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Analysing the cultural dimension
The cultural dimension refers to even deeper, and often less conscious, patterns related to peace and conflict. The relationship between culture and conflict is complex and so is cultural change. Culture as a concept and in reality is hard to grasp and therefore also difficult to analyse. Let us therefore start by examining what culture is.
“Culture is many things: It is a set of lenses through which all parties of a conflict necessarily see. Resulting from the lenses’ omnipresent, we are usually unaware of their existence. Culture is also the medium in which behavioural patterns and values grow and are passed on one generation to the next. Deep-rooted conflicts become embedded in cultural stories and myths and thus more resistant to transformation. Finally, culture shapes and reflects identity formation and the way we make and assign meaning.”[1] LeBaron introduces three metaphors to facilitate an understanding of culture. First, culture is a lens: “Culture colours everything we see. It is impossible to leave our cultural lenses at the door to a process (…) Our cultural legacy gives us a range of behaviours to choose; it gives us ‘common sense’ of conflict and how to approach it.”[2] Secondly, culture acts as a medium for our behaviour and values. Culture defines the social identity of a group and creates values and norms. Lastly, LeBaron compares culture with an intimate relationship: “Culture like intimate relationships or deep friendships, is dynamic, multidirectional, and interactive. It is constantly changing, adapting, reshaping and engage[d] in a continuous exchange with other cultural systems.”[3]
Diana Francis provides another interesting definition of culture: “What I mean by culture is the patterning of assumptions about life, its realities and requirements, and intrinsic or accompanying values and norms.”[4]
Based on these two definitions, it can be concluded:
As culture is omnipresent we can conclude that it is also an important determinant in conflict situations. LeBaron contends, “Cultures affect the ways we name, frame, blame, and attempt to tame conflicts.”[5] This means that culture both influences how individuals and groups perceive and understand conflict and how they approach and deal with it. At the same time, culture – in the form of cultural differences – is seen as a cause of conflict.
Diana Francis describes the relationship between culture and conflict from the perspective that culture is a dominatory phenomenon, i.e. culture is often about domination of one group over another. In such a dominatory culture, cultural differences exacerbate emerging hostilities in conflict situations as one culture wants to dominate the other and “the otherness” is often on both sides perceived with fear. In such a configuration, cultural differences often reflect power asymmetries – one culture being more powerful than and oppressive towards another culture. Consequently “The desire to dominate or escape from domination is a constant motivation for organized violence, whether for control in existing territory or for territorial expansion (territory here being both literal and metaphorical).”[6]
While culture can be causing conflict and violent expressions of conflict, conflict in turn leads to cultural change. An often-cited example is the impact conflict has on gender norms and values in a society.[7] Another example is how the phenomenon of child soldiers profoundly changes norms and values about relationships between generations, e.g. erodes respect for elders.
Analysing the cultural dimension
The preceding paragraphs highlight that culture is a complex and dynamic phenomenon – just as conflict – and that these characteristics can be found in the relationship of conflict and culture as well. This makes an analysis of the cultural dimension of change challenging. As for the other dimensions, some questions can provide a starting point for analysis:
Notes:
“Culture is many things: It is a set of lenses through which all parties of a conflict necessarily see. Resulting from the lenses’ omnipresent, we are usually unaware of their existence. Culture is also the medium in which behavioural patterns and values grow and are passed on one generation to the next. Deep-rooted conflicts become embedded in cultural stories and myths and thus more resistant to transformation. Finally, culture shapes and reflects identity formation and the way we make and assign meaning.”[1] LeBaron introduces three metaphors to facilitate an understanding of culture. First, culture is a lens: “Culture colours everything we see. It is impossible to leave our cultural lenses at the door to a process (…) Our cultural legacy gives us a range of behaviours to choose; it gives us ‘common sense’ of conflict and how to approach it.”[2] Secondly, culture acts as a medium for our behaviour and values. Culture defines the social identity of a group and creates values and norms. Lastly, LeBaron compares culture with an intimate relationship: “Culture like intimate relationships or deep friendships, is dynamic, multidirectional, and interactive. It is constantly changing, adapting, reshaping and engage[d] in a continuous exchange with other cultural systems.”[3]
Diana Francis provides another interesting definition of culture: “What I mean by culture is the patterning of assumptions about life, its realities and requirements, and intrinsic or accompanying values and norms.”[4]
Based on these two definitions, it can be concluded:
- Culture is complex and multi-dimensional. It is a social construct in itself. There are many different cultures, which makes cultural differences inevitable.
- Culture is an important medium for the creation of norms and values for human social life. As such, culture tends to determine what we perceive as normal, appropriate and expected.
- Culture is linked to identity – it is a means to make sense of our existence and our place in life.
- Culture is constantly changing as the result of social interactions. It is a social construct. This also means: Cultural change can be influenced, but cultural change is a slow and long-term process.
As culture is omnipresent we can conclude that it is also an important determinant in conflict situations. LeBaron contends, “Cultures affect the ways we name, frame, blame, and attempt to tame conflicts.”[5] This means that culture both influences how individuals and groups perceive and understand conflict and how they approach and deal with it. At the same time, culture – in the form of cultural differences – is seen as a cause of conflict.
Diana Francis describes the relationship between culture and conflict from the perspective that culture is a dominatory phenomenon, i.e. culture is often about domination of one group over another. In such a dominatory culture, cultural differences exacerbate emerging hostilities in conflict situations as one culture wants to dominate the other and “the otherness” is often on both sides perceived with fear. In such a configuration, cultural differences often reflect power asymmetries – one culture being more powerful than and oppressive towards another culture. Consequently “The desire to dominate or escape from domination is a constant motivation for organized violence, whether for control in existing territory or for territorial expansion (territory here being both literal and metaphorical).”[6]
While culture can be causing conflict and violent expressions of conflict, conflict in turn leads to cultural change. An often-cited example is the impact conflict has on gender norms and values in a society.[7] Another example is how the phenomenon of child soldiers profoundly changes norms and values about relationships between generations, e.g. erodes respect for elders.
