CONF 803: MACRO THEORIES OF CONFLICT RESOLUTION
Professor Ho-Won Jeong
George Mason University
Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution
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Notes and Disucssions
Malvern Lumsden writes: ["Breaking the Cycle of Violence: Three Zones
of Social Reconstruction" in Conflict Resolution: Dynamics, Process and
Structure edited by Ho-Won Jeong (Brookfield USA: Ashgate, 1999) 131-151.]
The construction of a peaceful world society requires that individuals, groups and nations can negotiate shared meanings, including coherent but compatible identities and patterns of social relationships….It is the transitional zone between society and individuals that shared meanings can be (informally) constructed or negotiated, and it is shared meanings that form the core of group identity and culture….(p.136)
Three zones:
1. Outer, social world. (objective)
2. Inner, psychological world. (subjective)
3. Transitional, zone between the two, the zone of 'play.' (intersubjective)
(p. 133)
Zone III is the "intermediate or transitional zone between the personal/psychological and the social/structural…it is a place for looking forward as well as backward…zone of new thinking…bridge between the (re)construction of society and the rebuilding of shattered lives…."
--
every competent social actor is a social theorist (p.18)
Giddens does uses "and", e.g., freedom and coercion. "structure
is both constraining and enabling" (p. 25)
Tony Giddens Structuration is the "transitional" world.
Basic ideas:
Epistemology (vs. positivism): single hermeneutic/double hermeneutic
Ontology
Anthony Giddens New Rules of Sociological Method: A Positive Critique of Interpretive Sociologies (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1976).
Giddens suggests that a distinction should be maintained between a "single hermeneutic" and a "double hermeneutic" (2). For Giddens, the natural sciences operate via a single hermeneutic while the social sciences operate via a double hermeneutic.
The "duality of structure" conception is to counter
two dominant trends in the social sciences. Both are opposing dualisms and
are found in existing (sociological) theoretical perspectives. The first,
what I shall term the micro perspective, is "strong on action, but weak
on structure" (4). They view humans as purposive agents who are aware
of themselves and have reasons for what they do, but have little means of
coping with themes that bulk large in the other approach, such as constraint
and power in large-scale social organizations. The second, the macro approach,
is "strong on structure, but weak on action" (4). Agents, in the
second approach are treated as inert and inept-cultural dopes. Structuration
rejects the monologue of the linear dualisms of both the micro and the macro
approaches and opts instead for "the duality of structure" which
rejects the dualism of "individual" and "society." This
does not deny that social systems and collectivities with distinct structural
properties; nor does it imply that those systems properties are somehow localized
in the actions of individuals. The starting point is not the "individual"
nor the "system." The starting point is reproduced practices. No
matter how "macro", social theory demands a sophisticated understanding
of agency. Conversely, no matter how "micro", social theory must
include a robust account of power and constraint in social systems.
(Re)produced practices are not simply a quality of the individual or of the
collective, they are both. The duality of structure takes no position on the
conditions of stability or change: "rather, it is to say that neither
on the level of logic, nor in our practical day-to-day lives, can we step
outside the flow of action, whether such action contributes to the most rigid
of social institutions or to the most radical forms of social change"
(5). All actors are social theorists and must be so to be social agents. The
"duality" of duality of structure concerns the interdependence of
action and structure. This is different than saying that the micro approach
implies the macro approach and vice versa. Rather, the duality of structure
is qualitatively different. Some have referred to this as the "mezzo"
level.
Chapter One: Elements of the Theory of Structuration
Preliminary: division in social theory
Functionalism/Structuralism vs. Hermeneutics/Interpretive Sociology
Naturalistic radical separation of Social
and Natural sciences
Objectivism Subjectivity
--biology --action/meaning
--Durkheim: embryology
--Spencer: "survival of fittest"
Macro Micro
Imperialism of social object Imperialism of subject
Most look to epistemology and overlook ontology.
Main domain of study is social practices.
Activities are recursive-agents reproduce conditions that make social actions
possible.
Knowledgeability-competence.
Reflexive: monitored character of ongoing flow of social life-to be human
is to be a purposive agent.
Stratification model: active self involves reflexive monitoring, rationalization,
and motivation of action as embedded sets of processes.
Intentionality is involved also in routine, taken-for-granted daily life.
most knowledge is practical in character
Against two forms of Reductionism:
1. foundations of institutions in "unconscious"-no room for agency.
2. Social life as governed by dark forces
The Agent:
Reflexive monitoring is chronic feature…
Agency refers not to intentions people have but to their capability of doing
things-agency implies POWER. (physics)
Action is a continuous process, a flow, in which the reflexive monitoring
which the individual maintains is fundamental to "control" that
actors sustain throughout day-to-day lives.
