Socioeconomic inequality and conflicts regarding distributional issues have resurfaced in many OECD countries over the past three decades. Whereas most research has focused on the objective ...determinants of perceived social conflicts, we contribute a new facet to this discussion by assessing the relevance of collective stratification beliefs as an independent driver of vertical conflict perceptions. After formulating theoretical positions that give precedence to two factors in explaining the perceptions of social conflicts – objective inequality and the collective stratification belief – we use individual-level data from the 2009 International Social Survey Programme, along with suitable country-level indicators to evaluate both hypotheses. Amid the diverse collective stratification beliefs, we focus on the role of an egalitarian (middle-) class imagery. We are particularly interested in the extent to which such a class imagery can mediate the relationship between socioeconomic inequality and individual conflict perceptions. The results of our multilevel analyses of 27 OECD countries indicate that an egalitarian (middle-) class imagery held by a certain share of a country’s population constitutes a distinct dimension of reality and clearly dominates country-level objective inequality in the explanation of individually perceived social conflicts.
We incorporate appropriation activities (social conflict) into canonical models of trade and study how economic shocks and policies affect the intensity of conflict. We show that not all shocks that ...could make society richer reduce conflict: positive shocks to labor-intensive industries diminish conflict, while positive shocks to capital-intensive industries increase it. The key requirement is that conflict activities be more labor intensive than the economy as this determines how shocks affect the returns and costs of conflict. Our theory is consistent with several observed patterns of conflict and implies that empirical work should take into account the relative factor intensities of the productive and conflict sectors in each country. Incorporating appropriation into a canonic general equilibrium model affects what policies may be deemed desirable: in order to reduce conflict and generate Pareto-improvements policy must be distortionary, while reforms that appear efficiency-enhancing under the unrealistic assumption of perfect property rights may backfire. This offers one explanation for why reforms based on traditional models without appropriation may be delayed and become unpopular when implemented, and why societies may sympathize with seemingly inefficient redistribution.
Since the meta-analysis by De Dreu and Weingart (2003b) on the effects of intragroup conflict on group outcomes, more than 80 new empirical studies of conflict have been conducted, often ...investigating more complex, moderated relationships between conflict and group outcomes, as well as new types of intragroup conflict, such as process conflict. To explore the trends in this new body of literature, we conducted a meta-analysis of 116 empirical studies of intragroup conflict (n = 8,880 groups) and its relationship with group outcomes. To address the heterogeneity across the studies included in the meta-analysis, we also investigated a number of moderating variables. Stable negative relationships were found between relationship and process conflict and group outcomes. In contrast to the results of De Dreu and Weingart, we did not find a strong and negative association between task conflict and group performance. Analyses of main effects as well as moderator analyses revealed a more complex picture. Task conflict and group performance were more positively related among studies where the association between task and relationship conflict was relatively weak, in studies conducted among top management teams rather than non-top management teams, and in studies where performance was measured in terms of financial performance or decision quality rather than overall performance.
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•Theories on land conflict fail to explain how local land disputes connect to large scale violence.•Recent perspectives in conflict studies emphasize the social production of violence.•We explore how ...such perspectives can advance the study of land conflicts.•We reflect on the contribution of the notions of “war-scapes”, “alliance”, and “framing”.•We illustrate the argument with cases from Burundi and Chiapas (Mexico).
While disputes over land are prominent in many situations of protracted violent conflict, questions remain about the precise relationships between land and violent conflict. Political ecology and legal anthropology have rightly questioned dominant approaches in theorizing land-related conflict that are centered on scarcity and institutional failure. While underlining the contribution of these critical approaches, we argue that questions about what is actually at stake in so-called “land-conflicts”, and in particular how localized land disputes and large-scale violence get connected, are not yet adequately addressed. To further theorizing on this point the paper proposes to take on board advances made in the wider field of conflict studies, notably the notions of war as a “social project” and “warscapes”. We emphasize the importance of “alliances” between local disputes and broader cleavages, and of processes of “framing”. The added value of such a perspective is then illustrated by case-studies based on original fieldwork in Burundi and Chiapas (Mexico), that bring out how sense-making of social actors at different levels, including development interveners, interlocks through alliances and framing. We suggest that academic research should analyze how particular land-related conflicts are performed, stimulated, interpreted, and used. Our argument also implies that policy makers and development practitioners should be aware that their work is not neutral, and should be more attentive to how their programs feed into processes of sense-making and mobilization. More generally, the paper de-naturalizes the link between land and conflict and draws land conflict analysis into the realm of social practice.
Group-based guilt and acknowledging responsibility for collective moral transgressions are an important part of conflict resolution. However, they are not a common phenomenon. This is particularly ...true during intergroup conflict, and among those group members who glorify their group and see it as superior to others. In the current research we investigated ways to increase group-based guilt among group members who tend to glorify their group. We reasoned that satisfying the motivation behind group glorification may counteract its negative association with group-based guilt. In two studies, conducted during the 2014 Gaza war, we demonstrated that inducing conflict-related group-based pride among high glorifiers can increase group-based guilt for group actions during the same conflict; effectively regulating one group-based emotion by regulating another. The possible mechanism and implications are discussed.
•We examine how inducing group-based pride can affect group-based guilt.•Increasing pride leads to greater guilt only among high group glorifiers.•This interaction was found during two stages of violent intergroup conflict.
Social conflicts have repercussions on the mental health of the economically active population.
To adapt and validate the Financial Stress Scale in the context of social conflicts (ESECPS).
