Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Comparison Of Dependence And Punitive Forms Of Power, Edward J. Lawler, Samuel B. Bacharach

Edward J Lawler

This paper deals with the impact of power on tactical action in conflict. The theory and research is organized around two conceptual distinctions: one between power based on dependence versus punitive capability, and the other between relative power (i.e., power difference) and "total power" in a relationship (i.e., across actors). The paper will argue that these distinctions are important on both theoretical and empirical grounds. Theoretically, they are important to explicate the connection between conceptions of power that stress the coercive foundation of power (Bierstedt 1950; Tedeschi, Schlenker & Bonoma 1973) and those that treat power as dependence (Bacharach & …

Thinking About You: Perspective Taking, Perceived Restraint, And Performance, Michele Williams

Michele Williams

Conflict often arises when incompatible ideas, values or interests lead to actions that harm others. Increasing people’s willingness to refrain from harming others can play a critical role in preventing conflict and fostering performance. We examine perspective taking as a relational micro-process related to such restraint. We argue that attending to how others appraise events supports restraint in two ways. It motivates people to act with concern and enables them to understand what others view as harmful versus beneficial. Using a matched sample of 147 knowledge workers and 147 of their leaders, we evaluate the impact of appraisal-related perspective taking …

The Forum For Cities In Transition: An Initiative Of The Moakley Chair Of Peace And Reconciliation, Padraig O'Malley

Padraig O'Malley

FCT is an international network of mayors, councilors, municipal officials, business people, and representatives of the voluntary and community sector. The Forum works on the principle that cities that are in conflict or have emerged from conflict (divided societies) are in the best position to help other cities in similar situations. The Forum for Cities in Transition was founded by Professor Padraig O’Malley as an initiative of the John Joseph Moakley Chair of Peace and Reconciliation at the University of Massachusetts Boston.

Understanding The South China Sea: An Explorative Cultural Analysis, Hans-Dieter Evers

Hans-Dieter Evers

The South China Sea has attracted considerable attention among politicians, journalists and scholars since it has become a contested maritime space. Most works concentrate on conflicts and negotiations to resolve the ensuing issues. In this paper, a cultural theory will be applied to stress the importance of conceptions of space found in different cultures. The South China Sea is defined as "Mediterranean." By comparing it to other maritime spaces, like the Baltic and the Mediterranean Sea, lessons will be drawn from the "longue durée" of history, as analysed by French historian Fernand Braudel and from concepts of the cultural theory …

The Evolution Of Revolution: Is Splintering Inevitable?, Atin Basu Choudhary, Laura Razzolini

Atin Basu Choudhary

We use an evolutionary model to study splintering in rebels’ groups. We assume that rebels possess cultural traits that encourage cooperation, defection (splintering) or some sort of trigger behavior like Tit-For-Tat. We characterize the dynamic process through which the rebels’ discount rate determines whether splintering will occur in the population, even when cooperation is efficient. Contrary to the usual Folk Theorem prediction, we show that, even when rebels are extremely patient, cooperation may not evolve if the initial distribution of cultures in the population is not favorable. Thus, political actions by the states or governments that make rebels impatient may …

The Cultural Sociology Of Human Rights, Mark D. Jacobs, Lester R. Kurtz

Lester R. Kurtz

These cases of China, Occupy, and Gandhi suggest the value of the sociology of culture for understanding human rights. Since human rights is a cultural construct, human rights issues are in-flected by the same set of semantic tensions as the culture concept itself. The sociology of culture thus recommends a method for studying human rights: to explicate--indeed, to weave into an exegetical deep structure--those various tensions. This helps to see beneath the distortions that power and other forms of domination introduce into the discourse of human rights, and to recognize the full multiplicity of interests and voices.