Intentional: an act which the agent knows (or believes) will have a particular
quality or outcome and where such knowledge is utilized to achieve this outcome.
This is the classical expression between means and ends. Connection between
knowledge and the scope of power available to achieve those ends.
Unintented consequences: Three types
1. battle of Marathon on development of Greek thought-sequence of consequences
initiated by a single event
2. pattern resulting from a complex of individual activities.
3. Repetitive activities have regularized consequences unintended by those
who engage in those activities-consequences as byproduct.
Agency and Power:
Relation between action and power: the possibility of acting or refraining
from acting in the world: capability to 'make a difference.' Is power the
property of the individual or the community? In duality of structure it is
both. Resources are structured properties of social systems, drawn upon and
reproduced by knowledgeable agents in the course of interaction. Resources
are the media through which power is exercised.
Structure and Structuration: core-structure, structuration and
duality of structure
Structure: properties allowing the binding of space-time in social systems-allow
for similarity across space and time. Deeply embedded properties are structural
principles, the greatest of which are institutions.
Rules imply methodological procedures of social interaction:
two aspects-constitution of meaning and sanctioning of modes of conduct. Rules
are techniques and generalized procedures of applied in the enactment/reproduction
of social practices-the very core of knowledgeability. "the discursive
formulation of a rule is already an interpretation of it." (p.23)-sustaining
ontological security. The structuring quality of rules is the forming, sustaining,
termination and reforming of encounters. Rules and resources are recursively
involved in institutions.
Social reproduction is not necessarily social cohesion.
Duality of structure: (p. 25) agents and structures are not
two independently given phenomena, a dualism, but a duality.
Structure: sets of rules and resources; connection with those physically absent.
System: reproduced relations organized as social practices, requires co-presence.
Structuration: continuity and transformation of structures.
Competent members of society are vastly skilled in the practical accomplishments of social activities and are expert sociologists. But human knowledgeability is always bounded, plus, the flow of action continually produces consequences which are unintended by the actors, and these UC may form unacknowledged conditions of action.
(p. 29) "forms of institutions"-modalities of structuration-enable
to 'go on' in a form of life.
Interlacing of meaning, norms and power. Interpretive schemes are the modes
of typification in forma of life.
Structure signification domination legitimation
Modality interpretive facility norm
Scheme
Interaction communication power sanction
(problem : most theories focus on ONE aspect only)
(problem: must include accountability: capacity to say "no")
p.33
Time, the Body and Encounters
Day-to-day experience
Individual life cycle
Long duree of insitutions
Agency Structure
Level of knowledgebility intended consequences/unintended consequences
Chapter Five: Change, Evolution and Power
Project: deconstruction of a whole range of theories of social change-especially EVOLUTIONARY-and reconstruction of the nature of power in the constitution of social life.
They are mistaken about the types of change possible: many based
on the presumption that it is possible to formulate theorems of structural
causation which will explain the determination of social action in general.
--universal laws
especially incorporated in social theory is EMBRYOLOGY-teleology (esp. Comte
and Durkheim)-unfolding within clearly demarcated boundaries-orderly process
of change. Cuvier and Agassiz vs. Von Humboldt)
three reasons why human history does NOT have evolutionary shape:
1. human beings have knowledgeability of their agency (DOUBLE HERMENEUTIC)
2. societies are not 'closed' systems
3. history is not teleological (unintended consequences of action and organization)-both
continuous and discontinuous.
It is not possible to repair these shortcomings-it is wrong
Analyzing Social Change
Adds episodic characterization and world time,
"if all social life is contingent, all social change is conjunctural" (p. 245) Weber's "elective affinities" and Randall Collins' map of the West…
Modes of social change:
Origin: roots of change
Momentum: rate of change
Trajectory: direction of change
Type: degree of disruption or reshaping of existing institutional alignments
Especially for modernity: Urbanism
Essential to consider human reflexivity (many theories of state formation
do not do this) p. 245
Change and Power:
--Conflict and power
Marx-associate power with schism: power is linked to conflict.-'flight from
power' (utilitarian liberalism): Power signals the existence of conflict and
the potentiality of oppression; thus the state should be organized in such
a way to minimize the scope of power…
For Giddens: reconstruction of POWER
Power is capacity to achieve outcomes.
Power is not obstacle to freedom or emancipation but is their very medium.
Time-space distanciation connects in a very different way with power: power is guaranteed in and through the the reproduction of systems of domination.
Resources which structure domination are:
Allocative: natural resources, means of production (industry),
goods created through interaction.
Authoritative: organization of social time-space, organization of life chances.
