Conflict In Society Research Articles

Supplemental Material for Are Societies in Conflict More Susceptible to Believe in COVID-19 Conspiracy Theories? A 66 Nation Study

Supplemental Material for Are Societies in Conflict More Susceptible to Believe in COVID-19 Conspiracy Theories? A 66 Nation Study

Mona Lisa (enigmatic) Smile: Women and Societies in Conflict

RESUMO: Este artigo analisa como a mulher é semiotizada no filme O sorriso de Mona Lisa (2003), com o objetivo de pensar sobre como o embate entre tradição e revolução reflete e refrata valores sociais sobre o que significa ser mulher. Centrado nas protagonistas, este estudo se volta às vozes sociais tradicional e subversiva em embate. A relevância se justifica pela reflexão acerca da movimentação valorativa interna-externa que constitui os sujeitos-mulheres e as sociedades no grande tempo da cultura. O filme é analisado em sua unidade verbivocovisual. A fundamentação teórica bakhtiniana embasa a análise em seu movimento metodológico materialista histórico-dialético- dialógico, com a utilização, principalmente, dos conceitos de diálogo, ideologia e vozes sociais. Para analisar questões relativas ao feminismo, serão utilizados os estudos de Beauvoir, Saffioti, Davis, Studart, hooks e Ribeiro. Os resultados revelam como a pressão social sobre a mulher a afeta e impacta a sociedade. O sorriso de Mona Lisa semiotiza movimentos históricos e culturais em ressurgência na contemporaneidade, e é urgente refletir sobre isso.

A Brief Analysis of Conflict Intervention in the Sri Lankan Civil War

Since the post–Cold War era to the current development of world multi-polarization, the global society has maintained a situation of overall peace, ease and stability, but local wars, turbulence and tension, among which conflict intervention has increasingly become a hot issue. Rather than being a conventional form of confrontation just involving the two sides, a conflict will always involve third-party actors such as great powers and international institutions. This article aims to illustrate the most appropriate role for international actors in a conflict society through analyzing the intervention case in the Sri Lankan Civil War while referencing some arguments about international norms and morality.

Enseñar un pasado controvertido desde un presente polarizado: la memoria histórica en España desde la perspectiva docente

In societies with divided and contradictory memories of their recent past, the resulting historical memory is heavily conditioned by a process of cultural, public, and mediatized construction that hinders a proper educational treatment of recent history and memory in the classroom. This is the case of Spain, where, after a long dictatorship (1939-1975), an agreed transition to democracy and the memory of the civil war (1936-1939), continue to give rise to conflicting narratives, strongly connected to present interests. In this study, we focus on the conceptions and opinions of a group of 39 teachers from seven Spanish cities and historical territories. They have been interviewed in order to learn about their experiences and to analyze their conceptions regarding historical memory and its public management in Spain. Teachers’ perceptions are relevant because they are representative of an educated population, with historical training, but above all because they play a fundamental role in the construction or transmission of memories from the educational sphere. The results reveal a deep divide around historical memory and its recovery in the Spanish context. Despite the time that has passed, history professors do not hesitate in recognizing today the social fracture of the civil war and Franco’s regime, which they connect with current ideologies and political discourses. At educational level, these events are treated from an equidistant and equalizing perspective in order to avoid conflict and problematized interpretation in favor of a superficial and pacifying vision. The results suggest that certain collective memories of societies in conflict persist over time, and that it is the polarization of the present that encourages a mythologized reading of the past.

칼뱅 신학에 나타난 신학의 사회포용에 관한 연구

This present study explores theology of John Calvin’s social engagement in terms of its social inclusivism. Historically, Calvinism has been known as developed strict reformed tradition which led its relation to the society in dualistic conflict. However, John Calvin’s Geneva Reform clearly showed that his reformation has developed in the idea of mutual relation between the Church and the Society. Calvin underscored the Christian consecration of the Church, and socially practiced the embrace of gospel in order to prevent any form of discrimination and prejudice. Calvin’s inclusive dualism served as an outstanding theological reflection that shows what kind of attitude Calvinism should take toward society. The distinctive of Calvin’s theology has been developed as more contemporary Reformed theology through the works of Abraham Kuyper. In his book “Lectures on Calvinism”(1898), he provided the new value of Calvinism which can be identified as a system of holistic human life. It offered the social inclusion of theology that helps to reorganize historical Calvinism in order to meet the demands of the future era.