Cultural Assimilation: The Political Economy Of Psychology As An Evolutionary Game Theoretic Dynamic, Atin Basu Choudhary, Dave Cotting

Atin Basu Choudhary

In this paper, we model the interaction between idiocentric and allocentric immigrants in two settings – in a society that is predominantly collectivist and in a society that is predominantly individualist. Immigrants, either allocentric or idiocentric, can also be entity theorists (fixed mindset) or incremental theorists (growth mindset). We use evolutionary game theory to model how the host country cultural environment places selective pressure on the cultures of immigrant populations. This has implications for how well immigrants assimilate into their host country. Our results show: (a) depending on the initial ratio of allocentric and idiocentric immigrants, assimilation is either complete …

Mahatma Gandhi, Lester R. Kurtz

Lester R. Kurtz

Mahatma Gandhi, is widely cited by contemporary activists as a source of inspiration and strategies. Gandhi was arguably unparalleled at mobilizing resources, taking advantage of – and creating – political opportunities, and effectively framing such messages as justice, equality, and independence or freedom (Swaraj, self-reliance). His legacy has almost become a cliché among movement organizers worldwide.

Negotiations In Organizations: A Sociological Perspective, Pamela S. Tolbert

Pamela S Tolbert

[Excerpt] The paper begins by elaborating on the utility of viewing organizational conflict and negotiations in social movement terms, and some of the implications of this approach for negotiations research. It then turns to a review of the traditional sociological literature on power and conflict in organizations, and of current research on social movements, discussing the points of complementarity of these two literatures. Finally, the implications of the combination of the social movement and organizations literatures for research on negotiation are discussed, focusing on the way in which negotiating issues, strategies and outcomes are likely to vary among different types …

Abdul Ghaffar Khan's Nonviolent Jihad, Lester R. Kurtz

Lester R. Kurtz

Examines Abdul Ghaffar Khan's nonviolent civil resistance rooted in Islam and growing out of a violent mountain culture in the Northwest Frontier Province of British India. The movement he mobilized counters the misunderstandings about Islam as fundamentally violent and the idea that nonviolent resistance cannot come out of a violent culture.

Is Reform Inevitable In Iran? An Evolutionary Analysis, Atin Basu Choudhary, Laura Razzolini, Dixon Josh

Atin Basu Choudhary

A persistent, if somewhat violent, reformist movement in Iran has many observers believing that reform is inevitable in Iran. We suggest that such optimism is misplaced. We use an evolutionary game theory approach to a standard assurance game to show that even when the gains to reform are obvious, the reformists may not succeed. We show further that as long as hardliners hold the levers of government they can stymie the success of reformists. Thus, from a policy perspective we believe that a gradual evolutionary path to reformist success is plausible but it depends crucially on the initial proportion of …

How Shall We Fight Imperialism? A Response To Stephen Gowans, Lester R. Kurtz

Lester R. Kurtz

No abstract provided.

Conflict Resolution, Provocation Or Transformation? Ask Gandhi, Lester R. Kurtz, Daniel Ritter

Lester R. Kurtz

No abstract provided.

Predicting State Failure: A Classification Tree Approach, Atin Basu Choudhary, Jim T. Bang, William F. Shughart Ii

Atin Basu Choudhary

We deviate from standard practice in the literature on state failure to use classification tree methods to predict state failure. We argue that the rarity of state failure and simplicity of use and interpretation makes this approach more attractive. We determine simple decision rules, based on observable and measurable variables, to determine whether a country is likely to fail or not.

Reducing The Impact Of Ethnic Tensions On Economic Growth – Economic Or Political Institutions?, Atin Basu Choudhary, Jim Bang, Michael Reksulak

Atin Basu Choudhary

We use a standard growth regression model and show that ethnic tensions reduce per capita growth rates. We also find evidence that “good” economic and political institutions improve per capita growth rates. More importantly, good economic institutions mitigate the effect of ethnic tensions on per capita growth while good political institutions do not. Consequently, it is foremost capitalist freedom that promotes peace and development.

The Politics Of Partnerships. A Critical Examination Of Nonprofit-Business Partnerships, Maria May Seitanidi

Maria May Seitanidi

The widespread partnering phenomenon in the US and the UK spurred a significant amount of literature focusing on its strategic use. The Politics of Partnerships diverges by examining if partnerships can deliver benefits that extend beyond the organisational to the societal level resulting from the intentional combined efforts of the partners. The book offers under the chronological stages of formation, implementation, outcomes a critical examination and proposes a holistic framework for the study of partnerships allowing for observations beyond any single stage.

