Social Conflicts and Collective Identities

By examining a highly varied set of social conflicts, the authors demonstrate the many important ways collective identities affect but also are shaped by the escalation and de-escalation of conflicts. Considering these wonderfully diverse cases compels the reader to recognize that the formation and the content of identity should be regarded as problematic. The authors provide fresh thinking and intriguing data about identity in all kinds of conflicts, suggesting ways that conflicts can be waged relatively constructively. This is an exciting book about some of the most challenging issues of the contemporary world. -- Louis Kriesberg, Syracuse University
Identity and conflict are passionate forces indeed. When they are combined, the result is a combustible mixture that can either destroy or create depending upon whether and how the mixture is handled. The simultaneously scholarly and engaged essays in this fine collection make an outstanding contribution to the growing literature on the topic, providing important insight about and ideas for handling the growing class of identity-based conflict within and between countries and communities throughout the world. -- Jay Rothman, director of the ARIA Group, Inc., author of Resloving Identity Based Conflict in Nations, Organizations and Communities
This book offers fresh theoretical insights and empirically grounded case studies on the complex interplay between identity, conflict, and conflict resolution. Highly original, well-researched, and timely, this text is an invaluable resource for teachers, researchers, and practitioners. -- Simona Sharoni, The Evergreen State College and the Consortium on Peace Research (COPRED)
Coy and Woehrle have compiled an intriguing array of scholarly articles in their new book on the dynamic role of identity in shaping conflict. Chapters in the book deal with a wide range of conflicts, from international wars to church conflicts, from school system to the environment. * Fellowship *
This book is an important contribution to peace studies, which should be in every college library. It should be on reading lists for classes at the upperclass and graduate levels. * Psa News *
Addresses this timely yet timeless topic in fresh, provocative way. It [the book] contains work by gifted scholars who are taking conflict studies to new depths. We and the field of conflict studies are their beneficiaries. * Peace and Conflict: Journal Of Peace Psychology *
This is a valuable and pertinent addition to the literature on identity and conflict, and examines a diverse range of actors, levels, and issues, in a phenomena that is now global. * Ethnic Conflict Research Digest *