“Lessons from Northern Ireland” in Israeli Public Discourse: The Politics of Analogies in Conflicted Societies

The Northern Ireland 1998 Good Friday Agreement has generated a global industry of “lessons from Northern Ireland” to other conflict situations. While a lively polemical literature has been debating what exactly should these lessons be and whether they could be validly exported, this article adopts the prism of the “politics of comparison”: examining why and how certain actors appeal to analogies with other societies, and the causes and functions of such appeals. The article explores the case-study of the resonance of the Northern Ireland analogy in Israeli public discourse. It identifies and analyses four themes: the analogy with Northern Ireland is used as an argument for hope; as a source of peacemaking models; as self-justification, to deflect blame; and to legitimize narrow local interventions. The article contributes to literatures on the politics of comparisons, and political dynamics in the context of intractable conflicts.

Community-building through political cartoons in Kenya, South Africa and Côte d’Ivoire

This paper arises from a research project at the University of Leicester, led by Dr Fransiska Louwagie and Dr Di Levine, in collaboration with a broader team of research associates, in particular Drs James Illingworth and Sarah Weidman. The project built on external partnerships with Cartooning for Peace, an international organisation of press cartoonists, and Shout Out UK, an award-winning platform for political and media literacy. The project was funded by the University of Leicester’s Global Challenges Research Fund. It aimed to examine how political cartoons can foster dialogue and exchange in conflict or post-conflict contexts, particularly amongst young people. As a visual medium relying on humour, cartooning has the power to present critical questions in an open and non-threatening manner, triggering dialogue and meaning-making. In line with Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16 the project therefore set out to investigate how political cartoons can help to negotiate local and global tensions and how they engage audiences with conceptions and definitions of community and humanity. It aimed to shed new light on the question of how political cartooning can help to address challenges in (post-)conflict societies, where there is a recognised need for community-driven resilience building. Relating to this, through its focus on press cartoons, it sought to raise awareness of the need for access and freedom of information (SDG 16.10). Following an open call for projects, a commission was made for four series of workshops by external partners working in conflict-and post-conflict situations, in Kenya, Côte d’Ivoire and South Africa (see appendix for detailed aims of the call).

Changing the Script: Non-State Armed Groups, Restorative Justice and Reparations

AbstractThis article examines the role of Non-State Armed Groups (NSAGs) and their former members in delivering reparations to victims and communities affected by past acts of violence. The article draws from extensive interviews with former members of armed groups, victims and communities affected by violence in Colombia, Guatemala, Nepal, Northern Ireland, Peru and Uganda. Grounded in the theory and practice of restorative justice, this article critiques the legalistic and state-centric analysis which often characterizes the field of reparations and makes four interconnected arguments. First, that NSAG engagement in reparations can offer a unique practical contribution to meeting the needs of victims (including truth recovery, the recovery of disappeared bodies, de-mining etc.) but also represent a powerful symbolic effort to restore the human dignity of victims and a commitment to prevent violence from recurring. Second, that by taking ‘active responsibility’ through reparations work for past violence, NSAGs and ex-combatants can themselves become involved in processes of delabelling and destigmatization, finding routes to demonstrate their own humanity, and in some cases, becoming involved in work that resonates with the political ideology that motivated them to engage in political violence in the first place. Third, that NSAG reparations can play a significant role in societal and political transformation in post conflict societies, with ex-combatants themselves being key drivers for change through such reparative work. The article concludes by arguing that NSAG and ex-combatant reparative work can represent a self-conscious effort to ‘change the script’, transforming relationships previously defined by violence and harm to ones designed to improve the lives of victims, ex-combatants themselves and the societies in which they live.

The role of social psychological processes in journalist's war and peace journalism attitudes

Previous studies have shown factors including media ownership, socio-political censorship, ethnic division and, the lack of professional training as obstacles to practising Peace Journalism principles. This research explored how social psychological processes including intergroup contact and outgroup attitudes influence Peace Journalism attitudes. Turkish Cypriot (TC) and Greek Cypriot (GC) journalists living in the divided and conflicted island of Cyprus participated. Findings highlighted that quantity and quality of contact are positively correlated with positive feelings, common ingroup identity (CII) and Peace Journalism attitudes and negatively correlated with intergroup anxiety and War Journalism (WJ) attitudes. Results shed light on the benefits of positive and frequent contact among journalists and with outgroup members that enhance positive social psychological processes as well as Peace Journalism attitudes. By recognizing the importance of intergroup contact, Peace Journalism attitudes can be improved by decreasing social-psychological tensions and contribute to reconciliation, peace-building processes, and sustainable peace in conflicted societies.

