The Sociology of Conflict

[DispenserJosh]

Hello all!

I'm going to be working on my dissertation for sociology in the next two years. I will be studying the sociology of conflict.

I'd like to hear your thoughts on the topic. To get some coversation/debate/arguing started here are some questions:

How has war shaped the world?

How do you feel about immigration to the UK?

What are your thoughts on the wave of unrest sweeping northern Africa? ie Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco

Have you ever been in a fight?

Discussion, ideas, thoughts are all welcome. Cheers

[johnep]

Intrigued as to why you are studying Sociology when you have an interest in pharmacy. What career do you think you will have?
War was the driver for change for 1,000's of years. Production of weapons from stone axes to modern day. War was mainly responsible for air plane development and fear of war indirectly for computers. The need for navigation by the navy drove watch development (Longitude).
Immigration to the UK started after the ice age and has continued with increasing numbers ever since. Malthus postulated that population would increase until famine resulted and we are getting perilously close to that in the world as whole.
North African unrest could lead in many directions, we have to hope that it will not lead to fundamentalist Islamic governments with the Koran or the Sword as their motto.
Like most boys who tend to attract bullies, I had a well built friend who took care of any fisticuffs. Usually I would avoid confrontation.
johnep

[DispenserJosh]

Haha, if I had a pound for everything I've been asked that question, I wouldn't need to think about a career at all!

Pharmacy is all I know in terms of paid work. Sociology is a personal interest, I know full well it offers no security in terms of a career. When I chose to do sociology the country was in a far better place economically... I was also more naive! If you were to ask me whether I'd be doing sociology if I had to pay the higher tuition fees of 2012, I would say no, with a sad face.

It is true that the 'constructive' advantages of war are vast, many would argue that war is the only real driving force for progressing the human race. However, the devastation of war is very difficult to ignore, especially if you were apart of it. My (very foetal) theory is that all these conflicts in the middle east and unrest in north Africa and general 'uncertainty' of global politics is changing the way we think of immigration. Many students I have spoken to feel students who i would believe to be fairly tolerant of immigration, showed surprising signs of animosity to immigrants. in some cases it came across as fear.

Lets hope it doesn't lead to another Enoch Powell 'Rivers of Blood' speech.

What would we do without our well built comrades! But bullying is another example of conflict in society, the bullies and the bullied portray the aggressor and the pacifist very well. Bullies see conflict as a means of status, or perhaps the only method to get one up on the competition? If you are too ignorant to do well at school, get rid of those that are doing better than you!

***Just to let you know... I WILL NOT be quoting any of the discussion of this thread in my work, if I need to use anything, who should I contact regarding issues of consent?***

[johnep]

I lived through WW2 and remember the blitz well and watching dogfights over the local air field. I was evacuated to Ipswich and then Bradford on Avon for a few months and just escaped going to Canada on The City of Benares which was sunk by a submarine. One day heard some aircraft engines looked out of the window and then dodged back behind the wall as heard guns.
The house opposite had a bomb through the downstairs window which killed all within and my bed was covered in broken glass.

On the way to school we searched avidly for shrapnel. Have an anti aircraft shell nose cone dated 1942 beside me as I type.

When we had the post war boom, English people did not want comparatively low paid jobs so the bus companies imported cheap labour from the West Indies. Then we were short of Drs etc and Asians came to work in the inner cities while UK trained Drs looked to the leafy suburbs.

Nowadays the low paid jobs are taken by immigrants because the benefits system pays more than work.

Orson Welles forecast an invasion by little yellow men arriving in aeroplanes, we are being invaded, but called immigration today.

My ancestors were invaders, coming over to Sussex in 1066.

Historically, this situation has been resolved by Plague, Pestilence, War and Famine. In the 30s it was war, in the 20teens who knows?.
johnep

[DispenserJosh]

That's a really interesting account! I always enjoyed hearing about life during the war from my grand parents and hearing about the struggles they went through. I actually live in Ipswich when I'm not at university! Ipswich itself has a very large European population.

I did a unit on Immigration and Racism last year which has inspired me to look at the topic further. I find it hard to understand the BNP's and the EDL's motivations and arguments when we live in a country that's very history is built on a foundation of years of immigration and colonisation.

Plague, Pestilence, War and Famine are forms of resolution, but aren't they also the cause too? Political refugees seek asylum from their war-torn countries and corrupt governments, the Irish fled to the Americas en masse to escape the famine.

Yes, the 20teens! Some have called it the age of uncertainty, nobody really knows where the world is going...apart from around the sun.

I have another question actually! I've also studied masculinity during my time in Portsmouth, and many theorists argue that we are experience a masculinity crisis. Some say this is due to guilt, as the two world wars began in patriarchal society. Men feel guilty because so many lives were lost due to the actions of past generations ruled solely by men. I want to know if people agree? I for one believe its a small part of a bigger picture....

[hibernia]

Since 'peace' has broken out in Ireland, conflict studies seems to be the only growth industry in the country.
Former combatants, on both sides, now have careers as diverse as politicians, writers, tour guides, performance artists, lecturers, academics and of course sociologists. Much better then shooting or bombing people but I can't help feeling they have come out much better than their victims.

It raises an interesting question about immigration. Can the consequences continue for 300-400 years?

[DispenserJosh]

It raises an interesting question about immigration. Can the consequences continue for 300-400 years?

A very interesting question indeed. One that cannot be answered objectively anyway! Unless the world ends in 2012 like the film would suggest....in which case your answer would be no! Just as well Hollywood isn't representing reality in this example!

Unfortunately as long as there are winners, there will always be losers, as is the way of the battlefield and the football stadium alike.

The consequences of immigration are vast and no long term solution seems possible at present. I don't think its something you can put to a scale of time, as johnep stated, immigration has been going on as far back as 1066, and beyond. Is it too utopian to believe that these consequences will one day be harnessed to be advantageous?

[trulylovelyperson]

What are you.......twelve?

Have had a hard day.

[johnep]

Mention of Ireland shows one of the consequences of immigration. During the Highland Clearances, large numbers crossed the sea into Northern Ireland taking their beliefs with them. Not sure if the 'Red Hand' incident was at this time. The 'troubles' stem from this. Or do they?
johnep

[Defblade]

Malthus postulated that population would increase until famine resulted and we are getting perilously close to that in the world as whole.

Just reading the other day that increasing urbanisation may save us here. Conditins in slums etc may look bad to us, but are still better than rural conditions in many places. Lower infant mortality and less need to have farmhands around you leads to smaller family sizes, finally flattening the demographic curve; in the meantime, giving up subsistance farming leads to those areas becoming available for commercial farming which is much much much more efficient (although not wothout its own problems....). It seems it does like world population may reach a peak without the 4 riders intervening.