Can conflicts be avoided ?

Résumé du document

It is generally believed that working on the issue of conflict resolution consists of preaching about non-violence, notably by using arguments based on moral values. Nevertheless, these moral approaches cannot be considered as an universal meaning of conflicts resolution and peace building. In fact, there is no determinism in human nature which paves the way for using violence. We may considered the various backgrounds of the trend of violence. It is done in the name of law or in the defiance of the law, by one man or a gang, in cold blood or in passion, in an attack of violence or in response to violence. Today, a large part of the conflicts which take place throughout the world are ethnic or bound to cultural issues. I cannot help thinking that a confrontation between two groups may not be seen as a natural opposition about the notion of property but shall be considered through the mental representations, the culture of individuals.

Extraits

[...] Peut-on éviter les conflits ? It is generally believed that working on the issue of conflict resolution consist in preaching non-violence, notably by using arguments based on moral values. Nevertheless, these moral approaches cannot be considered as a universal meaning of conflicts resolution and peace building. In fact, there is no determinism in human nature which paves the way for using violence. In a first time, we may considered the various backgrounds of the trend of violence: it is done in the name of law or in the defiance of the law, by one man or a gang, in cold blood or in passion, in an attack of violence or in response of violence. [...]

[...] These societies could be described as autarchic. The power of this social consciousness have been considerably weakened since the Enlightenment, today, all the human society is more individualized and may be characterized as a wide open space of interactions. So the major challenge is how to channel into nonviolent means and institutions the various representations which have been progressively constructed by social and ethnic groups through their own history. To my mind, economic, social, ethnic, territorial dispute are all derived from the dual structure of the human spirit. [...]

[...] According to this theory, the differences between humans are derived from the backgrounds and the experiences of them. In many case, child rearing is not aimed at giving to children the ability to integrate a society but at building a representation of their environment. We must add the fact that the history of the various social groups yields a strong influence on the construction of an educational system. For instance, Alfred-Louis Kroeber concluded that the culture of the civilizations is totally separate from the gene pool of human. [...]

[...] In fact, this government would concern the individuals directly. It cannot be denied that this kind of social contract may be identified with a part of the fundamentals principles of democracy. Nevertheless, we must bear in mind that by founding a political system based on a natural structure which provides equality between all human, we may wonder if each citizen could be able to take part in the political debate without effects of domination (by the class) or culture (history, religion, As a consequence, we may wonder to what extend a democracy can work if social classes can reproduce inside it. [...]

[...] Like John Locke, he thought that this human nature must be understood without including the history and the culture of the various social groups but according to him, this human nature must be considered as violent. In fact, Thomas Hobbes judged that the human may be seen as unsociable without institutions of social regulation. On this configuration the social relations are based on inter-individuals interactions, so there is a no political body. Moreover, Hobbes considered that these relations suffered from a lack of moral values which led to a situation of uncivilized competition (Bellum omnium contra omnes). [...]