The Handbook of Social and Political Conflict E-Book

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Serie: Handbooks in Communication and Media
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 1245

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2025

Beschreibung

Provides real-world insights into social and political conflict across disciplines

The Handbook of Social and Political Conflict offers a comprehensive exploration of conflict from a variety of disciplinary perspectives, merging insights from fields including sociology, political science, psychology, communication, and conflict resolution. Bringing together original work by experts from around the world, this authoritative volume provides readers with a deep understanding of the mechanisms, causes, and consequences of conflict.

Designed for those who wish to bridge academic disciplines, the Handbook both advances theoretical understanding and offers practical conflict resolution strategies that can be applied in a broad range of contexts, from interpersonal disputes to international tensions. Each in-depth chapter tackles a unique concept while maintaining a coherent narrative that spans topics such as political polarization, the rhetoric of social control, the role of technology in shaping conflict behaviors, and much more.

Presenting new theoretical perspectives and tools to address today's most pressing issues, the Handbook of Social and Political Conflict:

• Examines contemporary issues such as political polarization, social ostracism, cancel culture, and information warfare
• Contains in-depth analysis of critical contemporary issues such as the role of technology, artificial intelligence, and media in modern conflict
• Addresses both adversarial and cooperative approaches to conflict resolution
• Incorporates cutting-edge research and theoretical frameworks on contemporary social and political conflicts
• Offers practical approaches to fostering resilience, peacebuilding, and critical media literacy

Whether examining the escalation of political tensions or exploring the potential for peacebuilding, the Handbook of Social and Political Conflict is ideal for graduate and advanced undergraduate students in conflict resolution, political science, sociology, and communication studies. It is also an invaluable reference for professionals working in conflict management, diplomacy, international relations, and social advocacy.

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Cover

Table of Contents

Series Page

Title Page

Copyright Page

Tables and Figures

Notes on Contributors

1 Introduction

A Chaos of Disciplines

Antinomies of Conflict Thought

In This Volume: The Concepts

The Roots of the Social and Political

Root Narratives

Bridges Across the Divides

Section I: Polarization, Moral Outrage, and Extremism

2 Polarization

Introduction

Evolving and Diversifying Definitions of Polarization

Illustrative Example

Critical Examination

Conclusion and Future Directions

References

3 Intergroup Emotions in Intergroup Conflicts: Power Disparities Perspective

Introduction

Definitions of the Topic and Previous Studies

The Role of Intergroup Emotions in Conflicts

Intergroup Conflict Emotions and Intragroup and Intergroup Processes

Categorization of Emotions

Power Disparities in Conflict and Intergroup Emotions

Emotions and Power Disparities

Conclusions and Future Directions

References

4 How Political and Social Conflict Enter into the Corporate Realm: Scansis as an Exemplar of Moral Outrage‐Inducing Crises

Illustrative Example 1: Traditional Scansis

Illustrative Case 2: Polarization and Scansis

Critical Examination

Conclusion

References

5 Illiberalism as a Conceptual Prism for Studying Political and Social Conflict

Introduction

Defining Illiberalism

Reconceptualizing Social and Political Conflict Through Illiberalism

Conclusion

References

Note

6 Connective Action and Digital Surrogate Organizations

Introduction

Connective Action and Digital Surrogate Organizations

The Republican Party, Digitally Enabled Surrogate Organizations, and the 2020 Presidential Election: An Illustrative Example

Critical Examinations

Conclusion and Future Directions

References

Note

7 Trojan Horse Discourse

Definitions of the Topic and Previous Studies

Illustrative Example

Conclusion and Future Directions

References

8 Culture Wars in Central Europe

Introduction

Definitions and Changing Usage of “Culture Wars”

Culture Wars in Central Europe

Culture Wars in Question

Conclusion

Acknowledgments

References

9 Extremist Aggression

The Social Psychology of Right‐Wing Extremists

Political Pathologies

A Model of Political Narcissism

Conclusion

References

Notes

Section II: Systems of Power and Rhetorics of Control

10 Rhetoric of Social Conflict

Introduction

Evolution of Rhetorical Theory

Rhetorical Criticism and Social Conflict

Mapping the War on Woke

Concluding Remarks

References

11 Securitization

Introduction

Defining Securitization and Trends in Securitization Research

Illustrative Example: Securitization of COVID‐19

Critical Examination

Conclusion and Future Directions

References

12 Cancel Culture Rhetoric

Introduction

Defining and Theorizing Cancel Culture

Canceling Dr. Seuss

Critical Examination

Conclusion and Future Directions

References

13 Spiral of Silence and Social Conflict

Origin of the Spiral of Silence Theory

Contemporary Uses and Applications of the Spiral of Silence Theory

Silence, Expression, and Social Conflict

Real‐World Example: Immigration

Consequences of Silence

Limitations and Future Directions

References

14 Social Ostracism and Conflict

Temporal Need Threat Model of Social Ostracism

Ostracism and Social Conflict (Aggression)

Ostracism and Societal Conflict (Extremism)

Related Concept: Social Isolation

Critical Examination of Social Ostracism and Conflict

Conclusions and Future Directions

References

15 Bureaucracy

Introduction

Definitions of the Topic and Previous Studies

Bureaucracy in Practice

Critical Examination

Conclusion and Future Directions

References

16 Complexity and Distributed Governance

Introduction

Definitions of the Topics and Previous Studies

Complex Systems

Distributed Governance in More Detail

Distributed Governance as an Aim

Illustrative Example

Critical Examination

Conclusion and Future Directions

Acknowledgments

References

Section III: Narrative, World-Building, and Imagination

17 Applying Structurational Divergence Theory to Sociopolitical Conflict

Introduction

Structurational Divergence Theory

Structurational Divergence Literature

Conceptual Advancement and Illustrative Examples

Critical Examination

Conclusion and Future Directions

References

18 Sociomaterial Actors in Political Moral Conflict

Sociomaterial Actors in Political Moral Conflict

Moral Conflict Theory

Charting Actor–Networks in Political Moral Conflict: An Illustrative Example

Critical Examination of Moral Conflict Theory

Conclusion and Future Directions

References

19 Political Conflict Frames

Introduction

Definition of Conflict Framing

Illustrative Example: The Climate Change Debate

Conclusion and Future Directions

References

20 Gossip

Introduction

What Is Gossip?

