Social Conflict 094
Fall 2010; MWF 8-8:50a
Campion 328
Instructor: Amy Finnegan
Office Hours: Monday 9am-10am and by appointment (McGuinn 410c)
Email: finnegaa@bc.edu
Conflict is diverse in its nature and pervasive in society. We experience conflict in our families,
with our roommates and friends, at work, and in broader society. It can be competitive,
aggressive, violent, nonviolent, conciliatory, or even cooperative in nature. Sometimes we are
involved directly and sometimes we feel very disconnected from manifestations of conflict. And
while there are divergent forms of conflict, there are also numerous approaches to handle
conflict—from escalating it, to avoiding it, to engaging it in a variety of manners. In this course,
we will begin by examining what is conflict in its various forms and what are its divergent
sources. We will look at both rebellion/social protest and then war/peace issues. Thereafter, we
will explore different forms of managing conflict from conflict resolution to conflict
transformation to theories of nonviolence and nonviolent action. Throughout the course, but in
particular towards the end of the course, we will reflect on how we have been socialized to think
about conflict. We will conclude the course by examining various alternatives in the aftermath
of violent conflict and war as well as peace politics.
This course will cover theoretical perspectives as well as concrete examples of conflicts and
those who are affected and engage them, including student protest in the 1960s in the US, antiwar and struggles of the poor in the US, the war in northern Uganda, and the apartheid and the
anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa, among others. In this course, we strive to both learn
about new conflicts as well as reflect on our own personal experiences with conflict. Active
participation is critical in the class; alongside discussion, there will be several games and
experiential exercises.
Sociology 094 and the Core Curriculum: This course is a part of the Social Science
Core Curriculum. As such, it is designed to raise issues important to the study of society and
human behavior as well as to expose students to the dynamics and dimensions of social
interaction. The following components are included:
1) Perennial Questions: This course engages questions related to causality of conflict
(human nature or social creation); the tension between peace and justice; the forces that
socialize us regarding conflict; and questions concerning the potential of human agency
within larger social structures. Throughout, we will seek to understand why there is so
much conflict in this world? How can it be transformed from destructive conflict to more
constructive forms? And what are each of our own personal orientations and possible
roles in addressing social conflict?
2) Historical Perspective: We will look at socio-historical events such as the student protest in
the 1960s, the Cold War, and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa. We
will examine these as manifestations of larger socio-historical trends as well as examples of
specific events.
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3) Cultural Diversity: This course includes voices and perspectives from both scholars and
practitioner/activists. We will engage perspectives from Europe, the United States, and
Africa who cover a diverse span across ethnic origin, gender, race, age, sexual
orientation, and social/economic class.
4) Methodology of the Discipline: This course explores work in the fields of sociology,
conflict resolution, peace studies, communication studies, anthropology, and international
relations. We examine narratives, historical accounts, and empirical research.
5) Writing Component: During the course, you will write one paper as well as complete a
mid-term and final exam, where writing will be stressed.
6) Creating a Personal Philosophy: The aim of this course is to help you develop a greater
awareness of social conflict, its divergent sources, and the plausible forms of engagement
with conflict. You will be challenged to think critically about both conflict that you’ve
observed and conflict in which you’ve participated, in some form. You will be encouraged
to reexamine your role as an individual and what societal challenges help and hinder you own
efforts to create change in the fields of conflict and peace.
Reading: Is required. There are 3 required texts, which you can buy at the BC bookstore or
online, or read in Course Reserves at O’Neill Library. Articles will be posted on the Blackboard
system or will be available through Online Course Reserves on the library website. As well,
there are some articles that have direct URLs to go to and read online. Each week, I will alert
you to where to find particular pieces. See the course outline for reading deadlines. You will
notice that some weeks are more reading intensive than others, so plan accordingly. I also
reserve the right to change some of the reading assignments depending on the needs of our class,
so please check with me if you are reading more than one week in advance.
