Cultural conflict

Cultural conflict is a type of conflict that occurs when different cultural values and beliefs clash. Broad and narrow definitions exist for the concept, both of which have been used to explain violence (including war) and crime, on either a micro or macro scale.

Conflicting values

Jonathan H. Turner defines cultural conflict as a conflict caused by "differences in cultural values and beliefs that place people at odds with one another."[1] On a micro level, Alexander Grewe discusses a cultural conflict between guests of different culture and nationality as seen in a British 1970 sitcom, Fawlty Towers.[2] He defines this conflict as one that occurs when people's expectations of a certain behavior coming from their cultural backgrounds are not met, as others have different cultural backgrounds and different expectations.[2]

Cultural conflicts are difficult to resolve as parties to the conflict have different beliefs.[3] Cultural conflicts intensify when those differences become reflected in politics, particularly on a macro level.[3] An example of cultural conflict is the debate over abortion.[3] Ethnic cleansing is another extreme example of cultural conflict.[4] Wars can also be a result of a cultural conflict; for example the differing views on slavery were one of the reasons for the American civil war.[5]

Crime and deviance

A more narrow definition of a cultural conflict dates to Daniel Bell's 1962 essay, "Crime as an American Way of Life", and focuses on criminal-enabling consequences of a clash in cultural values.[6]

William Kornblum defines it as a conflict that occurs when conflicting norms create "opportunities for deviance and criminal gain in deviant subcultures."[6] Kornblum notes that, whenever laws impose cultural values on a group that does not share those views (often, this is the case of the majority imposing their laws on a minority), illegal markets supplied by criminals are created to circumvent those laws.[6] He discusses the example of prohibition in the interbellum United States, and notes how the cultural conflict between pro- and anti-alcohol groups created opportunities for illegal activity; another similar example he lists is that of the war on drugs.[6]

Kornblum also classifies the cultural conflict as one of the major types of conflict theory.[6] In The Clash of Civilizations Samuel P. Huntington proposes that people's cultural and religious identities will be the primary source of conflict in the post-Cold War world.

Influence and understanding

Michelle LeBaron describes different cultures as "underground rivers that run through our lives and relationships, giving us messages that shape our perceptions, attributions, judgments, and ideas of self and other."[7] She states that cultural messages "shape our understandings" when two or more people are present in regards to relationships, conflict, and peace.[7] LeBaron discusses the influence of culture as being powerful and "unconscious, influencing conflict and attempts to resolve conflict in imperceptible ways."[7] She states that the impact of culture is huge, affecting "name, frame, blame, and attempt to tame conflicts."[7] Due to the huge impact that culture has on us, LeBaron finds it important to explain the "complications of conflict:"[7]

First, "culture is multi-layered," meaning that "what you see on the surface may mask differences below the surface."
Second, "culture is constantly in flux," meaning that "cultural groups adapt in dynamic and sometimes unpredictable ways."
Third, "culture is elastic," meaning that one member of a cultural group may not participate in the norms of the culture.
Lastly, "culture is largely below the surface," meaning that it isn't easy to reach the deeper levels of culture and its meanings.

References

Jonathan H. Turner (1 September 2005). Sociology. Prentice Hall. p. 87. ISBN 978-0-13-113496-6. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
Alexander Grewe (17 October 2005). "I'm sick to death with you..." or External Character Conflicts in Fawlty Towers. GRIN Verlag. p. 10. ISBN 978-3-638-42885-9. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
Jonathan H. Turner (1 September 2005). Sociology. Prentice Hall. p. 83. ISBN 978-0-13-113496-6. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
Margaret L. Andersen; Howard F. Taylor (1 January 2012). Sociology: The Essentials. Cengage Learning. p. 72. ISBN 978-1-111-83156-1. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
Michael Fellman (19 April 1990). Inside War: The Guerrilla Conflict in Missouri During the American Civil War. Oxford University Press. p. 15. ISBN 978-0-19-506471-1. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
William Kornblum (31 January 2011). Sociology in a Changing World. Cengage Learning. pp. 191–192, 195, 197, 205. ISBN 978-1-111-30157-6. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
"Culture and Conflict". Beyond Intractability. Retrieved 2013-04-21.