How Powerful Is Gossip in Shaping Reputations?

Gossip, Conflict, and Interpersonal Competition

When and Why Are Some Reputations Resistant to Change?

Critical Examination

Conclusion and Future Directions

References

21 The Epistemic Eclipse: Narrative, Ideology, and the Political Situation

Introducing Ideology and the Rhetorical Situation

The Political Situation: Ideology and Narrative

The Epistemic Eclipse: Root Narrative Grammar and a Sociology of Meaning

Conclusion

References

Notes

22 Songworld

Introduction

The Songworld‐as‐Lifeworld

The Songworld‐as‐Worldbuilding

Two Illustrative Examples

Critical Discussion

Conclusion and Future Directions

References

Notes

Section IV: Media, Misinformation, and Popular Culture

23 The Tricksters of Permanent Liminality

Introduction

On Liminality and the Trickster

The Media as a Trickster Playground

Trickster Strategies of Disturbance and Control

Media Effects of Permanent Liminality

Liminality as Permanent Revolution, Permanent War, and a Permanent Fair

Conclusion: Discourse Dislocation

References

Notes

24 Persuasive Attack and Defense in Social and Political Conflict

Introduction

Persuasive Attack

Image Repair (Persuasive Defense)

Conclusion

References

25 Character Assassination in Politics: Gendered and Racialized Attacks on Kamala Harris

Introduction

Definitions of the Topic and Previous Studies

Illustrative Example: The Character Assassination of Kamala Harris

“Harris Is Mean”

“Harris Is Inauthentic”

“Harris Is Not a Citizen”

Critical Examination of the Case and Character Assassination Framework

Conclusion and Future Directions

References

26 Ridicule in Late‐Night Political Humor in the United States: Contours and Consequences

Introduction

Definitions of the Topic and Previous Studies

Illustrative Example: Trump as the Target (and Sometime Source) of Mockery

How Much Mockery Is There? Political Humor Content Analysis

Critical Examination

Conclusion and Future Directions

Acknowledgments

References

27 Artificial Intelligence

Introduction

Definitions of the Topic and Previous Studies

Illustrative Example

Discussion

Conclusion

References

Notes

28 Visual Misinformation

Introduction

Conceptualizing Visual Misinformation

Forms of Visual Misinformation

Effects of Visual Misinformation

Implications for Future Research

Conclusion

References

29 Information Warfare as a Theoretical Construct and an Operational Practice

Introduction

Information Warfare as an Academic Theoretical Construct

Information Warfare as a Generational Phenomenon

Information Warfare as an Operational Practice

Conclusion and Future Directions

References

Section V: Resilience, Humanity, and Hope

30 Escalation and De‐escalation

Introduction

Definitions and Models

Elements of Escalation and De‐escalation

Illustrative Examples

Critical Examination

Conclusion and Future Directions

References

31 Immunity

Introduction

Definitions of the Topic and Previous Studies

The Biopolitical Context of Immunity

Affirmative Immunity

Autoimmunity

Illustrative Example

Critical Examination

Conclusion and Future Directions

References

32 Positive Peace

Introduction

Emergence and Contradiction: The Work of Johan Galtung

Positive Peace Today

Positive Peace: Pragmatic and Transformative Approaches

Positive Peace and Peacebuilding

References

33 Communication Approaches to Community Peacebuilding

Centering Community Peacebuilding Approaches

The Case of

Together We Stand NC

Concluding Remarks

References

34 Human Rights

Introduction

The Concept of Human Rights

Critical Examination

Rights in Conflict: Women’s Rights Versus Trans Rights

Conclusion and Future Directions

References

35 Women’s Rights Advocacy in Africa

Introduction

Conflict Theory and New Social Movements

Women’s Rights Advocacy Groups

Media, Politics, and Advocacy

The Emergence of Women’s Rights Groups in Africa

Conclusion and Future Directions

References

Notes

36 Inoculation Theory and Conspiracy, Radicalization, and Violent Extremism

Introduction

Definitions of the Topic and Previous Studies

Illustrative Example

Critical Examination

Conclusion and Recommendations for Future Directions

References

37 Constructive Conflict and Critical Media Literacy

Introduction

Hyper‐partisan News Media

Critical Media Literacy

Critical Media Literacy Education

Conclusion

References

38 The End of War: On the Future of State Violence

Introduction

Definitions of the Topic and Previous Studies

Illustrative Example

Conclusion and Future Directions

References

39 Conclusions, Key Takeaways, and Implications

Polarization and Intergroup Emotions

Illiberalism

The Rhetoric of Conflict

The Role of Media

Conflict Resolution and Peace Building

Future Research

Index

End User License Agreement

List of Tables

Chapter 21

Table 21.1 The Twelve Root Narratives. Adapted from Simmons (2020, Table 3....

Chapter 24

Table 24.1 Strategies of Persuasive Attack.

Table 24.2 Strategies for Image Repair.

Chapter 26

Table 26.1 Proportion of Jokes About the Major Party Presidential Nominees....

Table 26.2 Logistic Regression: Learning from Late‐Night Comedy.

Chapter 30

Table 30.1 Dimensions of Escalation, De‐escalation Is Inverse. (Adapted and...

Chapter 35

Table 35.1 Top 10 Countries with the Highest Women Representation in Parlia...

List of Illustrations

Chapter 1

Figure 1.1 The Big Four Root Narratives.

Chapter 3

Figure 3.1 Emotion Categorization Model.

Chapter 17

Figure 17.1 Structurational Divergence: The SD‐Nexus and the SD‐Cycle.