Evaluation/ Your Grade: You will be evaluated in a number of ways for this course. The
following is the break-down for how your final grade will be compiled:
10%:
25%:
25%:
30%:
10%:
Class Presentation accompanied with short handout—Due SEPT 27
In class Midterm Exam—Due OCT 27
Paper—Due NOV 22
Final Take Home Exam— due DEC 17, 12:30pm
Class Participation (attendance in class; participation in exercises; discussion
questions, pop quizzes on readings)
Note on Class Participation and Attendance: No matter how good your written work
is, you are required to participate in class discussion as an additional part of your grade. The
definition of “"contributing to class discussion"” is saying something that {1} shows you have
done the reading, {2} makes a connection between the discussion at hand and the reading or
between ideas, and {3} demonstrates that you are thinking. In this course you will be expected
to be serious about reading, thinking, writing, and conveying your thoughts verbally to others in
the classroom. All of these are difficult tasks. I am happy to help you develop these skills; please
come talk to me about it. I’d also like to highlight that a critical aspect of class participation is
listening attentively to others. You will be evaluated not only on your own efforts to contribute
to class discussion, but also in your efforts to listen respectively to others and engage their ideas.
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Extra Credit: I believe in the utility of acquiring insight and analysis from relevant events
that occur outside the classroom. Therefore, I offer 2 points of extra-credit for attending
speakers, demonstrations, films, etc. related to the content of this course. I require that you email
me ahead of time to determine the relevance of the event and that you write a 1 page summary of
the event and how it enhanced the learning we are doing in the course. If you so choose, you
may take advantage of this opportunity a maximum of two times.
Feedback: I am interested in ensuring that you achieve the aforementioned learning objectives
and that you get out of the course what you are personally seeking. Therefore, please keep me
informed of what you would most like to learn about, what is working and not working for you
in terms of course content and structure. I will make amendments as I see fit. If you have some
kind of issue with course content or structure, I expect you to talk to me about it early on in the
semester.
Please note that all final announcements about readings, deadlines, and assignments will be made
in class. If you do miss a class, please be sure to check with a classmate about any pertinent
announcements that were made.
Required Texts:
•
•
•
David Cortright. 2010. Gandhi and Beyond: Nonviolence for a New Political Age, 2nd
Edition Boulder, CO: Paradigm, Publishers..
Dorothy Day. 1997. The Long Loneliness: The Autobiography of Dorothy Day. San
Francisco, CA: HarperSanFrancisco.
John Paul Lederach, 2003. The Little Books of Conflict Transformation. Intercourse, PA:
Good Books
.
Course Outline
Week 1: Sept 8 + Sept 10
Introduction to Conflict
• Otomar J. Bartos and Paul Wehr, 2002. “Understanding Conflict” (Chapter 2 Using Conflict
Theory)
• Máire A. Dugan, "Power"
http://www.beyondintractability.org/essay/Power/
• Michelle Maiese, "Addressing Injustice"
http://www.beyondintractability.org/essay/address_injustice/
• John Brewer 2010. “Sociology, War and Peace” (from Peace Processes: A Sociological
Approach, pages 8-13)
• Paul Farmer. 2004. “On Suffering and Structural Violence: A View from Below.” (Pages
281-289 in Violence in War and Peace: An Anthology)
ACTIVITIES:
Personal Orientation Towards Conflict
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Week 2: Sept 13 + Sept 15 + Sept 17
Theories of Conflict & Its Sources
• Otomar J. Bartos and Paul Wehr, 2002. “Development of Incompatible Goals” and
