Societal Cleavages & Cultural Conflict
I. Culture & its Potential Relevance
II. Major Societal Cleavages
III. Cross-Cutting v. Coinciding Cleavages
IV. Additional Theories of Cultural Conflict
V. Conflict Resolution
VI. Case Study: The Israel-Palestine Conflict
I. Culture & its Potential Relevance
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A. DEFINITION:
„ A set of shared learned values, beliefs, perceptions, attitudes, modes of
living, customs, & symbols
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Limits to cultural purity: notice that no nation-state’s culture is monolithic;
subcultures and exceptions to the trend both exist
ETHNOCENTRISM:
„ Promoting one’s own societal norms as desirable while tending to devalue
other societies’ norms
CULTURAL RELATIVISM
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(sometimes called descriptive moral relativism):
Acknowledging analytically that different societies have varying cultural
norms that sometimes overlap and sometimes conflict
MORAL PLURALISM
„ Asserting that for some values there are universal moral standards while for
other values there is no similarly universal principle
MORAL RELATIVISM
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(sometimes called metaethical moral relativism):
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Promoting the idea that there is no metaethical standard by which a
universal ethical norm can be reached – accordingly, all ethical decisions
should be determined by the prevailing culture
II. Major Societal Cleavages
NOTE: In exploring societal cleavages here, we are looking for politically relevant
distinctions & experiences associated with different interests, values, &/or policy
concerns
II.A. Socioeconomic Status (SES)
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SES can unite some & divide others
„ economic resources influence individual political wants (and one’s ability to
pursue them)
„ economic class can provide a dividing line regarding thoughts about use of
public authority in labor v. management disputes (and public policy more
generally)
„ shared social position can motivate people to organize politically to retain (or
to attack) any associated privileges
II.B. Region
„ A common subnational region can unite residents to mobilize
„ to protect regional traditions
„ to extract additional financial resources from the national government
„ to gain greater political autonomy from the central government
„ EXAMPLES?
„ Northern League (Italy)
„ Dixiecrats (U.S.)
„ Scottish National Party (UK)
„ various provincial parties in Brazil (and elsewhere in Latin America)
th
„ Alliance for Democracy (Nigerian 4 Republic)
II.C. Ethnicity
„ A. Members of ethnic groups can develop a shared identity based on:
„ common (presumed) racial ancestry
„ common place of residence
„ common language
„ common customs & practices
„ B. As we will discuss shortly, ethnicity becomes more powerful when members of
certain ethnic groups are additionally united by a common position on some or
many other cleavages:
„ socioeconomic status, region, religion, ideology, etc.
II.D. Religion
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Religion is a potentially all-encompassing belief system
„ divine authority superior to all others in all realms
„ by extension, deviation from those norms is heretical:
„ should not be tolerated → violates moral code
„ cannot be tolerated → toleration implies heresy
Models of Church-State Relations
„ Separation of Church & State
„ formal policies that aim at no entrenchment of religion
„ e.g. U.S. (albeit amid underlying Judeo-Christian tradition)
„ Hybrid model
„ freedom of religion & freedom of political authority from religious
authority are combined with some/many policies that entrench &/or
favor particular religions
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„ most countries in the world fit this profile
Theocracy
„ leaders of organized religion have an institutionalized (& crucial) role in
government
„ e.g. the Islamic Republic of Iran established in 1979
II.E. Political Ideology
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Classical Liberalism
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PHILOSOPHICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
„ people are rational & have free will
„ people are naturally self-interested
BASIC TENETS
„ political freedom → expansion of political participation
„ economic freedom → expansion of market’s role
„ emphasis on equality of opportunity rather than of outcomes
Classical Marxism
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PHILOSOPHICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
„ people are rational
„ people’s self-interest is situational:
„ class relations define people’s true interests
BASIC TENETS
„ political & economic equality are the source of true freedom
„ emphasis on equality of outcome as basis of equality of opportunity
III. Cross-Cutting v. Coinciding Cleavages
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cross-cutting cleavages
„ cleavages that generally do not travel together
coinciding (reinforcing) cleavages
„ several/many cleavages travel together:
„ people from a certain region or ethnic group share similar SES,
language, religion, and/or ideology
When several cleavages coincide, sociopolitical tension and conflict tend to be
greater than when cleavages tend to be cross-cutting…
hypothetical examples of cleavage patterns
Largely cross-cutting
Fully coinciding
Ethnic A
Ethnic B
Ethnic A
Ethnic B
NORTH
30%
70%
100%
0%
south
70%
30%
0%
100%
URBAN
75%
65%
100%
0%
rural
25%
35%
0%
100%
PROTESTANT
40%
50%
100%
0%
Catholic
60%
50%
0%
100%
AFFLUENT
60%
45%
100%
0%
poor
40%
55%
0%
100%
IV. Additional Theories of Cultural Conflict
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A. Samuel Huntington’s “Clash of Civilizations” thesis (1996)
Huntington argued that political ideologies were the central cleavage of the 20th
century (liberalism, fascism, & marxism) but that the end of the Cold War would
make religiously demarcated cultures/civilizations the major cleavage of the 21st
century
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Huntington divides the world into 8 major civilizations –
Western (Protestant?), Confucian, Japanese, Islamic, Hindu,
Slavic-Orthodox, Latin American (Catholic?), & African
Some subsequent analysts have tried to simplify Huntington’s analysis into a
clash between Judeo-Christian & Islamic civilizations
Many other analysts have pointed out the gaps in these religiously-framed
visions of cultural conflict
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Cultures are complex and do not consistently guide international
relations
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Religion, in particular, is not a consistent driver of international
conflicts
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Where and when religion has been a major driver of
conflicts, typically there have been coinciding cleavages
IV. Additional Theories of Conflict
„ B. Thinking through causal drivers that can activate or exacerbate
conflicts
V. Conflict Resolution
„ Peacemaking
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promoting the cessation of violent hostilities
[Note the contrast here with Payne’s discussion.]