Chapter 32

Figure 32.1 Model of Conflict Stages with Escalation and De‐Escalation.

Chapter 33

Figure 33.1 The Back of the TWS Wearables That Send a Socially Relevant Mess...

Figure 33.2 Courageous Conversations Taking Place at the MAUD 2.23 Event. Fr...

Chapter 35

Figure 35.1 #Equality Walk Campaign.

Figure 35.2 The UNITE Activism to End Violence Poster Reposted by the Nigeri...

Figure 35.3 Women’s Political Progress in Africa Since 2000.

Chapter 37

Figure 37.1 Critical Media Literacy Framework.

Guide

Cover Page

Table of Contents

Series Page

Title Page

Copyright Page

Tables and Figures

Notes on Contributors

Begin Reading

Index

Wiley End User License Agreement

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The Handbook of Social and Political Conflict

This series provides theoretically ambitious but accessible volumes devoted to the major fields and subfields within communication and media studies. Each volume provides experienced scholars and teachers with a convenient and comprehensive overview of the latest trends and critical directions, while grounding and orientating students with a broad range of specially commissioned chapters.

Published

The Handbook of Applied Communication Research, edited by H. Dan O’Hair and Mary John O’HairThe Handbook of European Communication History, edited by Klaus Arnold, Paschal Preston, and Susanne KinnebrockThe Handbook of Magazine Studies, edited by Miglena Sternadori and Tim HolmesThe Handbook of Rhetoric and Organizations, edited by Øyvind Ihlen and Robert L. HeathThe Handbook of Communication Engagement, edited by Kim A. Johnston and Maureen TaylorThe Handbook of Financial Communication and Investor Relations, edited by Alexander V. LaskinThe Handbook of Global Media Research, edited by Ingrid VolkmerThe Handbook of Global Online Journalism, edited by Eugenia Siapera and Andreas VeglisThe Handbook of Media and Mass Communication Theory, edited by Robert S. Fortner and P. Mark FacklerThe Handbook of Psychology of Communication Technology, edited by S. Shyam SundarThe Handbook of International Crisis Communication Research, edited by Andreas Schwarz, Matthew W. Seeger, and Claudia AuerThe Handbook of Listening, edited by Deborah Worthington and Graham BodieThe Handbook of Peer Production, edited by Mathieu O’Neil, Christian Pentzold, and Sophie ToupinThe Handbook of Strategic Communication, edited by Carl H. BotanThe Handbook of Communication Rights, Law, and Ethics, edited by Loreto Corredoira, Ignacio Bel Mallen, Rodrigo Cetina PreuselThe Handbook of Public Sector Communication, edited by Vilma Luoma‐aho and Maria‐Jose CanelThe Handbook of Crisis Communication, Second Edition, edited by W. Timothy Coombs and Sherry J. HolladayThe Handbook of Critical Intercultural Communication, edited by Thomas K. Nakayama and Rona Tamiko HalualaniThe Handbook of Social and Political Conflict, edited by Sergei A. Samoilenko and Solon Simmons

The Handbook of Social and Political Conflict

Edited by

Sergei A. Samoilenko

Solon Simmons

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Tables and Figures

Figure 1.1

:

The Big Four Root Narratives

Figure 3.1

:

Emotion Categorization Model

Figure 17.1

:

Structurational Divergence: The SD‐Nexus and the SD‐Cycle

Table 21.1

:

The Twelve Root Narratives

Table 24.1

:

Strategies of Persuasive Attack

Table 24.2

:

Strategies for Image Repair

Table 26.1

:

Proportion of Jokes About the Major Party Presidential Nominees

Table 26.2

:

Logistic Regression: Learning from Late‐Night Comedy

Table 30.1

:

Dimensions of Escalation, De‐escalation Is Inverse

Figure 32.1

:

Model of Conflict Stages with Escalation and De‐escalation

Figure 33.1

:

The Back of the TWS Wearables That Send a Socially Relevant Message and Tell a Story

Figure 33.2

:

Courageous Conversations Taking Place at the MAUD 2.23 Event

Figure 35.1

:

#Equality Walk Campaign

Figure 35.2

:

The UNITE Activism to End Violence Poster Reposted by the Nigerian Women Trust Fund (the NWTF)

Figure 35.3

:

Women’s Political Progress in Africa Since 2000

Table 35.1

:

Top 10 Countries with the Highest Women Representation in Parliament

Figure 37.1

:

Critical Media Literacy Framework

Notes on Contributors

Oluseyi Adegbola (PhD, Texas Tech) is an assistant professor of public relations in the College of Communication and Information (CCI) at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. His research interests include how access to public affairs information shapes political engagement and public opinion in emerging and established democracies, as well as public relations and strategic communication within the context of politics and government. His work has been published in journals including Social Media & Society, Public Relations Review, The International Journal of Press/Politics, and the International Journal of Communication among other notable publications.

Vincent August is a professor of social theory at Humboldt‐Universität zu Berlin and the head of the research group “Ecological conflicts” (co‐headed by André Brodocz and funded by the Gerda Henkel Foundation). He has been a visiting researcher at the University of California at Berkeley, the Berlin Social Science Center (WZB), the Weizenbaum Institute of the Networked Society, and the University of Erfurt. He is the co‐editor of the Theorieblog, the leading science blog on social and political theory in Germany and receiver of the Pollux research blog of the year award. His research on conflict focuses on conflict dynamics, cleavage constellations, and the ecological transformation of democracies. He has recently published “Understanding democratic conflicts: The failures of agonistic theory” in the European Journal of Political Theory. In addition, he investigates the history of contemporary ideas such as transparency, networks, flexibility, or resilience.

William L. Benoit (PhD, Wayne State University, 1979) is a distinguished professor in the Communication Department at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He has published 21 books and a host of journal articles and book chapters in prominent communication outlets. He is widely cited for his Theory of Image Repair and the Theory of Persuasive Attack.

