CMRAI-C6: Structure §

Class: IS404 Created Time: November 29, 2021 6:07 PM Database: Class Notes Database Last Edited Time: December 14, 2021 2:14 PM Provided Materials: Chapter_6_Structure_-_Slides.pdf Type: Reading Notes

• This it talking about international structure or domestic structure? (Level of analysis)
• Conflicts can come from antagonistic relationships from structural problems such as illegitimate institutions
  • prohibit fair distribution of power and wealth
  • lack ability to correct systemic failure
  • severe oppression

Structural Conditions for Conflict Resolution §

• What is the condition for protracted conflicts to continue?
  • In Ethnic Rivalry, conflict always come from one’s group desire to control the destiny of another group For political dominance and economic benefit
    • Suppressed marginalized group’s language, customs, religions.
    • Structure affect Autonomy and political independence through educational and economic opportunities
  • Competition over a limited resource causes inter-group clashes that never ends

System Change and Adjustment §

• When mistrust among groups comes from systemic domination and inseucirty felt by the minority group
  • Structural change is essential for constructive accommodation of conflict
  • The powerful party must be convinced: cost of not changing system of alienation is large
• In intractable conflicts the removal of institutional obstacles for participation in self-governance is a key in settling discontent and outraged populations
• Systemic change beyond perceptual modification requires
  • restructuring of social institutions
  • Redistribution of power: between different sectors of society
• Change in relationship of different groups can affect their perception of each other need’s legitimacy
  • If social structures put one group in dominate over another, the powerful group won’t recognize legitimacy of the weaker group’s needs
  • Most times change in relationships isn’t enough to stop conflicts, changing the root cause such as reforming the social or security institutions is needed
• Conflicts should be addressed not just for their short-term solution, but the contentious issues that causes many similar conflicts for a conflict-free society.

The Management of Conflict in Various Social Settings §

• Governmental abuse of power can be addressed by Ombudsmen
• Pluralistic Democratic Societies: conflict regulation mechanisms: mediation & arbitration
• Mandatory mediation for divorces before court
• Tribal societies: informal traditional social practices handle group conflicts with just intrinsic value of society
• Traditional Collectivist view over individualistic view of justice. Ex: A murderer’s family paying the victim’s family to not be convicted. (Saudi Arabia)

Functionalist Perspective §

• Functionalists says in the social system, society and organizational functions are part of internal organism of a stable structure and orderly process of social life
  • Actions are consequences of these complex relationships between each part
  • A network of relationships among interacting parts (e.g., political–administrative regulatory policies designed to restore confidence of the financial market) can determine the quality of the system’s operation
• Conflicts need to be properly controlled to keep an existing system stable
• In order to constitute a persistent order, the system must perform certain functions
  • the economy should generate enough income for the majority of people in society to meet their basic daily necessities.
  • The equilibrium point of a system can be achieved through proper coordination among it’s components: political-administrative, economic, and cultural
  • Government shouldn’t regulate the market, but must correct major economic crisis
  • it has become common for political and administrative decisions to get involved in resource allocation

System Maintenance Functions §

• In functionalism: conflcits aren’t dysfunctional as long as they maintain the social structure
  • If dysfunctional: relationships need to be regnegotiated to include opposing members of society

Political Instability and Conflict §

• In some political systems, a peaceful process to regulate the clashes between possible winners and losers is not sufficiently developed in redistributing political and economic power.
  • Political instability feeds long-term dictatorship, election, political squabbles, and military coups
    • low level of institutionalization and absence of political culture of compromise, and bargaining

Response to System Stress §

• Coups or election fraud could trigger the society in tension from government oppression
  • System weakness: poverty, ethnic, racial, and religious differences, a weak state capacity to manage tensions, and power inequalities
• Solution: Regular electoral cycle could rebalance power relations between government and the oppressed groups.

Violence Structure in a Failed State §

1. Complete failure exemplified by Somalia (with the absence of institutionalized, central political authority).
2. A semi-failed state still remaining de jure (e.g., the Democratic Republic of Congo) a semi-failed state maintains different degrees of authority over the population.
3. The existence of a de facto state without international legitimacy (e.g, Talian rule).
4. Transitional state toward failure—by losing its legitimacy with bad governance, an existing state can degenerate into failure (e.g., Uganda’s Idi Amin government, the current Mugabe regime)

Characteristics of state collapse

• Fragmentation of political authority: factional divide ruled by quasi-governments
• Opposing militia forces stops any attempts to re-create new state institution
• Abnormal economic transactions extends a protracted conflict in a failed state
• Structural vulnerability to violence: instigated by political tensions and inequality

Quasi-state §

• Some non-state political entity isn’t recognized by international community but

  • Control significant territory & population

  • de facto administrative functions: policing and taxation

  • spring from legitimacy crisis of existing states

  💡 Ex: The north-western part of Sri Lanka, long occupied by Tamil Tiger forces, also established semi-government functions, including taxation, medical service, education and even issuance of passports.

Linkage Politics §

• The internal characteristics of societies prone to be engaged in external wars
  • emergence of aggressive government leaders
  • prominence of a military industrial complex
  • lack of socialization & education promoting peacefulness
• economic attributes of capitalist states at the turn of the past century uncovered crucial linkages between domestic interests and policies abroad.
• Neo-Liberalist: the external and internal boundaries of a unit can be murky due to interconnected processes within and between the societies that underlie state action

References §

1. CMRAI - Conflict Management and Resolution An Introduction