factors that characterize government Actor B Actor A a b Actor B’s interests Actor A’s interests overlapping interests Figure 2.1: Constellation of interests in a conflict situation fl 18 Negotiating Political Conflicts fl action (structural, behavioural, institutional factors, etc.) and come to the fore in the form of either internal or external support or resistance. The evolution process entails a five-stage model of escalation. fi The most important parameters for decision-making by a govern- ment during a conflict are: fl – internal pressure or threat, or else support; – external, that is, international, pressure or threat, or else support; – the perception of one’s own interests or of political opposition. Conflict evolution can analytically – if not empirically – be divided fl into five stages of escalation: from latent to manifest confl fi ict, through fl to a predominantly non-violent crisis, on to a violent crisis, and result- ing finally in war. The fi fi nal phase can either lead to a consensual fi agreement, to a forced or unequal solution, or to further violence.
eBook - PDFOrganizations
Management Without Control
- Howard P. Greenwald(Author)
- 2007(Publication Date)
- SAGE Publications, Inc(Publisher)
296 Conflict, Politics, and Change Learning Objective To comprehend the causes and consequences of conflict among an organi-zation’s members and subunits, and between members and the organization itself; to analyze and appreciate the political process in organizations; to understand the causes and process of organizational change. Principles Within organizations, conflict —a term that signifies enduring, emotionally charged disagreement—occurs among individuals, groups, and subunits; conflict may also be directed at the organization itself. Conflict among individuals may arise from substantive disputes, incom-patibility of individual personalities, factual misunderstanding, or diversity among participants in the organization. Conflict with the organization itself is more likely traceable to perceived unfairness, injustice, or lack of voice in the organization’s affairs. Procedures effective in controlling interpersonal and intergroup conflict include direct intervention and mediation. Conflict involving individuals and groups versus the organization may require structural change for resolution. Politics constitutes a process for reconciling actual or potential disputes over resources, strategies, and objectives. The political process can determine an organization’s direction and secure the commitment of its members. Change in an organization may result from internal causes, such as poor performance, decisions by leaders, and major conflict. Change also results from new developments in the organization’s environment, including tech-nology, market conditions, demography, political climate, and actions by other organizations. CHAPTER 11 Conflict, Politics, and Change: Challenges to Organizations Conflict, politics, and change are processes that challenge the stable elements of formal organizations. Roles and formal structure, the core features of organiza-tions, encourage human behavior to follow predictable patterns.
eBook - PDFMicropolitics in the Multinational Corporation
Foundations, Applications and New Directions
- Florian A. A. Becker-Ritterspach, Susanne Blazejewski, Christoph Dörrenbächer, Mike Geppert(Authors)
- 2016(Publication Date)
- Cambridge University Press(Publisher)
part i Foundations of politics, power and conflict in MNCs Introduction Research on politics, power and conflict has been around in the inter- national business field for some time. However, this research remained fragmented or partial and a comprehensive overview of the field has been missing. Part I of this volume offers a systematic review of the development of the field, which has been growing dynamically over the last ten years, and helps to discover the main lines of theoretical devel- opment on power and politics in the international business (IB) lit- erature. It also provides a comprehensive introduction to this research field for students and colleagues who are working from other theoret- ical paradigms – in the hope that they will help enrich and enlarge the multifaceted research on micropolitics in the MNC. Chapter 2 (re-)connects the research on power, politics and conflict in the MNC to its theoretical foundations in political sciences and or- ganizational studies. This seems necessary since authors writing on power and politics in the international business field more often than not work with terms such as interests, actors, power and conflict with- out explicitly defining them and without clearly locating them vis-à-vis the sometimes incommensurable conceptualizations developed in the- oretically strong traditions such as organization studies. In addition, Chapter 2 clarifies what the authors of this book take as their spe- cific perspective on key concepts such as power, interests and actors and thus should enable the reader to retrace the theoretical perspective underlying the entire book. Chapter 3 provides a comprehensive review of the discussion of power, politics and conflict in the IB field.