Clifford Bob is a professor and the chair of political science and the Raymond J. Kelley Endowed Chair in International Relations at Duquesne University. He holds a PhD in political science from MIT and a JD in law from New York University. He has written many academic articles and several books, including The Marketing of Rebellion: Insurgents, Media, and International Support that was published by Cambridge University Press in 2005 and won the International Studies Association (ISA) Book of the Year Award. His next book, The Global Right Wing and the Clash of World Politics (Cambridge, 2012), won the ISA Book of the Decade Award in 2020. His most recent book is Rights as Weapons: Instruments of Conflict, Tools of Power, published in 2019 by Princeton University Press. He has won fellowships from the Social Science Research Council, American Council of Learned Societies, U.S. Institute of Peace, Transatlantic Academy, and Fulbright Global Scholar program.

Kurt Braddock is an assistant professor of public communication and Faculty Fellow at the Center for Media and Social Impact at American University. His research focuses on the persuasive strategies employed by extremist groups that serve to recruit and/or radicalize audiences. His work has been published in multiple communication and security journals, including Communication Monographs, New Media and Society, Terrorism and Political Violence, Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, and others. His first book, Weaponized Words: The Strategic Role of Persuasion in Violent Radicalization and Counter‐Radicalization, was published by Cambridge University Press in 2020. In addition to his scholarly work, He advises a number of national and international organizations on issues related to communication and extremism, including the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, The U.K. Home Office, Public Safety Canada, and the U.N. Counterterrorism Executive Directorate.

Axel Bruns is an Australian Laureate Fellow and professor in the Digital Media Research Centre at Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, Australia. His books include Are Filter Bubbles Real? (2019), Gatewatching and News Curation: Journalism, Social Media, and the Public Sphere (2018), and The Routledge Companion to Social Media and Politics (2016).

Iulian Chifu, PhD, is the president of the Conflict Prevention and Early Warning Center, Bucharest, an NGO that is specializing in research on international relations, conflict analysis, and decision‐making in crisis. He is a professor at the National Defense University Bucharest and an associate professor at the National University for Political and Administrative Studies. In addition, he serves as an advisor to the president of the Romanian Senate for foreign policy, security, and strategic affairs. He was the Presidential Counsellor for Strategic Affairs and International Security, Romanian Presidency, between 2012–2014 and Presidential Counsellor for Strategic Affairs, Security and Foreign Policy between 2011and 2012 for the Romanian President Traian Băsescu. Between 2021 and 2023 he was the State Counsellor for Foreign Affairs, Security and Strategic Affairs of the Romanian prime minister. He acts now as a Counsellor of the president of the Romanian Senate. He has two doctoral degrees: the first in contemporary history and international relations and the other one in intelligence and national security. He is an author and co‐author of more than 58 books and hundreds of articles.

Innocent Chiluwa is a professor in English linguistics (discourse analysis) and media/communication studies. He is Humboldt scholar and visiting professor at the Department of English, University of Freiburg. His research interests include discourse analysis, media and conflict studies, social movement studies, critical discourse analysis, online activism, hate studies, disinformation, and deception studies, terrorism, and political violence.

Spencer D. Choate received his MA from San Jose State University in communication studies. He is a professor in communication studies at the Los Rios Community College District in Sacramento. He currently teaches at both Cosumnes River College and American River College.

Tariq Choucair is a postdoctoral research associate at QUT’s Digital Media Research Centre. He investigates online political conversations using manual and computational methods. His work includes the book Deliberative System and Interconnected Media in Times of Uncertainty (Palgrave, 2023) and papers published by Political Studies, Political Research Exchange, and other journals.

Kristen L. Cole is an associate professor in communication studies at San José State University. She investigates how political, rhetorical, and social forces enable and constrain the capacity for people to navigate their lived experiences as they pursue a more habitable world. Her research has been published in Review of Communication, Critical Studies in Media Communication, Rhetoric of Health and Medicine, Health Communication, and Communication, Culture, & Critique.

Josh Compton is professor of speech at Dartmouth College. He has been studying inoculation as a way to confer resistance to influence for more than 20 years. His scholarship appears in Communication Monographs, Communication Theory, Human Communication Research, Journal of Communication, and others. He authored the inoculation theory chapter in The Sage Handbook of Persuasion (Sage) and co‐authored the inoculation theory chapter in Persuasion and Communication in Sport, Physical Activity, and Exercise (Taylor Francis)—a book that he co‐edited and that won the 2022 Distinguished Book Award from the Communication and Social Cognition Division of NCA. He is co‐editor of a forthcoming book on inoculation theory. Josh has been an invited expert for the Department of Defense’s Strategic Multilayer Assessment program (USA) and NATO’s and USSOCOM’s Joint Senior Psychological Operations Conference, and he is a member of the Global Experts on Debunking of Misinformation group. He has been named Distinguished Lecturer by Dartmouth College, he won the Outstanding Professor Award from the National Speakers Association, and he has twice won the L. E. Norton Award for Outstanding Scholarship.

W. Timothy Coombs (PhD, Purdue University) is an advisor for the Centre for Crisis and Risk Communications. His primary area of research and consulting is crisis communication. His works include the award‐winning book Ongoing Crisis Communication, co‐editing The Handbook of Crisis Communication, and co‐writing Strategic Sport Communication: Traditional and Transmedia Strategies for a Global Sport Market. His crisis communication research has won multiple awards from professional organizations including the Jackson, Jackson & Wagner Behavioral Science Prize. He is a fellow in the International Communication Association.

Jeroen de Ridder is a full professor of political epistemology at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands. His research focuses on issues in social epistemology, philosophy of science, and philosophy of religion.

Michael D. English is the director and assistant teaching professor for the Peace, Conflict, and Security Program at the University of Colorado Boulder. He is the author of The US Institute of Peace: A Critical History (2018). Michael holds a doctorate in Conflict Resolution from what is now George Mason University’s Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution. He also serves as a board member for Friendship Force International.