“Application to Civil Rights Struggle” (Chapter 3-4 in Using Conflict Theory)
• Lewis Coser, 1956. “The Functions of Conflict” (SIMSOC Participant’s Manual, pp. 8384)
• Robert A. Dahl, 1967. “Conflict: A Paradigm” (SIMSOC Participant’s Manual, pp. 8587)
• Louis Kriesberg, 2007. “Bases of Social Conflicts” and “Emergence of Conflicts”
(Chapter 2 and 3 in Constructive Conflicts: From Escalation to Resolution, 3rd Edition)
ACTIVITIES:
Game Theory Models of Conflict
Conflict Spiral
Conflict in Labword
Week 3: Sept 20 + Sept 22 + Sept 24
Rebellion/Social Protest
• William A. Gamson and Andre Modigliani, 1974. “Why Do People Rebel?” [from
Conceptions of Social Life: A Text-Reader for Social Psychology ] including excerpts by
Eric Hoffer, William Kornhauser, James C. Davies, and Charles Tilly
• Saul D. Alinsky, 1971. “The Process of Power” (SIMSOC Participant’s Manual, pp.7578)
• William A. Gamson, Bruce Fireman, and Steve Rytina, 1982. “The Theory and Practice
of Rebellion” (SIMSOC Participant’s Manual, pp. 78-80)
• Robert A. Dahl, 1963. “Legitimacy and Authority” (SIMSOC Participant’s Manual,
p.80)
[**Note this week’s reading is particularly light; giving you much time to finish the entirety of
Dorothy Day’s book, The Long Loneliness***]
ACTIVITIES:
Film: Berkeley in the 60s
Rebellious Collective Action
Week 4: Sept 27 + Sept 39 + Oct 1
September 27 + 29: Rebellion/Social Protest
• From Protest Nation: Words That Inspired A Century of American Radicalism (2010)
o Audre Lorde, “The Masters Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master’s House”
(pp.224-228)
o Black Panther Party “What we Want, What we Believe” (pp.118-123)
o Harvey Milk, “The Hope Speech” (pp. 217-223)
o American Indian Movement, “Trail of Broken Treaties” (pp. 185-206)
o Students for a Democratic Society, “The Port Huron Statement” (pp. 60-70)
o Cesar Chavez, “Letter from Delano” (pp.141-145)
o Martin Luther King, Jr., “Letter from Birmingham Jail” pp. 80-99
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OCT 1: Reflecting on Dorothy Day’s narrative
• Dorothy Day. 1997, The Long Loneliness: The Autobiography of Dorothy Day (WHOLE
BOOK SHOULD BE DONE BY THIS DAY)
ACTIVITIES:
***Class Presentations on MONDAY SEPTEMBER 27***
Week 5: Oct 4 + Oct 6 + Oct 8
War and Peace
• Michael Howard, 2001. “The Causes of War” (Chapter 2 in Turbulent Peace: The
Challenges of Managing International Conflict.
• Mohammed Ayoob, 2001. “State Making, State Breaking, and State Failure (Chapter 9 in
Turbulent Peace: The Challenges of Managing International Conflict)
• Jack Levy, 2001, “Theories of Interstate and Intrastate War: A Levels-of-AnalysisApproach” (Chapter 1 in Turbulent Peace: The Challenges of Managing International
Conflict)
• Michael Klare, 2001. “The New Geography of Conflict” (in Foreign Affairs)
• Mary Kaldor, 2006. Excerpts from New & Old Wars: Organized Violence in a Global
Era, 2nd Edition.
Week 6: Oct 13 + 15 (no class on Oct 11-Columbus Day)
War and Peace (Continued)
• Edward Lutttwak, 1999. “Give War A Chance” (in Foreign Affairs Vol 78 (4))
• P.W. Singer, 2005. “Outsourcing War” (in Foreign Affairs)
• David Keen, 2001. “War and Peace: What’s the Difference? (in Managing Armed
Conflicts in the 21st Century, edited by Adekeye Adebajo and Chandra Lelcha Sriram)
• Donald. E Nuechterlein, 2000. “Defining U.S. National Interests” (from America
Recommitted: A Superpower Assesses its Role in a Turbulent World)
ACTIVITIES:
Film: Secret Government/Fog of War
National Interests
Week 7: Oct 18 + Oct 20 + Oct 22
Conflict Resolution: Negotiation & Mediation
• “Mediation Works Inc” packet handout
• Roger Fisher and Bill Ury 1991 “Inventing Options for Mutual Gain” (in SIMSOC
Participant’s Manual, pp. 87-95)
ACTIVITIES:
Hot Buttons
Buyer/Seller
Conflict Resolution Basics
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Week 8: Oct 25 + Oct 27 + Oct 29
Conflict Transformation
• John Paul Lederach, 2003. The Little Book of Conflict Transformation.
