AS30803:

Religion, Ethnicity and Conflict

Sessions 2 (Tuesday 21/2/2017)
Course Leader: Mikio Oishi
 Todays Activities

Lecture on Basic Concepts of Conflict

Video Watching
Preparation for Tutorial
Todays topic:
Basic Concepts of Conflict
What is conflict?
Conflict is a clash (contradiction) of
positions/goals of persons, groups, countries,
which usually generate negative attitude and
behaviour towards each other.

Contradiction (Incompatibility)
Attitude
Behaviour
Two Hungry Donkeys
 Conflict Triangle
Incompatibility (contradiction, clash)

Attitude Behaviour
 What to Do with Conflict?
Conflict Management
What is conflict management?
Any action aimed at the three components of
conflict to bring the conflict to an end or under
control
Three Types of Conflict Management
Conflict Resolution
Conflict Management (a narrow sense)
Conflict Transformation
Conflict Mapping
Conflict mapping as a technic to analyse
conflict from several important viewpoints
Conflict mapping guide (Ramsbotham et
al. 2011: 90)
A. Background
Map of the area
Brief description of the country
Outline history of the conflict
 Conflict mapping guide (cont.)
B. The conflict parties and issues
Who are the core conflict parties?
What are their internal sub-groups, on what constituencies do they
depend?
What are the conflict issues
Is it possible to distinguish between positions, interests (material
interests, values, relationships) and needs?
What are the relationships between the conflict parties?
Are there qualitative and quantitative asymmetries?
What are the different perceptions of the causes and nature of the
conflict among the conflict parties?
What is the current behaviour of the parties (is the conflict in an
escalatory or de-escalatory phase?)?
Who are the leaders of the parties? At the elite/individual level, what
are their objectives, policies, interests, and relative strengths and
weaknesses?
 Conflict mapping guide (cont.)
C. The context: global, regional and state-level
factors
At the state level: is the nature of the state contested? How
open and accessible is the state apparatus? Are there
institutions or fora which could serve as legitimate channels for
managing the conflict? How even is economic development and
are there economic policies which can have a positive impact?
At the regional level: how do relations with neighbouring states
and societies affect the conflict? Do the parties have external
regional supporters? Which regional actors might be trusted by
the parties?
At the global level: are there geopolitical interests in the
conflict? What are the external factors that fuel the conflict and
what could change them?
Video Watching
Religious Extremists Are Tearing Thailand Apart
(20 min)
Watch this video from the viewpoints given in the
lecturer.
Question for tutorial: Create a conflict mapping for
southern Thailand.
Hints:
Make questions for each of the viewpoints and answer
them
The conflict mapping guide already provides questions
for most of them
Try to make a flowchart map based on the answers