Stephen J. Farnsworth (PhD, Georgetown University) is a professor of political science and director of the Center for Leadership and Media Studies at the University of Mary Washington. He is the author or co‐author of nine books on the U.S. presidency, public opinion, and the mass media.

Katharina Esau is a postdoctoral research associate at QUT’s Digital Media Research Centre. She specializes in the field of political communication, focusing on the intersection of networked digital publics, democratic innovations, and computational mixed methods. She published her first book Kommunikationsformen und Deliberationsdynamik (Communication Forms and Dynamic of Deliberation) in 2022.

Adalberto Fernandes (PhD in philosophy of science, MA in communication and bio‐ethics, BA in communication) is a researcher at the Institute of Contemporary History—NOVA University Lisbon. He has authored or co‐authored 16 articles and chapters and delivered 19 presentations on science communication, health communication, participatory processes in science, science festivals, psychology in the media, risk, post‐truth, political communication, soft power, biopolitics, bioethics, censorship, critical discourse analysis, social epistemology, science and technology studies, and Michel Foucault.

Sherice Gearhart (PhD, Texas Tech) is an associate professor of public relations & strategic communication management in the College of Media & Communication at Texas Tech University. Her research interests include how audiences use media to form and express opinions, especially in online contexts. Her focus on public opinion has led to exploring topics related to health, science, and the environment. Her scholarship appears in journals such as Communication Research, Environmental Communication, and The International Journal of Press/Politics, among others. She has authored several chapters including a theoretical chapter on Visual Intertextuality Theory: Exploring Political Communication and Visual Intertextuality through Meme Wars in The Handbook of Visual Communication: Theory, Methods, & the Media (Routledge). Gearhart previously served as the head of the Political Communication Division at the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.

Francesca Giardini is an associate professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Groningen (NL) and a member of the Interuniversity Center for Social Science Theory and Methodology (ICS). She uses analytical sociology, agent‐based modeling, and lab experiments to investigate the mechanisms of social sustainability and resilience. She is interested in understanding how individual minds are geared to produce social phenomena, with a special interest in reputation‐based cooperation, gossip, and collective risk perception. She is the director of the research theme “Risk, crises and resilience” of the Rudolf Agricola School for Sustainable Development at the University of Groningen. She is the co‐editor of the Oxford Handbook of Gossip and Reputation (2019), and she has published several chapters on gossip and reputation. Her work is featured in different disciplinary and inter‐disciplinary journals, including Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, Human Nature, JASSS, and Scientific Reports.

Eran Halperin is a full professor in the Faculty of Psychology at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and is the head and founder of aChord: Social Psychology for Social Change. He also leads the Psychology of Intergroup Conflict and Reconciliation (PICR) Lab, which is devoted to the study and development of social‐psychological interventions to improve intergroup relations.

Andrew H. Hales is an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Mississippi. He researches the causes and consequences of ostracism and social influence more generally.

Michael Hameleers is an associate professor in political communication at the Amsterdam School of Communication Research (ASCoR), Amsterdam, The Netherlands. His research interests include populism, disinformation, and corrective information.

Zora Hesová is a lecturer at the Department for Political Science at Faculty of Arts, Charles University, in Prague. She works on religion in contemporary politics and on polarizing conflicts in Central and South‐Eastern Europe. She led research projects on culture wars in Central Europe and on the consequences of societal polarization. She has authored a book on the philosophy of Abu Hamid al‐Ghazali, edited several volumes including Central Europe Culture Wars: Beyond Post‐Communism and Populism, and published research articles on culture wars, religion, populism, and Islamophobia.

Nolan Higdon is a founding member of the Critical Media Literacy Conference of the Americas, Project Censored National Judge, author, and lecturer at Merrill College and the Education Department at University of California, Santa Cruz. Higdon’s areas of concentration include podcasting, digital culture, news media history, propaganda, and critical media literacy. All of Higdon’s work is available at Substack (https://nolanhigdon.substack.com/). He is the author of The Anatomy of Fake News: A Critical News Literacy Education (2020); Let’s Agree to Disagree: A Critical Thinking Guide to Communication, Conflict Management, and Critical Media Literacy (2022); The Media and Me: A Guide to Critical Media Literacy for Young People (2022); and the forthcoming Surveillance Education: Navigating the Conspicuous Absence of Privacy in Schools (Routledge). Higdon is a regular source of expertise for CBS, NBC, The New York Times, and The San Francisco Chronicle.

Oakley T. Hill is a PhD candidate at George Mason University’s Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution, where he also works as an adjunct lecturer and research assistant. He holds a master of science degree in conflict analysis and resolution from GMU and a bachelor of science degree in the integrated studies of moral philosophy and peace studies from Utah Valley University. He has published research on various topics, such as political legitimacy, conflict mediation, and religious evolution. His current research interests include moral‐political meaning‐making, religious deconversion, and U.S. political conflict.

Martijn Icks is a senior lecturer in ancient history at the University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands. His publications include The Crimes of Elagabalus (2011), Character Assassination Throughout the Ages (2014, co‐edited with Eric Shiraev), and The Routledge Handbook of Character Assassination and Reputation Management (2020, co‐edited with Sergei Samoilenko, Jennifer Keohane, and Eric Shiraev).

Jessica K. Jameson (PhD, Temple University) is a professor and department head in the Department of Communication at North Carolina State University. She studies organizational conflict management with an emphasis on collaboration, interpersonal conflict, third‐party intervention, and online conflict management.

Nur Kassem is a PhD student in psychology at the Hebrew University. Her research explores the emotional experiences of disadvantaged minorities and their social connections within contexts dominated by advantaged groups.

Jennifer Keohane is an associate professor at the University of Baltimore, where she directs the program in Digital Communication. She is the author of Communist Rhetoric and Feminist Voices in Cold War America. Her scholarship has also appeared in journals like Rhetoric Society Quarterly, Women’s Studies in Communication, the Journal for the History of Rhetoric, and others.