Analysing the cultural dimension
The preceding paragraphs highlight that culture is a complex and dynamic phenomenon – just as conflict – and that these characteristics can be found in the relationship of conflict and culture as well. This makes an analysis of the cultural dimension of change challenging. As for the other dimensions, some questions can provide a starting point for analysis:
- What cultural patterns that seem to have an impact, whether positive or negative, on how conflict is understood, approached and handled, can be identified?
- What aspects of conflict between groups are affected by cultural and worldview differences?
- In what way are (have) existing cultural patterns (been) influenced by conflict and its consequences (such as displacement, loss of life, disrupting of families)?
Notes:
[1] LeBaron, Michelle, Transforming Cultural Conflict in an Age of Complexity, in: Berghof Research Center for Constructive Conflict Management, Berghof Handbook for Conflict Transformation, 2001, p. 3. <http://www.berghof-handbook.net/uploads/download/lebaron_hb.pdf>
[2] Ibid., p. 4.
[3] Ibid., p. 9.
[4] Francis, Diana, Culture, Power Assymetries and Gender in Conflict Transformation, in: Berghof Research Center for Constructive Conflict Management, Berghof Handbook for Conflict Transformation, 2004, p. 2. <http://www.berghofhandbook.net/uploads/download/francis_handbook.pdf> (accessed 8 August 2009)
[5] LeBaron, Michelle, Culture and Conflict, in: Burgess, Guy/Burgess, Heidi, Beyond Intractability, Conflict Research Consortium, University of Colorado, Boulder. Posted: July 2003. <http://www.beyondintractability.org/essay/culture_conflict/> (accessed 10 August 2009)
[6] Francis, Diana, op. cit., p. 5.
[7] See here the description of Francis, op. cit., p. 5: “The victimization and suffering of women in war does not mean that they play no part in hostilities. Although there are impressive stories of women‘s peacemaking, women are also involved in the social polarization that lays the ground for war, and there are other stories that recount their role in encouraging and goading their men to fight and sometimes fighting themselves. At the same time, war can give women greater domestic, economic and social power than they enjoy in times of peace. When their husbands are away at war, women often become the sole breadwinners and heads of household. When families are displaced, it is often the women who manage to earn enough for them to survive, by making and selling things, for example. (Their men folk may resent this and feel marginalized, but the needs of children exert an undeniable pressure.) In industrialized societies, women may be drafted into jobs that have previously been closed to them, and in others forced into domestic service (Reimann 1999). At the same time, there are countless examples of women‘s involvement in challenging those who are waging war and in efforts to bring war to an end, as well as in caring for those displaced or otherwise affected by hostilities. (Men also may choose to take a role that deviates from their gender stereotype: opting for draft avoidance or resistance; joining the peace movement or aiding those who are victimized.) However, since wars are fought not for the rights of women but for other goals, once they are over, those who have traditionally assigned women their place in society will expect to do so once again, and it will be hard for women to hold the ground they have gained. It is even difficult for them to get redress for gender related crimes against them (particularly rape). In the aftermath of war, levels of domestic violence against women are high, and the objectification through the sex trade is common (with the male staff of UN, OSCE and other international organizations sometimes among the main users).”
References
Francis, Diana, Culture, Power Assymetries and Gender in Conflict Transformation, in: Berghof Research Center for Constructive Conflict Management, Berghof Handbook for Conflict Transformation, 2004. <http://www.berghofhandbook.net/uploads/download/francis_handbook.pdf> (accessed 8 August 2009).
LeBaron, Michelle, Transforming Cultural Conflict in an Age of Complexity, in: Berghof Research Center for Constructive Conflict Management, Berghof Handbook for Conflict Transformation, 2001. <http://www.berghof-handbook.net/uploads/download/lebaron_hb.pdf> (accessed 6 August 2009)
LeBaron, Michelle, Culture and Conflict, in: Burgess, Guy/Burgess, Heidi, Beyond Intractability, Conflict Research Consortium, University of Colorado, Boulder. Posted: July 2003. <http://www.beyondintractability.org/essay/culture_conflict/> (accessed 10 August 2009)
References
Questions adapted from Lederach, J. P./Neufeldt, Reina/Culbertson, H., Reflective Peacebuilding. A Planning, Monitoring, and Learning Toolkit, Joan B. Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies and Catholic Relief Service, 2007, p. 23. <http://crs.org/publications/showpdf.cfm?pdf_id=80> (accessed 6 August 2009)
Francis, Diana, Culture, Power Assymetries and Gender in Conflict Transformation, in: Berghof Research Center for Constructive Conflict Management, Berghof Handbook for Conflict Transformation, 2004. <http://www.berghofhandbook.net/uploads/download/francis_handbook.pdf> (accessed 8 August 2009).
LeBaron, Michelle, Transforming Cultural Conflict in an Age of Complexity, in: Berghof Research Center for Constructive Conflict Management, Berghof Handbook for Conflict Transformation, 2001. <http://www.berghof-handbook.net/uploads/download/lebaron_hb.pdf> (accessed 6 August 2009)
LeBaron, Michelle, Culture and Conflict, in: Burgess, Guy/Burgess, Heidi, Beyond Intractability, Conflict Research Consortium, University of Colorado, Boulder. Posted: July 2003. <http://www.beyondintractability.org/essay/culture_conflict/> (accessed 10 August 2009)
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