An ...instrumental study involving 2,242 owners of small and medium enterprises (50.9% women), aged between 18 and 74 years old, selected through a non-probabilistic purposive sampling. The participants were recruited across three regions of Peru during periods of protests and strikes against the incumbent Peruvian government. The instrument for adaptation was the financial stress scale EFEmp-Cov19, created in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic's impact.
All items proved to be clear, relevant, and representative (V > 0.70). Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) revealed the existence of one underlying factor across the 11 items (KMO = 0.962, Bartlett = 5434.3; df = 55;
< 0.001). However, for Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), items 4 and 11 were removed, resulting in support for a unidimensional model with 9 items (
2 = 262.73, df = 23,
< 0.001; RMR = 0.022; TLI = 0.972; CFI = 0.980; and RMSEA = 0.072). Regarding reliability, a very high value was found (
= 0.92).
The ESECPS demonstrates adequate psychometric properties, making it a suitable measure to assess financial stress among Peruvian entrepreneurs facing economic instability and financial threats in the context of social conflicts.
► Food riots across Africa occurred in response to the food crisis of 2007–2008. ► We empirically examine which factors contributed to food riots in Africa. ► More poverty and poorer governance are ...associated with a higher likelihood of riots. ► The analysis stresses the key role of pro-poor long-term policies and investments.
A sharp escalation in worldwide commodity prices precipitated the global food crisis of 2007–2008, affecting the majority of the world’s poor, causing protests in developing countries and presenting policymakers with the challenge of simultaneously addressing hunger, poverty, and political instability. These food price shocks fomented violent civil responses in some countries, but not others, offering a unique opportunity to assess the factors that contributed to these disturbances. We explore this question empirically with specific reference to Africa, where “food riots” occurred in at least 14 countries. By examining the socio-economic and political conditions facing African countries, we attempt to answer why only some countries in Africa witnessed food riots in late 2007 and early 2008, while others did not. Our empirical analysis demonstrates that higher levels of poverty (as proxied by the Human Poverty Index), restricted access to and availability of food, urbanization, a coastal location, more oppressive regimes and stronger civil societies are associated with a higher likelihood of riots occurring. We also examine three country cases (Egypt, Mozambique, Niger) which represent different circumstances and responses to the food crisis, and identify specific factors that were associated with food protests in each case. Our study highlights the importance of pro-poor policies and investments and improved governance in addressing the problems facing the poor and in helping secure political stability. As the frequency and variability of natural disasters increase in response to climate change, such policies can serve to protect the poor from the debilitating consequences of the resulting shocks.
Natural resource extraction has been the base of Peruvian economic growth, notably since the neoliberalization of the economy in recent decades. Academic and media accounts portray Peru as an absent ...state – one of weak institutions to exert environmental control and guarantee citizens' rights – particularly in remote resource extraction areas. This article scrutinizes this idea of absence in the context of neoliberal extractivist governance, via the case of a mining conflict surrounding the creation of the Ichigkat Muja National Park (PNIM) in the Cordillera del Cóndor, in the northwest Peruvian Amazon. We argue that the state is not absent: it is the outcome of contested and re-negotiated relations, institutions, and ideologies. We posit that the goal of guaranteeing private investment shapes state agents' attitudes and interventions to address conflicts. Based on key informant interviews and the review of official social conflict reports, we examine two roles of the state: as a protector of rights and a provider of basic services. We find that, in this case, the regional government's recognition of citizens' rights appears ambiguous, and in general, the state's role as a provider of basic services is deployed to mitigate conflicts that affect significant extractive projects or involve intense social protest. Thus, the neoliberal project of the Peruvian state is mediated in complex relations, constituting a particular and evolving form of neo-extractivism, where social investment is functional to guarantee mining.
The currently intense debate about 'land grabs' or 'land investment' in Africa has reinforced the significance of relations around land on the continent. This article argues that holders of land ...under customary tenure face increasing threat and that the role of foreign investors must not obscure the centrality of national agents -governments, political authorities and private actors - in land deals. The article first outlines the historical heritage of the colonial construction and post-colonial reproduction of customary tenure and its denial of full property to customary land-holders. The second part considers the escalating competition and conflict centered on land; the increase in land transfers implicated in the pervasive social conflict focused on land; and the associated rise in social inequality and contestation over belonging and citizenship. All these processes intensify the vulnerability of customarily held land in face of an escalation in efforts to acquire landed resources. The third and final part discusses 'land grabs', the most recent surge of international interest in African land, and the equally significant appropriation of land by national agents. The article concludes that the land question in contemporary Africa has to be linked to the dynamics of social transformation and inequality at multiple levels - global, regional, national, sub-national - that are reshaping not merely access to landed resources but the very bases of authority, livelihood, ownership and citizenship.
People from different cultures vary in the ways they approach social conflicts, with Japanese being more motivated to maintain interpersonal harmony and avoid conflicts than Americans are. Such ...cultural differences have developmental consequences for reasoning about social conflict. In the study reported here, we interviewed random samples of Americans from the Midwest United States and Japanese from the larger Tokyo area about their reactions to stories of intergroup and interpersonal conflicts. Responses showed that wisdom (e.g., recognition of multiple perspectives, the limits of personal knowledge, and the importance of compromise) increased with increasing age among Americans, but older age was not associated with wiser responses among Japanese. Younger and middle-aged Japanese showed greater use of wise-reasoning strategies than younger and middle-aged Americans did. This cultural difference was weaker for older participants' reactions to interpersonal conflicts and was actually reversed for intergroup conflicts. This research has important implications for the study of aging, cultural psychology, and wisdom.
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