eBook - PDF- Fulvio Attina(Author)
- 2011(Publication Date)
- Red Globe Press(Publisher)
There are, however, deep controversies regarding the criteria for the empirical verification of the theories of inter-national politics and at times lively debates ensue that do not provide ready solutions (see Carlsnaes et al ., 2002; Goldman, 1996; Groom and Light, 1994; Olson and Groom, 1991). Theories of politics as conflict In the paradigm characterized by conflict and inequality the rules and institutions which shape international politics are strongly determined by the differences in power between states. It is as if they did not recognize sovereignty as a constituent part of their coexistence. This view of inter-national politics has at its kernel the reciprocal insecurity of states. This is caused by the asymmetry of resources and capabilities of every actor in the international arena each of which seeks to realize its own interests. At the same time sovereign equality allows each one to pursue those inter-ests through the application of military force. This paradigm took shape in Europe in the seventeenth century when the first monarchical states – Spain, France, England and the Habsburg empire – definitively took the place of the communities of Christians and of the Holy Roman Empire. The birth of those states through the assertion of sovereignty and the centralization of territorial power in a capital city or the court of a sovereign became the focus of scholars who wanted to explain the creation of societies as sovereign entities, that is, the creation 18 The Global Political System of states. By concentrating physical force and its legitimate use in a single actor (the leader) they had removed the insecurity of individuals within the state but not the insecurity that existed between states. Hobbes, in particular, has explained the formation of societies and states through an agreement among people to submit to an authority which is created with the specific aim of eliminating the reciprocal insecurity and the establishment of a social order.
eBook - PDF- Tukumbi Lumumba-Kasongo(Author)
- 2017(Publication Date)
- Codesria(Publisher)
Theories of Conflicts Why are people and states drawn into conflicts? In international relations we say that individuals and states that have nothing in common or do not expect to have anything in common are not likely to be drawn into major conflicts. I agree with Peace, Security and Post-Conflict Reconstruction in the Great Lakes Region of Africa 34 Pierre Bourdieu, Frantz Fanon, Claude Ake and other scholars who posit that theory must be rooted in a particular social experience. There are many theories that explain the causes of conflicts and their impact. Only selected theories are examined here. As earlier indicated, factors that lead to conflict include rapid or slow growth in human population, unequal distribution of material resources, national power struggle, struggles between the haves and have-nots, gender and social inequality, and the struggle over communal values and orientation between the older and younger generations. other causes include exclusive political practices, inter-state and intra-state competition for power or a more visible positioning on the global scene, and the role of national interest and spheres of influence in the global political economy as well as the activities and needs of foreign powers. Therefore, there is neither monolithic theory of conflict, nor is there any monolithic school of thought that explains the causes or effects of all conflicts in given context. However, within the current studies of international relations, there are seven major theories that explain why and how conflicts occur. They include (1) Classical/Neo-realism; (2) Liberalism/Neo-liberalism; (3) Marxism/ Neo-Marxism; (4) Feminism; (5) Constructivism; (6) Post-colonialism; and (7) Green Theory. Within each of these theories, there are varieties of interpretations or approaches used by social scientists depending on their disciplines.
eBook - PDFInternational Relations
A Handbook of Current Theory
- Margot Light, A.J.R. Groom(Authors)
- 2016(Publication Date)
- Bloomsbury Academic(Publisher)
Conflict Research Recent literature has, to some degree, tended to reflect the con-vergence of interest among those who study war and those whose main focus of interest has previously been conflict within societies (a distinction that has become empirically more difficult to justify, given the increasing number of 'transnational' conflicts - the 121 122 CR Mitchell Lebanon, Namibia, Cyprus, El Salvador in our contemporary world). Different writers have different emphases depending upon whether they approach the subject of conflict from the background of IR, on the one hand, or sociology or comparative politics on the other. The works of the first group tend to start by examining the nature and processes of domestic conflict and then proceed to consider war in the light of findings from these lower level' disputes. Of this group of writers, the most distinguished works are those by Himes [65] (particularly valuable in its analysis of racial and ethnic conflict) and Kriesberg's recent updating of his well-known 1973 study [80]. Wehf s book [144] on the'regulation' of conflict contains a great deal of useful material on conflicts over the environment The second group of scholars comes from a background of IR and, starting from the opposite end of the war-social conflict continuum, attempts to understand general human conflict by applying findings from conflict in one of the most unstructured social systems - global society - to others where conflicts are (relatively) less destructive and often more regulated. The most readable of this group remains Rapoport [106], although Nicholson's work [96] may be preferable for those wanting a clear introduction to formal, mathematical analyses. My own textbook [94] is an attempt to gather together ideas about conflict between humans from a wide range of examples and disciplines.
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