Peaceful Relationships, Lester R. Kurtz

Lester R. Kurtz

Peaceful relationships are sustained interactions characterized by the absence or low levels of violence. Easier to theorize or write about than to sustain in practice, from interpersonal interactions to relations at the global level and among states, institutions, and social groups, peaceful relationships are the building blocks of a more peaceful world. Interwoven with a web of violence in human affairs is a web of peaceful relations, from the micro level to the macro level, that probably shape most human behavior.

Resources On Partnerships & Groups, Maria May Seitanidi

Maria May Seitanidi

This is a list of Groups on Partnerships

Reading List On Nonprofit-Business Partnerships, Maria May Seitanidi

Maria May Seitanidi

This is a reading list for those interested to pursue research on nonprofit-business partnerships

Whatever You Say, Say Something: Remembering For The Future In Northern Ireland, Margo Shea

Margo Shea

Cyberconflict At The Edge Of Chaos: Cryptohierarchies And Self-Organization In The Open Source, Athina Karatzogianni Dr, George Michaelides

Athina Karatzogianni

This paper differentiates between different levels of conflict in the open-source movement and discusses the role conflict and self-organization play in the emergence of structures of leadership and the bifurcation into core and peripheral groups and soft control by cryptohierarchies; in the different levels of group polarization and conflict between communities negotiating their identity, strategy, coordination and complexity; and lastly, in the dynamic relationships between hierarchies and networks. These dynamics are forcing open-source communities to exist at the edge of chaos, and to constantly engage in lines of flight and resistance from the system of global control, while ignoring current …

Introduction: New Media And The Reconfiguration Of Power In Global Politics, Athina Karatzogianni Dr

Athina Karatzogianni

Whatever the developments and transformations in the sphere of global politics, the new media technologies and the political opportunities they present are unsettling the world system, the are rendering it chaotic and they are having a deeper systemic effect than the more powerful actors care to admit. It remains to be seen whether information age ideologies, new modes of capitalism, conflict, activism, terrorism and war in cyberspace will ever transfer to the ‘real world’ reversing the opposite trend, and causing everyday effects on a bigger scale than we are witnessing today. Even so, we are undoubtedly living in interesting times …

Sustainable Development, Anita Komandari, Lester R. Kurtz

Lester R. Kurtz

The dominant model of development, characterized by large-scale industrialization and neoliberal policies, is unsustainable in terms of its role in the marginalization of many segments of human society and the exploitation of nature. This article presents the imperative need for a development model that is sustainable, arguing that it is important to break out of the unilateral ideology of devel- opment and incorporate democratic pluralism. It discusses some important aspects of a community-centric development model that form the foundations of sustain- ability, namely, community control and management of resources, community self-rule, and self-reliance.

The Politics Of Cyberconflict, Athina Karatzogianni Dr

Athina Karatzogianni

The thrust of this analysis is to disclose the extent to which the internet has affected politics and political conflict in particular (cyberconflict) and provide a theoretical framework for explaining this phenomenon. The aim of the book is to first theoretically and then empirically locate and introduce the new issues confronting global politics today, due to the impact of new communication technologies.

Dalai Lama Darshan, Lester R. Kurtz

Lester R. Kurtz

No abstract provided.

From Heresies To Holy Wars: Toward A Theory Of Religious Conflict, Lester R. Kurtz

Lester R. Kurtz

Explores the elements of a theory of religious conflict, starting with Simmel's understanding of conflict as a form of human sociation and religion as content of a conflict (religious rhetoric and framing are used to carry or explain the conflict) vs. the form of religious conflict, in which the conflict itself takes on a sacred nature. I also examine the ritualization of conflict and the nature of conflict symbols, that is highly-charged symbols that become lightning rods for conflict.

Untangling The Web Of Violence, Lester R. Kurtz, Jennifer Turpin

Lester R. Kurtz

No abstract provided.

The Politics Of Heresy, Lester R. Kurtz

Lester R. Kurtz

No abstract provided.

Freedom And Domination, Lester R. Kurtz

Lester R. Kurtz

No abstract provided.