Trapping yet trapped: the ‘I-society’ discourse

Despite the abundant literature concerning domestic violence against women, very little is known about battered Arab women in Israel. Using intersectionality as the overarching conceptual lens, this study drew from in depth-interviews with 36 battered Arab women and adopted a narrative approach to reveal how battered Arab women in Israel are trapped in abusive relationships within a conflicted society. Drawing from discourse analysis, the findings revealed that participants used the same words to describe themselves and to describe Arab society. This use of metaphorical language revealed the additional meaning of societal patriarchy. It illustrated Arab society’s way of dealing with its entrapment through projecting its difficulties onto Arab women who served as the society’s scapegoats, causing many to suffer not only from multiplied oppressions, but also to face life threatening situations.

Right to education in Afghanistan and the impact of the media

Over the years scholars have researched how societies in conflict develop educational practices and examined the part education plays in creating or sustaining conflict. Afghanistan, due to its changing regimes and general uncertainty, is among the countries with the lowest rates of enrolment in modern education and of adult literacy. Given the 2021 developments, this article will focus on the legal obligations regarding the access to education, the history of the situation, the possible impact of current events, the positive role media can have when it comes to providing information to people living in conflict and the tangible impact the media has on the enrolment percentages.

The Invisible Impact of Frozen Conflicts: A Case Study of Foreign Domestic Workers in Cyprus

ABSTRACT Foreign domestic workers are vulnerable everywhere in the world but are particularly so in frozen conflict societies. The article describes their poor living and working conditions in the Republic of Cyprus and argues that these have been exacerbated by the social consequences of the frozen conflict on the island. It focuses on three social consequences of the frozen conflict, namely that it has deprioritised the feminist agenda, normalised nationalist narratives and created a skewed understanding of human rights. Combined, these explain why protecting the rights of foreign domestic workers in Cyprus is even less of a priority than elsewhere.

Daniel Bar-Tal and Amiram Raviv, Comfort Zone of a Society in Conflict (Book Review)

Daniel Bar-Tal and Amiram Raviv, Comfort Zone of a Society in Conflict (Book Review)

IRAN: PROBLEMS AND PROTESTS

This paper analyzes the causes, course, driving forces, modus operandi, and goals of the September-November 2022 protest movement in Iran following the death of a girl detained by the patrol guidance police for wearing an inappropriate hijab. A comparison is made between the ongoing protests and the opposition movements of previous years. The article begins with a brief analysis of the economic situation in the country during the first year of President Raisi's government, and reveals the main problems of economic development. The authors proceed from the fact that the economic crisis as a result of the imposition of sanctions has not been overcome, despite the positive growth of the country's GDP in the last two years. The problems in the social and cultural sphere are exacerbated as a result of generational changes, and the limitations of political life as a result of the consolidation of power in the hands of radical conservative forces. Their attempts to increase control over the observance of Islamic norms of dress and behavior, bans on cultural events lead to increased discontent in Iranian society. Young generations are actively fighting for freedom of choice and the right to make their own decisions. Society's conflict potential is increasing, which threatens the existence of the Islamic Republic. The government's efforts to suppress the movements by force do not lead to their extinguishment, and the forms of protest are changing. While radical forces call for harsher reprisals against protesters, many politicians of both moderate conservative and liberal orientations call for public dialogue and reforms in order to solve the most serious problems and preserve the Islamic regime.

New Atlantis, Castalia, the Abbey of Thélème .

ABSTRACT This article provides a brief description of the history of that generation of intellectuals usually called the generation of the nineties. The author reflects on that generation’s path, analyzing the fates of a small group of his fellow students who have since crossed the fifty-year mark and have probably reached their peak social maturity. The article emphasizes the great results in philosophical activity that this generation achieved. The author notes the reason for his own alienation from his generation’s path and realizes that it was an internal protest against a desire characteristic of his classmates to withdraw intellectually from their own time in order to be located within a different context, temporal or spatial. The article notes that the very desire was borrowed by the generation of the nineties from the philosophical leaders of the generation of the sixties. The author considers the question of the philosophical generation in the context of the intellectual class’s centuries-old search for its place in society in clear conflict with the social hierarchies existing in the traditional world of agrarian estates.