• John Brewer, 2010. “Conclusion: A Sociological Approach to Peace Processes” (in
Peace Processes: A Sociological Approach)
*** Midterm Exam on WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 27***
Week 9: Nov 1 + Nov 3 + Nov 5
Nonviolence Vs. Violence + Gandhi
• Seville Statement on Violence http://portal.unesco.org/education/en/ev.phpURL_ID=3247&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html
• Francesca M. Cancian and James William Gibson, "Is War
Inevitable?" (from Making war/making peace : the social foundations of violent conflict,
edited by Cancian & Gibson, op. cit. Pp. viii-ix, 1-10)
• Margaret Mead, “Warfare is Only an Invention—Not a Biological Necessity”
• David Cortright, 2010. Introduction, Chapter 1-2, 7, and 9 in Gandhi and Beyond:
Nonviolence for a New Political Age, 2nd Edition.
ACTIVITIES:
Is War Inevitable?
Week 10: Nov 8 + Nov 10 + Nov 11
Theories of Nonviolent Action
• Peter Ackerman and Jack Duvall, 2005. “People Power Primed: Civilian Resistance and
Democratization.” (in Harvard International Review Pages 42-47)
• Kurt Schock, 2005. Into + Ch. 1 (Pages xv-23 in Unarmed Insurrections: People Power
Movements in Non-democracies). Stephen Zunes, 2005. “Recognizing the Power of
Nonviolent Action.” (Foreign Policy in Focus(http://www.fpif.org March 30, 2005).
• The Economist, 2006, “A Rainbow of Revolutions.” January 19.
• Gene Sharp, 2002. From Dictatorship to Democracy: A Conceptual Framework for
Liberation
• Robert Helvey, 2004. Pages 9-18, 47-66, and 87- 100 and Figures 3 & 4. in On Strategic
Nonviolent Conflict: Thinking About the Fundamentals
ACTIVITIES:
Film: A Force More Powerful
Week 11: Nov 15 + Nov 17 + Nov 19
Socializiation and Culture +Framing Conflicts
• Elise Boulding, “History at Sword’s Point? The War-Nurtured Identity of Western
Civilization” (In Cultures of Peace: The Hidden Side of History)
• Francesca Cancian, “A Conversation on War, Peace, and Gender”
• Charlotte Ryan, 1991. Chapter 3 + 4 in Prime Time Activism: Media Strategies for
Grassroots Organizing (Pages 53-93).
• Susan Sontag, 2003. Regarding the Pain of Others (excerpts)
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ACTIVITIES:
Film: Tough Guise
Socialization for War
Framing Conflicts
Week 12: Nov 22 + Week 13: Nov 29 + Dec 1 + Dec 3
Possibilities for Peace After Violent Conflict
• Eric Brahm, "Peacebuilding and Reconciliation Stage”
http://www.beyondintractability.org/essay/peacebuilding_reconciliation/
• Priscilla Hayner, “The Truth and Reconciliation Commission” (excerpt from
Unspeakable Truths)
• David Anthony, “A Comparative History of South Africa and the United States” & “The
Rise and Fall of Apartheid: A Timeline”
• Martha Minow, “Vengeance, Retribution, and Forgiveness”
• Pumla Gobodo-Madikezela, “On Trauma and Forgiveness”
• Lynn Walker Huntley, “Conflict Resolution”
• John Paul Lederach, 1995. “Revolutionaries’ & ‘Resolutionaries” (from Preparing for
Peace: Conflict Transformation Across Cultures)
• John Paul Lederach, “Structure: Lens for the Big Picture” (Chapter 4 in Building Peace:
Sustainable Reconciliation in Divided Societies)
• Amy Finnegan, 2010. “Fostering Forgiveness: Collective Efforts Amidst War in Northern
Uganda” (Sociological Inquiry)
ACTIVITIES:
Film: Facing the Truth/Long Night’s Journey Into Day
Justice Versus Conflict Resolution
*** Paper due MONDAY NOVEMBER 22***
Week 14: Dec 6 + Dec 8
Politics of Peace
Paul Joseph, 2007. “From Mobilized to Conditional War” (Chapter 1 in Are Americans
Becoming More Peaceful?)
ACTIVITIES:
No More War?
Do Peace Movements Matter?
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