MY NOTES ON CLEAVAGE HYPOTHESES OF CONFLICT INTENSITY AND MITIGATION

JUBRIL S.

INTRODUCTION Cleavage can be defined as a split or division of something.1 When we talk of cleavages in the context of conflict2, we mean/ are talking about the various divisions of conflict in organized human settings. Thus, cleavages could be ethnic, political, economic, religious, etc.

According to Simon Bornscheir, a political division must comprise three elements to constitute a cleavage: (1) A social-structural element, such as class, religious denomination, status, or education, (2) an element of collective identity of this social group, and (3) an organizational manifestation in the form of collective action or a durable organization of the social groups concerned.3 There exist two major hypotheses about the intensity of conflict.4 They are the Cross-cutting hypothesis of conflict intensity and the coincidence of conflict hypothesis. Cross-cutting cleavages are a social science term that refers to the structure of two (or more) cleavages, such as race, ethnicity, religious divisions etc, in society whereby certain variables are common to both cleavages. On the other hand, coincidental cleavages refer to those divisions that mutually reinforce dominant variables to the extent/in such a way that the divisive line between cleavages is quite clear.

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Oxford dictionary available at http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/cleavage Review of some literature reveals that conflict is a struggle over values, power, and resources, (Coser 1967:8) which could be expressed (Hocker and Wilmot 1985:23) between at least two interdependent parties who perceive incompatible goals, scarce rewards, and interference from the other party in achieving their goals. See (Deutsch 1973), Carnevale and Pruitt (1992). Also its important to note that conflict according to Christie D.J. (2001:3) is shaped by the social context within which it occurs. See also (Wall and Callister 1995:520) 3 Simon Bornschier, Cleavage Politics in Old and New Democracies October 2009, Most recent version available at http://www.livingreviews.org/lrd-2009-6 4 Levels of intensity are measured by number of participants drawn into conflict, methods used, lethality of weapons used, marked by increasing sophistication of arms, rising level of casualty, frequency, and also intractability.

CROSS-CUTTING CLEAVAGE AND COINCIDENCE OF CLEAVAGE HYPOTHESES Review of most of the literature5 enables us to understand that most authors who wrote about the cross-cutting hypothesis of conflict intensity also made mention, by comparative analysis, of the coincidence of cleavages hypothesis of conflict intensity.6 Thus, in understanding the contents of the hypothesis of conflict intensity and its application, an appreciation of the works of the leading and subsequent proponents of the theory need be conducted. A starting point is the work of Georg Simmel7 which is of immense importance as he was one of the leading theorists in this area of analyzing conflict intensity. He clearly articulated a positive social function for conflict. Conflict, in Simmel's terms, was a source of social cohesion and creativity.8 Edward Ross followed Simmels thinking in explaining further when he stated that: Every species of social conflict interferes with every other species in societysave only when lines of cleavage coincide, in which case they reinforce one anotherA society therefore, which is ridden by a dozen oppositions along lines running in every direction may actually be in less danger of being torn with violence or falling to pieces than one split across one line. For each new cleavage contributes to narrow the cross clefts, so that one might say that society is sewn together by its inner conflicts.9

G. Bingham Powell, jnr. in his Political Cleavage Structure, Cross-Pressure Processes, and Partisanship, American Journal of Political Science, Vol. 20, No. 1 (Feb., 1976), pp. 1-23 Midwest Political Science Association Stable where he stated: Cross-cutting theory and its relation to social stability enjoyed wide-spread scholarly popularity in the 1950s and 1960s, focusing mainly on voting behavior (Dahl 1956), political organization (Tingsten 1937; Lazarsfeld et al 1968; Lane 1959; Alford 1963; Allardt and Littunen 1964; Lipset and Rokkan 1967), class conflict (Dahrendorf 1959; Rokkan 1967) and democratic stability (Truman 1951; Lipset 1960) 6 See Coser L; Adekanye J.A. (2005) cited below; Edward Alsworth Ross the principles of sociology(New York: the Century Co. 1920), Newton and Deth(2005) op. cit. below 7 Georg Simmel, Conflict and the web of group affiliations, trans K.H. Wolff and R Bendix (New York: Free Press) 8 Alan Tidwell (2001), Conflict Resolved? An analysis of conflict resolution, p.63 9 See Edward Ross, (1920), , The Principles of Sociology (New York: The Century Co); William Kornhauser, The politics of Mass society(London: Routledge and Keagan Paul, 1960);Coser(1956), the functions of Social conflict, (New York: the Free press)