The nexus between post conflict societies and their capacity to respond to the ebola epidemic in Mano River Union

The Ebola crisis in the Mano River States and inadequate state responses to the outbreak heightened the challenges post conflict societies face during emergencies. There have been enough literature discussing the issues of Ebola especially in the Mano River Union; however, there is little discussion on the capacity of the Mano River Union to respond to the Ebola epidemic. Against this background, the study sought to investigate the nexus between post conflict societies and their capacity to respond to the Ebola epidemic in the Mano River Union. A non-empirical qualitative case study approach involving extensive review of secondary data in the form of books, journals, internet sites and conference papers was adopted. The results showed that all the countries in the sub-region were unprepared for the outbreak. Even though some countries had disaster management divisions, none had any disaster management plans in place hence the Ebola Virus Disease and its subsequent crisis could not have been anticipated. Following the findings, a strong case has been made for countries in the sub-region to have disaster management plans and other early warning and resilient systems in place in place to reduce the scale of the outbreak and the high number of deaths.

Societies in Conflict: Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe and Yeats’s Poetry of His Transitional Period

Societies in Conflict: Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe and Yeats’s Poetry of His Transitional Period

Interventions and repression following civil conflict

Civil conflicts inevitably have negative consequences with regards to respect for human rights within affected states. Unfortunately, the violation of human rights often does not end with the conflict. What factors explain variation in state repression in post-civil conflict societies? Can international interventions, both civilian and military, improve human rights in states with a history of conflict? Does the size of the intervention matter? We argue that international interventions, including peacekeeping missions and officially directed foreign aid, can reduce physical integrity abuses. This process occurs by simultaneously increasing protections for civilians while also raising the costs of repression to both government leaders and their agents. Human rights abuses will also decrease when there are legal remedies available to vulnerable populations which are bolstered by a strong judicial system. A robust civil society can also discourage human rights abuses by shedding light on these events and providing human rights education. In line with our theoretical argument, we focus on UN peacekeeping missions, especially those with human rights teams, and officially directed foreign aid for legal and security sector reform and NGOs. Using both a treatment effects approach and a continuous dose–response model, we find much support for the implications of our argument.

Between the duty to prosecute atrocities and domestic precedents of dealing with the past in the era of the International Criminal Court

ABSTRACT This article explores the global optimism in, and incentives for state default on the duty to prosecute atrocities in the era of the International Criminal Court (ICC). Drawing on the cases of Uganda and Kenya, the article argues that the construction of international criminal justice as a higher normative structure in overcoming the past is undermined by the appropriateness of familiar alternative frameworks, as enabled by inherent actor agency and power relations in analogous conflict societies. In so doing, the article goes beyond the dominant critiques of international criminal justice in the peacebuilding literature to demonstrate why and how it is resisted on the ground. This article’s arguments are instructive for wider debates on the limitations of international criminal justice in peacebuilding, against the backdrop of contestations in the nurture of transitions within the local, and between the national and the international.

Regulating for integration by behavioral design: An evidence‐based approach for culturally responsive regulation

AbstractDemocratic societies around the world face the challenge of strengthening social integration against a multitude of cultural and ethnic differences. Yet common regulations for integration – from cultural assimilation policies to general education programs – encounter objection, noncompliance, and even backlash among the very groups that the regulator strives to integrate into society. The article analyzes this challenge from a behavioral perspective, drawing on rich qualitative and experimental evidence in the context of the Israeli core curriculum regulation. The findings elucidate the joint role of identity threat and framing effects in spurring noncompliance and hindering the implementation of the regulation. I then design and test a behavioral intervention that is found to significantly increase support for the regulation, particularly among its strongest opponents. These results propose new paths to improve the regulation for integration and strengthen trust and cooperation in conflicted societies. More broadly, the project expands the framework of responsive regulation to address additional rule‐takers and motivations for noncompliance and advances the application of behavioral research to the design of regulation.