Culture and Conflict

Culture is a technical term used by anthropologists to refer to a system for creating, sending, storing, and processing information developed by human beings, which differentiates them from other life forms” (Hall, 1976). Culture is consists of ideal values and assumptions about life that are widely shared among people and that guide specific behaviors (Brislin, 1993). Culture thus defined consists of language, ideas, beliefs, customs, taboos, codes, institutions, tools, techniques, works of art, rituals, ceremonies and other related components.

Whereas, conflict has three definitions in each term. They are:

·         Objectivist

Struggle over values and claims to scarce status, power, and resources in which the aims are to neutralize, injure, or eliminate the opponents (Cosner).

·         Subjectivist

Perceived divergence of interest or belief that parties’ current aspirations cannot be achieved simultaneously (Pruitt).

·         Functional

Resolve divergent dualisms, bring about unity (Simmel).

Everywhere we find a conflict, there must be an origins that cause the conflict turn up. Origins of conflict can come from:

·         Inherent (Hobbes)

To the individual. It can be said comes from internal factor (from ourself).

·         Contingent

On factors outside the person.

·         Interactionist

¤  Human beings have needs. Needs will be pursued by all means available, but the social setting limits the degree to which they are satisfied and the means by which they are satisfied (Burton).

¤  Eight needs:  response, security, recognition, stimulation, distributive justice, meaning, rationality, control.

·         Social Constructionist

¤  Conflict is a socially constructed cultural event. Conflict emerges through an interactive process based on the search for and creation of shared meaning. Individual common sense and accumulated experience are the basis of how they create and respond to conflict. Culture is rooted in shared knowledge and schemes (Lederach).

Multiple Cultural Influences on Individuals

Not all actors, even ostensibly in the same social group or institution, necessarily carry the same array of multiple cultures (Avruch,1998). That’s all because every peoples have their own different multiple cultural influences.

·         National

·         Ethnic

·         Organizational

·         Occupational

How Important is Culture? A Skeptic’s View

·         Emphasis on culture promotes stereotyping.

·         Culture is vague. If culture is the sum of the behavioral traits of a collectivity, an inability to  agree conceptually at the appropriate level of collectivity suggests a basic problem with the    concept itself.

·         Culture draws attention to idiosyncrasies (Zartman, 1993).

Strategies for Examining Culture Differences

¨  Culture as different customs or manners

¨  Examining culture from the insider’s perspective (emic)

¨  Examining culture in terms of underlying structural characteristics (etic)

Culture as Customs

¨  Attitudes toward direct verbal vs non-verbal communication

¨  Formal vs informal protocols

¨  Attitudes toward punctuality

¨  Importance of establishing social relationships

¨  Gift-giving; reciprocity

There are two approaches to the cultural. Both of them may help us to analyse any culture. Both of them are the emic approach and etic approach.

·         The Emic Approach to Cultural Analysis

¨  Identification and analysis of key cultural concepts that provide detailed context for understanding particular national cultures.

¨  Detailed understanding of cultural touchstones may provide insight into particular conflicts and conflict resolution alternatives.

·         The Etic Approach to Cultural Analysis

¨  Identification of a set of dimensions upon which ethnic or national cultures can be placed for purposes of inter-cultural comparisons

¨   “High context, low-context”  communication style as an example

¨  Weiss’s five categories: concept of negotiation, orientation toward time, willingness to take risks, protocols and decision-making style

So How Does Culture Matter?

¨  Cultural differences may create “social distance”—and distance may reduce empathy.

¨  Different customs (e.g. silences, vague responses create misunderstandings).

¨  Differences create misperceptions, false attributions of motives and potential behavior, errors.

Cultural Variables Affecting Communication

¨  Attitudes: attitudes underlie the way we behave and communicate and the way we interpret messages from other people. Ethnocentric attitudes are a particular source of noise in cross-cultural communication.

¨  Social Organization: our perceptions can be influenced by differences in values, approach, or priorities relative to the kind of social organizations to which we belong.

¨  Thought Patterns: The logical progression of reasoning varies widely around the world.

Symbols as Culture

¨  Symbols embody an organization’s culture- the interwoven pattern of beliefs. Values, practices, and artifacts that define for members who they are and how they are to do things.

Context

¨  In high-context cultures, feelings and thoughts are not explicitly expressed; instead, one has to read between the lines and interpret meaning from one’s general understanding.

¨  In low-context cultures, where personal and business relationships are more separated, communication media have to be more explicit.  Feelings and thoughts are expressed in words, and information is more readily available.

Managing Cross-Cultural Communication

¨  Developing cultural sensitivity

¨  Careful encoding

¨  Selective transmission

¨  Careful decoding of feedback

¨  Follow-up actions

Reference:

Prajarto, YA. Nunung, dkk. 2011. Materi Kuliah Culture and Conflict. Yogyakarta: Jurusan Ilmu     Komunikasi Universitas Gadjah Mada.