Jaymelee J. Kim is a broadly trained anthropologist whose work seeks to improve the human condition through justice‐ and forensic‐based research, capacity building, and outreach. Thematically, her research focuses on forensic intervention for both the living and the dead in the aftermath of mass violence and disasters. She is board certified by the American Board of Forensic Anthropology and an assistant professor in Wayne State University's Department of Anthropology. Dr. Kim has conducted research projects in a wide variety of contexts, including work on the meaning of “reconciliation” and issues surrounding Indian Residential School deaths in Canada, human trafficking interventions and practitioner challenges in rural Ohio, and COVID‐19 governmental discourse and policy. Dr. Kim is also a member of a research team that spans government and academic sectors, working on a multiyear project in northern Uganda to identify rural understandings of forensic capabilities, identify the sociopolitical and cultural barriers to forensic intervention, and to understand how human remains impact survivors. Her research uses mixed methods approaches with emancipatory theoretical frameworks that critically analyze settler‐colonialism, transitional justice processes, and governmental discourse.

Marlene Laruelle is a research professor of international affairs and the director of the Illiberalism Studies Program at the George Washington University. Trained in political philosophy, she explores how nationalism and conservative values are becoming mainstream in different cultural contexts. Her website is https://www.marlene‐laruelle.com/

Farah Latif (PhD) is a scholar of personal reputations and political communication. Latif is a research fellow at George Mason University's Center for Media and Public Affairs. She works as a communications strategist in the tech industry.

Gordana Lazić is an assistant professor and the director of the basic course in the Department of Communication, Media, Journalism, and Film at Missouri State University. Her scholarship concerns the intersection of rhetoric, pedagogy, and politics and engages a wide array of artifacts and practices, including cultural art forms, popular culture, and media as a site of political struggle. She has published in venues such as Communication Studies, Communication Quarterly, Quarterly Journal of Speech, and Southern Communication Journal.

S. Robert Lichter is a professor of communication at George Mason University, where he directs the Center for Media and Public Affairs.

Michiel Luining (MA, University of Groningen, 2015) is a PhD candidate in law and humanities at the Law Faculty of the University of Antwerp in Belgium. His research focuses on the use and abuse of European contemporary constitutional discourse for fundamental rights protection.

Steven Livingston is a professor at the School of Media and Public Affairs and the founding director of the Institute for Data, Democracy, and Politics at George Washington University.

Marta Lukacovic, PhD, received her doctorate from Wayne State University, Detroit‐Michigan, USA. She is an assistant professor of communication and mass media at Angelo State University (Texas Tech University System). Her research is focused on communication through digital media platforms and the matters of security, such as global crises, pandemics, political violence, and malicious AI. She co‐edited a two‐volume book project with the publishing house Rowman & Littlefield on public relations, media, and communication in post‐socialist nations of Eastern Europe and Central Asia. She serves as the president of CAER (Communication Association of Eurasian Researchers).

Jonathan P. Marshall is a lecturer at the University of Technology, Sydney. He has won an ARC sponsored, post‐doctoral fellowship, a QE II fellowship, and a Future Fellowship and worked as a research associate on other grants. He has authored “Living on Cybermind: Categories communication and control” (Peter Lang) co‐authored “Disorder and the disinformation society” (Routledge), and edited special Issues for the Australian Journal of Anthropology, Energy Policy, and Energy Research & Social Science.

Stuart Mills is a lecturer (assistant professor) in economics at the University of Leeds. His research focuses on behavioral economics, digital economy, and political economy.

Lorcan Neill is a PhD student in media and communication at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Hussman School of Journalism and Media and a Knight Fellow at the Center for Information, Technology, and Public Life.

Anne M. Nicotera (PhD, Ohio University) is a professor in the Department of Communication at George Mason University. Her research is grounded in a constitutive perspective and focuses on culture and conflict, diversity, race and gender, aggressive communication, and management/leadership communication, with a particular interest in healthcare organizations. Her research has been published in Management Communication Quarterly, Journal of Applied Communication Research, Health Communication, Nursing Administration Quarterly, and other outlets. She has also published six books and numerous chapters. She is active as a consultant, designing and delivering organizational‐communication‐based management and leadership training, with a special interest in serving professionals in the developing world.

Nimrod Nir is a PhD student at Peace and Reconciliation Lab at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and an associate researcher at The Harry S. Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace. His research focuses on political polarization and intergroup violence, especially in the context of the Israeli‐Palestinian conflict, and the categorical role of intergroup emotions on constructive and destructive intergroup attitudes and behaviors.

Anat Perry is an associate professor at the Psychology Department, at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and the director of the Social Cognitive Neuroscience Lab. Perry studies various facets of empathy and related social processes through the prism of social cognitive neuroscience.

Amanda J. Reinke is an associate professor of conflict management at Kennesaw State University (KSU). Her research examines the bureaucratic violence of community interventions in contexts of social justice and disaster recovery efforts. Amanda is a mediator for the state of Georgia’s courts system, a trainer with the Center for Conflict Management at KSU, and the program director of the MS in conflict management at KSU. Amanda utilizes evidence‐based approaches to equip practitioners with skills and techniques to effectively and appropriately intervene in their communities.

Daniel Rothbart is a professor of conflict analysis and resolution at the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution, George Mason University. He specializes in prevention of mass violence, ethnic conflicts, power and conflict, the ethics of conflict resolution, civilians in war, and the psycho‐politics of conflict. He currently serves as director of a laboratory for peace called Transforming the Mind for Peace. Before this appointment, he served as the chair of the Sudan Task group, which was an organization seeking peace in Sudan. Professor Rothbart’s academic writings include more than 70 articles and chapters in scholarly journals and books. Among his 11 authored or edited books, his recent publications include the following books: State Domination and the Psycho‐Politics of Conflict (2019); Systemic Humiliation in America: Fighting for Dignity Within Systems of Degradation (2018). He is currently exploring the intersection of power and the mind as the sources of conflict and for conflict resolution.