„ Part of the UN Charter (Chapter VI)
Peacekeeping
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promoting the enforcement of ceasefires and peace agreements via the
invited presence of troops
67 UN peacekeeping missions launched from 1948-2012 involving troops
from 120 countries
„ In mid-2012 there were 17 open missions involving 119,000 people
Peacebuilding
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promoting a lasting conflict resolution via the promotion of socioeconomic
and political reform and consensus-building
In 2005 the UN created the Peacebuilding Commission to manage and
promote these operations
VI. Case Study: The Israel-Palestine Conflict
„ A. A capsule history of Palestine
„ For centuries, a multiethnic territory within the Ottoman Empire
„ Jerusalem is a holy city for the three largest monotheistic religions –
Judaism, Christianity, & Islam
th
„ The Zionist movement forms in the late 19 century to pursue the creation
of a Jewish state in Palestine
„ The United Kingdom gains a League of Nations mandate to govern Palestine
(and much of the Middle East, along with France) after World War I
„ The 1917 Balfour Declaration declares support for the creation of a
Jewish state in Palestine (but did not call for a Jewish Palestine)
„ Zionists fund Jewish immigration to Palestine (from 7 to 30% of pop.)
„ Arab Palestinian unhappiness leads to the UK to discourage
Jewish immigration in 1921
„ Jewish asymmetrical warfare (by the Irgun) reopens
immigration
„ A 1937 British commission calls for a two-state solution
„ World War II exhausts British financial resources while renewed Indian
pressure leads to widespread calls for decolonization in the British Empire
(and around the world more generally)
„ In Nov. 1947, the UN votes 33 to 13 (with 10 abstentions) for a two-state
solution & for international control of Jerusalem & Bethlehem
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In May 1948, Israel unilaterally declares its independence prior to UN
implementation (but right after British withdrawal)
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Neighboring Arab states invade immediately
& then lose the First Arab-Israeli War
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Many Arab Palestinians flee during the conflict (esp. after the tragedy
at Deir Yassin)
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For Arab Palestinians, these events become known as the nakba
(catastrophe)
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They demand a right of return to their lost land that was
embraced by UN Resolution 194
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In the fighting, Israel expands its borders beyond the UN partition
lines
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Egypt seizes the Gaza Strip & Jordan controls the West Bank
When Egypt mobilized on the border & talked of invasion, an effective Israeli
air strike and land invasion wins the 1967 6-Day War
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Israel dramatically expands its borders re: Egypt (Gaza & the Sinai
Peninsula), Jordan (the West Bank), and Syria (the Golan Heights)
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This displaces over 500,000 Palestinians from a now
Israeli-controlled Palestine
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Palestinians lose faith in an Arab League-led solution & then gain
control over the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) by 1969
under the leadership of Yasser Arafat
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The PLO at times engages in terrorism & guerrilla warfare to
draw attention to its cause
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Egypt would eventually recognize Israel in a 1979 Peace Accord &
regain the Sinai
In 1987-1993 the first Palestinian intifada (uprising) challenges Israeli
occupation of the West Bank & Gaza
In 1988 the PLO says that it will renounce violence if a two-state solution
can be pursued via implementation of existing UN Resolutions:
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UN General Assembly Resolution 181 (the 1947 partition plan)
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UN Security Council Resolution 242 (the 1967 call for Israeli
withdrawal from lands gained the Six-Day War in exchange for the
mutual recognition of all states & an end to hostilities)
The 1991 Madrid Conference marks the first major public talks between
Israeli & Palestinian leaders
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The 1993 Oslo Accords
Created an interim (limited) self-government, the Palestinian Authority
(PA), in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip
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Mandated that the Palestinian Authority would hold free elections
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Mandated that the Israeli gov’t would withdraw from Gaza and, within
five years, from the West Bank
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Established 3 zones of authority in the West Bank
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Zone A controlled by the PA
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Zone B jointly controlled
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Zone C controlled by Israel (and filled with Jewish settlements)
The 2000 Camp David Accords fail in July
The second intifada begins in September 2000 & runs through 2006
Israeli troops pull out of Gaza in 2005, then launch a seige once Hamas wins
the 2006 elections
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VI. Case Study: The Israel-Palestine Conflict
„ B. Some food for thought
„ What have Palestinians historically demanded that the Israeli government
has been willing to accept?
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What have Israelis historically demanded that the Palestinian leaders have
been willing to accept?
If you could pick one concession that the Israeli government could make to
move toward a more lasting peace, what would it be?
„ In turn, why and how do think it will help to resolve the conflict?
If you could pick one concession that the Palestinian leadership could make
to move toward a more lasting peace, what would it be?
„ In turn, why and how do think it will help to resolve the conflict?
Demographic data on Israel & Palestine
Gaza Strip Israel West Bank 1.56m 7.23m 2.46m % Jewish 0% 75% 17% % Muslim 99% 17% 75% % urban 72% 92% 72% 16.0/1000 4.2/1000 18.4/1000 $28,400 $2,900 [avg. w/ Gaza] 40% 8% 19% 70% < $1. 08/day 23% < $7.30/day
46% < $1.08/day population infant mortality GDP/capita [PPP] $2,900 [avg. w/ West Bank]
unemployment poverty rate