Identity

Our identity plays a significant and complex role in conflict.

Our culture, values, religion, family, gender, sexuality, and ethnicity combine with other factors to create a sense of identity. Often these aspects of our identity are non-negotiable, things we hold very dear as part of who we are. They create lenses through which we see the world and interpret it so that it makes sense to us.

Our identity serves as a description of who we are, thus it is often a source of conflict. We often come in contact with people whose identities are different from ours. They value different things, their cultural norms may appear strange to us, and they may hold different religious beliefs divergent from out own. Sometimes this creates tension and conflict because we see things differently. When conflict arises around issues of identity, it seems to threaten the very core of who we are. In these situations we tend to respond by strengthening our affiliation to that with which we identify.

Identity can also serve to protract a conflict about material interests. In the heat of conflict we often seek to serve our position by creating an 'us vs. them' dynamic. So 'we' are good and right and 'they' are bad and wrong. The source of the conflict, the material interest, becomes secondary to proving our 'goodness' and there 'badness'. For example, two families have been feuding for years about rights to a piece of land. Both families tend to coalesce around their family identity. The conflict carries on for many generations because of the strong loyalty and ties to the family name and not wanting to 'lose face', even though the land dispute may have been settled long ago.

In a conflict it is important to recognise the role identities play. Sometimes our identities cloud over  the real source of the conflict. Other times issues of identity are the source of conflict.


Source:  Dunn, Larry A. (1999). Transforming Identity in Conflict. In C. Schrock-Shenk and L. Ressler (Eds), Making Peace with Conflict: Practical Skills for Conflict Transformation (pp. 25-37). Scottsdale, PA: Herald Press.

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