Culture
Outline
Sciences	Cultural anthropology Cultural astronomy Cultural ecology Cultural geography Cultural neuroscience Cultural studies Culturology Culture theory Security culture Neuroculture
Subfields	Bioculture Cross-cultural studies Cross-cultural communication Cross-cultural leadership Cross-cultural psychiatry Cross-cultural psychology Cultural analytics Cultural economics Cultural entomology Cultural history Cultural mapping Cultural mediation Cultural psychology Cultural values Culturomics Intercultural learning Intercultural relations Internet culture Philosophy of culture Popular culture studies Postcritique Semiotics of culture Sociology of culture Sound culture Theology of culture Transcultural nursing
Types	Constructed culture Dominant culture Folk culture High culture Individualistic culture Legal culture Low culture Microculture Official culture Political culture Civic Popular culture Urban Primitive culture Subculture Alternative culture list Super culture Vernacular culture Culture by location
Aspects	Acculturation Cultural appreciation Cultural appropriation Cultural area Cultural artifact Cultural baggage Cultural behavior Cultural bias Cultural capital Cross-cultural Cultural communication Cultural conflict Cultural cringe Cultural dissonance Cultural emphasis Cultural framework Cultural heritage Cultural icon Cultural identity Cultural industry Cultural invention Cultural landscape Cultural learning Cultural leveling Cultural memory Cultural pluralism Cultural practice Cultural property Cultural reproduction Cultural system Cultural technology Cultural universal Cultureme Enculturation High- and low-context cultures Interculturality Manuscript culture Material culture Non-material culture Organizational culture Print culture Protoculture Safety culture Technoculture Trans-cultural diffusion Transculturation Visual culture
Politics	Colonial mentality Consumer capitalism Cross cultural sensitivity Cultural assimilation Cultural attaché Cultural backwardness Cultural Bolshevism Cultural conservatism Cultural contracts Cultural deprivation Cultural diplomacy Cultural environmentalism Cultural exception Cultural feminism Cultural genocide Cultural globalization Cultural hegemony Cultural imperialism Cultural intelligence Cultural liberalism Cultural nationalism Cultural pessimism Cultural policy Cultural racism Cultural radicalism Cultural retention Cultural Revolution Cultural rights Cultural safety Cultural silence Cultural subsidy Cultural Zionism Culture change Culture minister Culture of fear Culture war Deculturalization Dominator culture Interculturalism Monoculturalism Multiculturalism Biculturalism Pluriculturalism Polyculturalism Transculturism
Religions	Buddhism Christianity Catholicism Cultural Christians Protestantism Role of Christianity in civilization Eastern Orthodoxy Mormonism Cultural Hindus Islam Cultural Muslims Judaism Sikhism
Related	Animal culture Archaeological culture Bennett scale Cannabis culture Circuit of culture Civilization Coffee culture Cross-cultural Cultural center Cultural competence Cultural critic Cultural determinism Cultural diversity Cultural encoding Cultural evolutionism Cultural homogenization Cultural institution Cultural jet lag Cultural lag Cultural literacy Cultural mosaic Cultural movement Cultural mulatto Cultural probe Cultural relativism Culture speculation Cultural tourism Pop-culture Cultural translation Cultural turn Cultural sensibility Culture and menstruation Culture and positive psychology Culture and social cognition Culture gap Culture hero Culture industry Culture shock Culturgen Children's culture Culturalism Cyberculture Death and culture Disability culture Deaf culture Emotions and culture Intercultural communication Intercultural competence Languaculture Living things in culture Media culture Oppositional culture Participatory culture Permission culture Rape culture Remix culture Tea culture Transformation of culture Urban culture Welfare culture Western culture
Category Commons WikiProject Changes

Cultural conflict

Conflicting values

Crime and deviance

Influence and understanding

See also

References

Further reading