Richard E. Rubenstein is University Professor Emeritus at George Mason University and is a former director of the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution. He is the author of 10 books on understanding and resolving social conflicts, including Resolving Structural Conflicts: How Violent Systems Can Be Transformed (2017). His books on religion and conflict include When Jesus Became God (2000), Aristotle’s Children (2004), and Thus Saith the Lord: The Revolutionary Moral Vision of Isaiah and Jeremiah (2006). His study of justifications for war in the United States is Reasons to Kill: Why Americans Choose War (2010). Richard was educated at Harvard College, Oxford University, and Harvard Law School and holds an honorary LittD degree from the University of Malta. He lives on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. with his wife, Dr. Susan Ryerson, and is active in work for peace and social justice.

Henrik S. Sætra is a political scientist with a broad and interdisciplinary background and approach, mainly focusing on the political, ethical, and social implications of technology. He focuses specifically on artificial intelligence and draws on political philosophy and game theory to bring issues of power, conflict, and resistance to the center of our understanding of how and why to control and shape technology and its consequences.

Evan Selinger is an internationally renowned scholar whose extensive research focuses on ethical, legal, and social issues in the philosophy of technology. His last book, Re‐Engineering Humanity, explored what it means to be human in the age of AI.

Eric Shiraev is a professor and researcher at George Mason University. He authored, co‐authored, and edited more than 25 books and published numerous articles in the fields of character assassination, political psychology, and comparative and cultural studies. His books include Character Assassination Throughout the Ages (2014, co‐edited with Martijn Icks), Character Assassination and Reputation Management (2022, co‐written with Sergei Samoilenko, Jennifer Keohane, and Martijn Icks), International Relations (2024; 4/e), Personality (2023; 2/e), and Cross‐Cultural Psychology (2024; 8/e).

Greg Simons (PhD, the University of Canterbury, 2004) is a Professor at the Department of Journalism, Media and Communication at Daffodil International University in Dhaka, Bangladesh. His research interests include the changing political dynamics and relationships, mass media, public diplomacy, information warfare, hybrid warfare and subversion, organized persuasive communication, political marketing, crisis management communications, media and armed conflict, and the Russian Orthodox Church. He also researches the relationships and connections between information, politics, and armed conflict more broadly, such as the GWOT and Arab Spring, and the interpretation and representation of events and processes in the New Cold War (within the context of the transforming global order). Simons is the author and/or editor of numerous refereed articles, chapters, and books: with over 17 books, 30 book chapters, more than 120 articles, and nearly 400 presentations around the world and approximately 350 media interviews.

Sebastian Svegaard is a postdoctoral research associate at QUT’s Digital Media Research Centre. His research focuses on the intersections of identity, affect, politics, and fandom, with previous publications focusing on the affect as motivator for critique, and music’s contribution to affective critique and narrative in audiovisual media.

Elina R. Tachkova (PhD, Texas A&M University) is an assistant professor at the Department of Communication Studies at Hong Kong Baptist University. Her research examines the intersection between organizational crises and scandals as well as incorporating emotion into crisis communication research. Elina’s work has been published in peer‐reviewed journals such as Journal of Public Relations Research, Public Relations Review, and Management Communication Quarterly. She has also co‐authored Communicating in Extreme Crises Lessons from the Edge, a book examining extreme crises and the practical implications these pose for crisis managers.

Emma S. van der Goot is an assistant professor in political communication and journalism at the Amsterdam School of Communication Research (ASCoR), Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Her research interests include conflict framing, negative campaigning, disinformation, and the relationship between politics and the media.

Tom Van Hout (PhD, Ghent University, 2010) is an associate professor in the Department of Culture Studies at Tilburg University in the Netherlands. His main contribution to the field is in discourse studies and media studies. His research focuses on knowledge production and circulation, the performance of expertise in the public sphere, and conflict dynamics in attention economies.

Samantha Vilkins is a postdoctoral research associate at QUT’s Digital Media Research Centre, investigating the role of scientific evidence and public data in political rhetoric and polarization online. Her work has featured at the National Museum of Australia, the National Library of Australia, and at the Science Gallery in Melbourne.

Teresa E. Weikmann is a postdoctoral researcher at the Amsterdam School of Communication Research. Her research is focused on visuals in political communication and visual disinformation. She holds a PhD in Communication Science, which she obtained from the University of Vienna. Her work has been published in international journals, such as New Media & Society, Digital Journalism, and The International Journal of Press/Politics.

Doris E. Wesley, PhD, is an award‐winning communication and conflict pracademic. Her research employs communication and peacebuilding approaches to multidimensional conflict‐related contexts in Africa and the United States. She has authored several articles, book chapters, and a recent book titled Jihad in Sub‐Saharan Africa: The Role of Digital Media. She is passionate about equipping individuals, organizations, institutions, and communities with the necessary skills to transform conflict at any level using proprietary methodologies and proven multimodal communication strategies.

Audrey Ann Williams (ABD), is a PhD candidate in Conflict Analysis and Resolution at the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution at George Mason University, where she is also a presidential scholar and the lab manager for The Narrative Transformation Lab. Her dissertation research focuses on the role of narrative and musical craft in conflict transformation. She holds a master of science degree in conflict analysis and resolution from George Mason University and a bachelor of arts degree in political science and French from the University of Iowa. She was a 2015–2016 Fulbright Research Fellow at Ankara University in Ankara, Turkey, and a Fall 2013 Scoville Peace Fellow at the Stimson Center in Washington, DC.

Kipling D. Williams is distinguished professor of psychological sciences at Purdue University. An expert on ostracism and social judgment, he authored and co‐edited numerous books on the subject.

Natasha R. Wood is an experimental psychology PhD candidate at the University of Mississippi. She researches individual‐level motivations for radicalization to extremism.