Organization of time-space: storage and life-chances; increasing in scale
Hunters-gatherers: very limited storage capacity, few differentiations
in "life-chance"
Agrarian: more storage, increased differentiation in life-chances
Class-divided: greater storage, increase differentiation in life chances
Modern capitalism: highest storage-food as commodity exchange-most differentiation
in life chances-specialization and highest coordination
Storage presumes a media and retrieval system: the containers which store allocative and authoritative resources…new power container is nation-state-broadly spans time-space.
Terry Beitzel
Once knowledge has been established, it seems fixed. However, the aim of this paper is to challenge that assumption. Rather, knowledge rests on agreement within social collectivities, requires continual energy input, and is malleable.
This is not a causal theory of change. It is rather a general description of the continuity and possible transformation of forms of life. Numerous books and articles dealing with conflict mediation, resolution, and transformation site the work of historian of science Thomas Kuhn. And the conflict management, resolution, and transformation fields rely heavily upon concise metaphors and models. This paper will attempt to provide a metaphor for social consistency and change and go beyond the "paradigm" model advanced by Kuhn.
One might say that theories of society need the right consistency. At one extreme are theories of society that seem to thin, flimsy, and gaseous--such as ethnomethodology--as though everything that happens is a particular and local achievement. At the other end of the spectrum are theories of society, favored by rationalist philosophers, where social life/knowledge is a preformed shape of solid stone; it cannot be changed except by violent revolution. Thomas Kuhn's Structure of Scientific Revolution recognizes the construction involved in society where the community gives form, but these beliefs are seen as unchangeable once they set. The analogous consistency is concrete rather than stone--a flowing, malleable liquid that solidifies when left alone. These examples give us theories of society as gas, stone, or concrete.
But all beliefs require work and energy to maintain them--they do not stay set by themselves. Better social theories give cultural life the consistency of a thick liquid. A liquid never sets, can be formed into various shapes, and resists rapid transformations. Viewing beliefs as a thick liquid has advantages, for it accounts for the possibility of change while maintaining a structure. However, two aspects of are still unrepresented: the continual input of energy required to maintain the shape of our beliefs, and the potential for rapid change during periods of revolutionary or extraordinary levels of conflict. Fudge represents a better metaphor than concrete since it is malleable and consistent; however, it requires little energy to maintain its shape. Ice as a metaphor captures the need for continual energy; however, it is not malleable. Therefore, icecream is a better metaphor because it captures the consistency, the required energy input, and the malleability of society, knowledge and beliefs. Also the metaphor of icecream as social stability captures the threat of another metaphor--heat--that is commonly associated with conflict.
Sascha Sheehan
Structuration Theory, Empirical Research and Social Critique - Chapter 6 (Pgs. 281-354)
Chapter 6 Overview:
I. A Reiteration of Basic Concepts
II. The Analysis of Strategic Conduct
III. Unintended Consequences: Against Functionalism
IV. The Duality of Structure
V. The Problem of Structural Constraint
VI. Contradiction and the Empirical Study of Conflict
VII. Institutional Stability and Change
VIII. Drawing Together the Threads: Structuration Theory and Forms of Research
Background: Anthony Giddens
· Born 1938
· Director (since 1997) of the London School of Economic and Political
Science
· Widely read and cited social theorist (profound influence on Sociology
and Social Theory)
· Developed theory of Structuration
Overview of Giddens Structuration Theory
"Giddens's theory of structuration notes that social life
is more than random individual acts, but is not merely determined by social
forces. To put it another way, it's not merely a mass of 'micro'-level activity
- but on the other hand, you can't study it by only looking for 'macro'-level
explanations. Instead, Giddens suggests, human agency and social structure
are in a relationship with each other, and it is the repetition of the acts
of individual agents which reproduces the structure. This means that there
is a social structure - traditions, institutions, moral codes, and established
ways of doing things; but it also means that these can be changed when people
start to ignore them, replace them, or reproduce them differently."
http://www.theory.org.uk/giddens2.htm
· "The concept of structuration involves that of the duality of structure, which relates to the fundamentally recursive character of social life, and expresses the mutual dependence of structure and agency."
· "Structure forms 'personality' and 'society' simultaneously - but in neither case exhaustively: because of the significance of unintended consequences of action, and because of unacknowledged conditions of action" … "Structure thus is not to be conceptualized as a barrier to action, but as essentially involved in its production."
· "…all social actors, no matter how lowly, have some degree of penetration of the social forms which oppress them.".
à Key words: Structure, Agency, Social Structures
I. Reiteration of Basic Concepts:
Quote from London School of Economics (where Giddens is the Director)
"The core of structuration theory lies in the concepts of structure, system, and duality of structure. Structuration refers to the conditions governing the continuity or transmutation of structures, and therefore the reproduction of social systems. Structure refers to the rules and resources, or sets of transformation relations, organized as properties of social systems - the structuring properties allowing the binding of time and space in social systems. System refers to the reproduced relations between people organized as regular social practices. Structuring properties makes it possible for discernibly similar social practices to exist across varying spans of time and space. Analyzing the structuration of social systems means studying the modes in which such systems are produced and reproduced in interaction. The constitution of agents and structures are not two independently given sets of phenomena, a dualism, but represent a duality. According to the notion of duality of structure, the structural properties of social systems are both medium and outcome.