From the above statement one can understand that just like a broom, cross-cutting cleavages ensures that various groups or units are knit together. For instance, it may be that members of different ethnic groups are bound by religious affiliations, or even membership of professional associations. This makes it difficult, especially in heterogeneous societies for conflict to occur. On the other hand, the coincidence of cleavages may be described as a thick line drawn across the ground where, just like a tug of war, each group having a common line that binds them reinforce themselves along that line in such a way that the dividing line may be difficult to negotiate. Drawing from the works of Newton and Deth (2005)10, we can see examples of both the coinciding, and also the cross-cutting hypotheses of conflict intensity in Belgium, and Switzerland respectively. According to them, Belgium is divided between Flemish speaking Flanders in the north and French speaking Wallonia in the south, with Brussels the capital city in the middle. 90% of Belgians are catholic but the people in the north are richer than those in the south. The socio-linguistic cleavage is so intense that parties are split along regional lines. The linguistic conflict became so intense in the 70s and 80s to the extent that changes in the constitution led to the production of a decentralized system of government. However, according to the same authors, the situation is different in Switzerland where although the country is divided by language(German 65%, French 20% and Italian 8%) and religion(46% catholic, 40% protestant); the same language groups have different regional dialects and most cantons are of same religion. The various language groups also have same interests in tourism or banking, also there is no dominant city (Basel, Berne, and Geneva, Lausanne, and Zurich share capital city functions.
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Ken Newton, Jan W. Van Deth (2005), Foundations Of Comparative Politics: Democracies of the Modern World Cambridge University Press, p.144,

Thus, as Coser pointed out when he quoted Robin Williams who was said to have rediscovered Rosss insight11 that a society driven by minor cleavages is in less danger of open conflict than a society of only one or a few cleavages. Also Lipset writes (1960): Multiple and potentially inconsistent affiliations, loyalties, and stimuli reduce the emotion and aggressiveness of political choice. Just like the above examples rightly point out, there tends to be a reduction of the potentialities of conflict in cross-cut societies than in situations where coinciding cleavages exist. For instance, in discovering the linkage between SAPS and rising ethnic tensions, Prof. Adekanye notes that there was a coincidence of ethnicity and class in Rwanda when its social system became based on a dichotomy between the ruling Tutsi minority and ethnically dominating Hutu population.12 What these hypotheses emphasize in my opinion is the essentiality of communication as an effective mechanism for the mitigation of conflict intensity. In essence, communication plays a vital role in conflict management. As the various groups interact, they become sewn together, their being sewn makes it harder for group splitting, and the cross-cut nature leads to a high level of individualism in decision making, which will in turn reduce the number of persons drawn into conflict in certain circumstances.

Therefore cross cut relationships encourage the promotion of communication and correction of perceived stereotypes based on relationship and group evaluation. Thus, where there is increased communication between members of an ethnically divided society, there is increased level of understanding of behaviour and perception of such groups is geared towards positive outcomes. For instance, a common negative perception about the Hausa people is that of

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Coser, op. cit. p.170, footnote 21 See Adekanye J.A. (2007), Linking Conflict Diagnosis, Conflict Prevention and Conflict Management in Contemporary Africa, Ababa and Centre for Good Governance and Democracy p. 23, 65

religious fanaticism and strict adherence to tenets of their religion. However, such a notion is usually countered by the arguments of those who have had relations with them in the past.

In conclusion, what we have learnt from the various works of the proponents of the hypotheses is that the orientation and attitudes of a person to critical issues in the environment, and his identification with various groups determines/ plays a role in the intensity of the said conflict. In societies that are cross-cut, there will be a reduction of potentialities of conflict. However, it is also important that such potential conflict is not based on the very foundations of their relationship as it might give way to coincidence of cleavages. Communication as a factor that promotes positive perception is thus a necessity in groups that are cross-cut, as it will increase the cohesion of the group, while reinforcing groups should be encouraged to communicate in order to reduce perceived tensions.

REFERENCE Adekanye J.A. (2007), Linking Conflict Diagnosis, Conflict Prevention and Conflict Management in Contemporary Africa, Ibadan & Lagos: Ababa and Centre for Good Governance and Democracy p. 23, 65 Alan Tidwell (2001), Conflict Resolved? An analysis of conflict resolution, Continuum International Publishing Group Coser (1956), the functions of Social conflict, (New York: the Free press) G. Bingham Powell, jnr. in his Political Cleavage Structure, Cross-Pressure Processes, and Partisanship, American Journal of Political Science, Vol. 20, No. 1 (Feb., 1976), pp. 1-23 Midwest Political Science Association Stable Georg Simmel, (1955) Conflict and the web of group affiliations, trans. K.H. Wolff and R Bendix (New York: Free Press) Guia Gilardoni, (2010), Cross-cutting social circle configurations in the lives of the sons and daughters of mixed parentage, Italian Journal of Sociology of Education, 1, 2010. Hlouek Lubomr and Vit Kope"ek, Institute for Comparative Political Research Cleavages in Contemporary Czech and Slovak Politics: Between Persistence and Change a paper for the ECPR Conference - Budapest, 8-10 September 2005 Ken Newton, Jan W. Van Deth (2005), Foundations Of Comparative Politics: Democracies of the Modern World Cambridge University Press, p.144, Mario Diani, (2000), Simmel to Rokkan and Beyond: Towards a Network Theory of (New) Social movements, (Sage publications London) available at http://www.academia.edu/attachments/934513/download_file Simon Bornschier, Cleavage Politics in Old and New Democracies October 2009, Most recent version available at http://www.livingreviews.org/lrd-2009-6