Understanding Social Conflict and Political Power Dynamics

Posted on Dec 20, 2024 in Social sciences

Understanding Social Conflict

  • Inequalities arise because not all community members enjoy the same opportunities for access to basic resources that facilitate the maximum development of their abilities.
  • Disparities exist in the enjoyment of skills and talents.
  • Roles played in family and reproductive functions differ by gender, age, and kinship.
  • Positions occupied in the social division of productive work vary, with some individuals performing trades or professions categorized as “manual” or “intellectual,” and others taking on leadership roles or subordinate positions.
  • The ability to intervene in decisions made in cultural, economic, or communication spheres differs among individuals.
  • Access to resources or income generated by economic activity (social classes) or the status or privileges derived from social recognition (aristocracy of blood, estates, castes) varies.
  • The symbolic description of an ethnic, national, or religious identity, with all its cultural connotations, can lead to inequalities.
  • Location in the territory (center-periphery, rural-urban areas) results in differential access to resources of all kinds.
  • Society attaches prestige or value to certain situations, while others are seen as negative or of lesser value.
  • The origin of policy can also be attributed to an unequal distribution of values in a given society and attempts to correct it (Easton).

Internal and External Differences: Domestic and Global Policy

  • The policy of these entities has its roots in these and other differences.

Stages of Politicization

  • Identification of an unequal distribution of assets and resources, which is perceived as inappropriate or risky.
  • Awareness on the part of the groups involved and expression of their demands, requirements, and proposals for the situation and control of the risks it entails.
  • Mobilization of support for the demands and proposals, utilizing all kinds of resources (expertise, information dissemination, money, organization, weapons) and seeking the greatest number of allies among other groups and actors.
  • Transfer of the conflict to the public arena, calling for the adoption of decisions related to the entire community. These decisions, intended to modify the previous imbalance, must have the support of the coercion that political institutions manage.
  • The feminist movement appears as a promoter of a rebalancing of the relationship between men and women, through mandatory policies and affirmative equalization.
  • The environmental movement arose as a sponsor of a rebalancing between those who favor unlimited economic exploitation of natural resources and those who report the negative social and environmental consequences of these excesses. This politicization has led to mandatory environmental decisions that some states are gradually implementing.
  • The politicization of local conflicts occurs when a group of neighbors becomes aware of a deficit in the equipment of their villages or neighborhoods compared with others.
  • In contrast, the decriminalization of adultery, homosexuality, or abortion means less scope for political intervention.
  • When these situations fall within the scope of policy, binding decisions will be made that seek to revise the initial situation, with the support of socially acceptable coercion.

Border Policy Variables

  • Politics is a way to regulate conflicts, using obligation and coercion when appropriate.
  • This use has been regulated by political standards that distinguish the treatment of one or more official languages over others.
  • Politics plays a role in the regulation of conflicts caused by human differences: gender, race, employment status, belief, culture, values, etc.
  • The parties in conflict defend, respectively, the “politicization” or the “depoliticization” of their differences as they see fit for this policy intervention.

New Conflicts, New Debates, New Balances

  • Should there be legal conditions for assisted procreation?
  • Should “surrogate mothers” be banned?
  • Are smokers entitled to heart transplants?
  • Can an employer dismiss workers freely?
  • Should the university be open to all who wish to access it?
  • Why are public funds used to subsidize the activities of farmers and not those of other economic actors?
  • Should gender parity—men and women—be fixed in law for parties’ electoral candidates?
  • Should the production and trade of genetically modified food be controlled?
  • Should the merger of large transnational communication companies be prevented?
  • On each of these issues, political science analysis should ask some questions:
  • What factors make these issues controversial?
  • What groups or interest groups are the protagonists of each debate?
  • What arguments and resources are used?
  • In what sense are they intended to influence the existing situation?

Companies Without Politics?

  • Given the simple basics of their organization and needs, they can “afford” to do without permanent political structures. Decisions and penalties are taken by the community itself because there are no consolidated inequalities beyond those derived from gender or kinship.

Private Property and Political Power

  • During the nineteenth century, with the expansion of industrial and financial capitalism, inequality stemmed from the ownership of capital.
  • Political power appeared as an instrument serving the interests of the owners.
  • Property was a reason for leaving it to political structures because the free and voluntary agreement among individuals and groups would be sufficient to resolve differences.
  • Politics is seen as control over people and resources.
  • Politics is viewed as a business conducted through a system of public institutions.
  • Politics is considered an activity directed by values of order and social equilibrium.
  • Politics is linked to the defense of communities against a perceived threat.

What is Political Power?

Politics and Power: Two Perspectives

  • “Politicians only seek power,” “politics is the struggle for power,” “trade unions—or media—have too much power.”
  • Political and social conflict is managed through binding decisions.
  • Power is a resource controlled by individuals, groups, classes, or elites. Or it is deposited in the hands of institutions. Often, power is viewed as something exclusive, monopolistically controlled by a given actor: the state, class, elite, or bureaucracy.

Power Resources

  • Political power depends on each player’s access to resources. Firstly, economic resources allow for rewarding or punishing the acts of others. Secondly, coercive resources grant the right to limit or cancel the free decision of others. Finally, symbolic resources, such as information, culture, religion, or law, provide the ability to explain social reality, giving it the version most favorable to one’s own interests.
  • Power comes with the situation that is enjoyed in relation to another person or group. Whoever wants to grab anything should not be placed in a position of power.
  • Power is especially identified with the ability to impose limits and the ability to hinder the decision of others, forcing them into unwanted behavior.
  • Power is a result of a situation. To discover the relationship of exchange or communication, one must consider several actors, without losing sight of the fact that the acceptance of one always accompanies the imposition of others.
  • Political power is equated with being able to intervene coercively in the regulation of social conflict.
  • We can attribute political power to the government that makes decisions.