Suchergebnisse

A brief paradigmatic history of American sociology is presented. Conflict methodology is defined and exemplified. It is held to be an essential adjunct to a complete conflict paradigm. A conflict paradigm is relevant to sociological analyses in Eastern and Western Countries in view of the proliferation and power and of the large scale organization.

IN MOZAMBIQUE, THE MASSIVE POPULAR DESIRE FOR AN END TO ROUTINE VIOLENCE MADE A RETURN TO WAR A REMOTE POSSIBILITY. THIS ARTICLE DETAILS THE REASONS FOR THE CIVIL CONFLICT WHICH INCLUDE VILLAGIZATION, SOCIAL CONFLICT AND CROP THEFT, LAND, POLITICAL CONFLICT, AND WATER BEING THE WOMEN'S WAR. IT EXAMINES GRASSROOTS CONFLICT RESOLUTION IN AREAS OF THEFT & THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF EXTRACTION, FRELIMO'S LOCAL LIBERALIZATION, RENAMO AFTER THE ELECTIONS, AND DISAGGREGATION. IT CONCLUDES WITH AN ANALYSIS OF SOCIAL FLUIDITY AND CONFLICT RESOLUTION.

Today we hear a lot about the "quality of life" and the "quality of the environment," two terms that everyone understands, but as yet no one has defined. Like others, I will not attempt a definition but introduce my subject by saying that water is intimately tied up with both our life and our environment, and its management has a profound effect for good or bad, depending upon the point of view. Today also, clean water and anti-pollution are popular crusades. Someone or something has to be responsible and engineering and science are convenient scapegoats. Considerable emotionalism is involved and there is need to inject some element of reason so as to approach the water problems of the day in a rational way. As an engineer, I am undoubtedly biased, yet except for engineers I see no one really doing anything constructive about the problems except to make a lot of noise, disregard any responsibility, and suggest that the government should make everything illegal. In the meantime, engineers go about building the necessary flood control works, water treatment plants and control systems as they have done for decades to eliminate or reduce the hazards that nature and the society have imposed on the water resource. In the light of present day knowledge it is apparent that engineers, like everyone else, have made many mistakes in the past. Therefore, my major purpose is not to vindicate the engineers but to outline some of the conflicts in water management and encourage an informed approach to the solution of the many problems

Many conflict studies regard formal democratic institutions as states' most important vehicle to reduce deprivation-motivated armed conflict against their governments. We argue that the wider concept of good governance—the extent to which policy making and implementation benefit the population at large—is better suited to analyze deprivation-based conflict. The article shows that the risk of conflict in countries characterized by good governance drops rapidly after a conflict has ended or after independence. In countries with poor governance, this process takes much longer. Hence, improving governance is important to reduce the incidence of conflict. We also decompose the effect of good governance into what can be explained by formal democratic institutions and less formal aspects of governance, and into what comes from economic development and what is due to how well countries are governed. We find that informal aspects of good governance to be at least as important as formal institutions in preventing conflict and that good governance has a clear effect over and beyond economic development.

The economic literature on conflict employs a static, game-theoretic framework developed by Jack Hirshleifer. The authors introduce conflict dynamics into a model with two rival groups, each dependent on a single contested renewable resource. The model is based on two stylized facts: conflict often arises over scarce renewable resources, and those resources often lack well-defined and/or enforceable property rights. In each period, groups allocate their members between resource harvesting and resource appropriation (or conflict) to maximize their income. This leads to a complex nonlinear dynamic interaction between conflict, the two populations, and the resource. As developed, the model relates most closely to conflict over renewable resources in primitive societies. The system's global dynamics are investigated in simulations calibrated for the historical society of Easter Island. The model's implications for contemporary lesser developed societies are examined.

This paper examines conflict and conflict resolution among the Igbo of Nigeria in pre-colonial period. Conflicts have always been part of human societies. So long as there is interaction amongst individuals or societies, there are bound to be conflicts as a result of fact that interests among individuals and societies interest vary. In pre-colonial Igbo society, various types of conflicts manifested. These included inter-personal, intra-community and inter-community conflicts, some of which led to wars. However, there were various means by which these conflicts were resolved to the satisfaction of the warring parties. Conflict resolution mechanism was an integral part of pre-colonial Igbo village democracy. The absence of a centralized system of government among the people in pre-colonial period did not mean that the people were in a state of anarchy. As in most pre-colonial African societies, there were bound to be conflicts amongst individuals and communities but there also existed traditional methods by which they were resolved to ensure that peace and order were achieved and maintained in the society. It is however hopes that the lessons to be learn from the findings of this paper, if properly applied, would be of great benefit to those who are charged with the responsibilities of finding amicable resolutions to the various intra and inter ethnic as well as sectarian crises presently ravaging various parts of the Nigeria and African continent in general.