For structuration theory, the moment of the production of action
is also that of its reproduction. Structure is not external to the individual
but rather almost internal, as memory traces. Structure has no existence independent
of the knowledge agents have about what they do in their day-to-day activity,
and the duality of structure is always the main grounding of continuities
in social reproduction across time and space."
http://www.lse.ac.uk/Giddens/FAQs.htm#StructQ2
1) All human beings are knowledgeable agents
2) Knowledgeability of human actors is bounded by the unconscious and by the unacknowledged conditions/unintended consequences
3) The study of day to day life is integral to analysis of the reproduction of institutionalized practices
4) Routinized practices are the prime expression of the duality of structure
5) Study of context is inherent to investigation of social reproduction.
Context involves:
a) time-space boundaries;
b) co-presence of actors;
c) awareness and use of these phenomena to influence flow of interaction
6) Social identities are "markers" in the virtual time-space of structure
7) No unitary meaning can be given to "constraint" in social analysis
8) Structural principles specify overall types of society
9) Study of power cannot be regarded as a second order consideration in the social sciences. There is no more elemental concept than power.
10) There is no mechanism of social organization identified by social analysts which lay actors cannot also incorporate into what they do.
Gidden's on "Power:"
v "Power is the means of getting things done and, as such, directly implied in human action.....Some of the most bitter conflicts in social life are accurately seen as 'power struggles.'" (283)
v "Such struggles can be regarded as to do with efforts to subdivide resources which yield modalities of control in social systems." (283)
Guidelines for Social Research:
· Social research has "a necessarily cultural, ethnographic
or anthropological aspect to it" (284).
· Social research must be sensitive to the complex skills of actors
coordinating contexts of daily behavior
· Social analyst must be sensitive to time-space constitution of social
life
II. The Analysis of Strategic Conduct
**Review Figure 13: "System Integration"
According to Structuration Theory two types of methodological distinctions are possible in sociological research:
1) In institutional analysis, structural properties are treated as systematically reproduced features of the social system.
2) In the analysis of strategic conduct, the focus is placed upon modes in which actors draw on structural properties in the formation of social relations.
**Giddens cites extensive research by Paul Willis in "Learning to Labour."
III. Unintended Consequences: Against Functionalism
In Functionalist interpretation, attention is concentrated on attributing rationality to social system
"The term "function" implies some sorts of teleological quality that social systems are presumed to have: social items or activities are held to exist because they meet functional needs. But if the fact that they have functional outcomes does not explain why they exist- only an interpretation of intentional activity and unintended consequences does that- the activities may become more readily severed from those outcomes than 'consequence laws' would imply." (296)
IV. Duality of Structure
· Dual structures are both the medium and the outcome of the practices which constitutes social systems -people shape structure, but structure determines what people do.
· Giddens argues that structures are enabling, and thus give the 'knowledgeable' agent the capability to work in creative or formative ways. Dual structures are thus changeable.
Generalizations of Social Science
· "Social life is in many respects not an intentional product of its constituent actors, in spite of the fact that day to day conduct is chronically carried on in a purposive fashion" (343).
· "It is in the study of the unintended consequences of action...that some of the most distinctive tasks of social sciences are to be found" (343).
The Practical Connotations of Social Science
· "The social sciences, unlike the natural sciences, are inevitably involved in a 'subject-subject relation'." (348)
· "In the social sciences the practice is the object of the theory. Theory in this domain transforms its own object." (348)
· "The implications of this are very considerable and bear upon how we should assess the achievements of the social sciences as well as their practical impact upon the world." (348)
Social Science vs. Natural Science: A Losing Battle
· Social science has not come up with the sort of precise law found in the sophisticated areas of natural science and Giddens says "they will not do so" (348).
· But unlike the natural sciences, Giddens asserts, the social sciences are not insulated from "their world" in the way that the natural sciences are insulated from "theirs."
· In this sense, the social sciences, unlike the natural sciences, enter into the very constitution of "their world" in a manner which is foreclosed to the natural sciences.
· "Viewed from a technological standpoint, the practical contributions of the social sciences seem, and are, restricted. However, seen in terms of being filtered into the world they analyze, the practical ramifications of the social sciences have been, and are, very profound indeed" (354).
Discussion Questions:
· What are the implications of Structuration Theory for the field of Conflict Analysis and Resolution?
· What are the underlying assumptions of Giddens Structuration Theory?
· How does Structuration Theory conceive of "power?"