Keenan Yoho is a professor of operations management at the Roy E. Crummer Graduate School of Business at Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida. Dr. Yoho’s research and applied work are focused on the transformation of organizations as well as the analysis of strategic, tactical, and operational alternatives under conditions of uncertainty. He has published peer‐reviewed articles and edited chapters in operations and industrial management as well as national and global security journals and books. Keenan has served as Senior Special Advisor to the Commander, U.S. Special Operations Command, and has advised several other U.S. and international organizations to include the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD), IBM, Prysmian, EssilorLuxottica, General Mills, Intel, Rockwell Automation, BASF, Merck KGaA, Qualcomm, Polioles SA de CV, and ABS Global in the areas ranging from transformation, operations, supply chain management, to information and intelligence sharing. His current research interests are in the future of warfare, the commercialization and militarization of space, and competition as a design problem.

1Introduction

Solon Simmons1 and Sergei A. Samoilenko2

1 Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, USA

2 Department of Communication, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, USA

A Chaos of Disciplines

Where and with Whom Should I Study?

Let’s start this book with a thought experiment. Imagine you are trying to give advice to a young person who is going to college and has an interest in politics and the social sciences, particularly about when things go wrong. In other words, they would like to somehow study social and political conflict. How would you advise them? What discipline should they choose, and with whom should they study? The answer is not easy.

You could advise them to study political science or maybe sociology. Of course, psychology is pretty good for the study of the personal sources of conflict, and much of the best material on conflict and communication can logically be found in communication departments. Law is a fine path, too, and arguments could be made for philosophy, gender or African American studies, or religion. Economics traditionally assumed conflict away but now has adopted an approach of its own, and there are even specialty disciplines like conflict resolution, specifically designed to intervene in cycles of violent conflict. In short, there are dozens of paths to study this thing we call social and political conflict, and none has an exclusive claim over the others as the best of ways.

Among the various leading approaches is the field of sociology, and one famous sociologist who was interested in this problem of disciplinary heterogeneity, Andrew Abbott of the University of Chicago, developed a theory that borrowed an idea from the physicals sciences to describe the unruly patterns of contact between the various social sciences. He called his approach the chaos of disciplines in a book of the same name and argued that there is no clear sense of progress in any aspect of the social sciences, the study of conflict included. Instead, the study of any area of social life was historically anchored in a few principles that divided groups of scholars. Over time, these scholars further divided with respect to those principles, leading to a chaotic pattern of overlapping and inherently convoluted sciences, each claiming expertise in areas that other groups also claimed as their own.

This chaos model is a fairly useful way to characterize the study of social and political conflict because it allows us to see and the sooner you convey this to your aspiring undergraduate students, the better off they will be as they navigate the chaos. This handbook is specifically designed for that open‐minded and curious student—the one who is not interested in solely committing to a single approach but would instead like to wrap their arms around the whole scope of the field, no matter how eclectic and seemingly contradictory that project proves to be.

Churches, Sects, and the Secular Worldviews of the Academy

The essays in this volume draw from scholars with a wide range of disciplinary approaches, including various forms of inter‐, multi‐, and trans‐disciplinary orientations within those disciplines. One way to think about what makes a discipline in the social sciences a discipline per se is to consider it as an inclusive worldview, not unlike the sort of worldview that might characterize a religious perspective. Almost all social sciences are formally non‐religious (regardless of the beliefs of its practitioners), but the scope of the perspective developed in a field as broad as psychology, economics, or political science can be every bit as grounding for a secular thinker as Calvinism, Buddhism, or Taoism would be for a religious person.

It’s true that the claims of empirical social science fall short of ultimate concerns by design, but the discipline provides a framework for interpreting nearly all aspects of social life that are relevant for a secular thinker. In this way, we might think of the social sciences as a grand narrative tradition that posits its own founders and ancestors, methods of belief affirmation, and manners of ritual engagement in support of a particular worldview. It is easy to overstress this point, but as they develop over time, perhaps akin to Abbott’s fractal patterns, disciplines become more and more like churches.

If we stay with this simile for a while, we can borrow another idea from an even older sociologist (you can begin to see our disciplinary biases/where our training was) named Ernst Troeltsch, whose specialty was the sociology of religion. Troeltsch remains famous for an argument he made alongside another German sociologist, Max Weber, through which he distinguished two broad institutional patterns for organizing Christian belief. The first is what he called a church, and the second is called a sect.

This church‐sect model has come under various criticisms over the years, but its general pattern remains clear. Churches tend to be large and universal, whereas sects are small and more particular. Churches are conservative and established, while sects are innovative and volatile. One is born into a church without much choice, whereas one joins a sect as a matter of personal conviction. Finally, religious experience in a church tends to be regular and institutionalized with clear patterns of hierarchical authority, whereas experiences in a sect are more varied, less rigid, and subject to charismatic authority enforced by informal or idiosyncratic sanctions.

Our new freshman setting out to study the social sciences might learn a lot from drawing a comparison to this church‐sect distinction. For instance, there are established churches within the social sciences: economics, psychology, anthropology, sociology, and political science. There are also upstart sect‐like fields like the various “studies,” from cultural studies to gender, queer, and Chicano studies. And there are various forms of combination and hybridization of church‐like and sect‐like social science specializations.

In fact, fields like communication tend to grow like new sects at the intersections and interstices of established fields like sociology, rhetoric, and public speaking. Once these fields break out of established molds, they often lose their sect‐like character and solidify into church‐like models of their own. These kinds of processes are critical for the fledgling student of social and political conflict to understand, who will only begin to grasp the broad contours of their subject matter when they can see how ideas, methods, and patterns of interaction are passed back and forth across disciplinary divides.

This complex ecology of worldviews about social and political conflict poses a challenge not only for the new student of the field but also for the seasoned scholar. It’s simply impossible to square every circle or to dot every i and cross every t. There are always loose ends, unknown arguments, foreign findings, and the like that are less a function of how complicated the subject matter is and more about how complex the various traditions of thought are about that subject matter. It is not at all strange for one to happen upon a massively cited, presumably seminal article or book on a topic that they’ve specialized in for decades, only to find that it has somehow remained overlooked or unknown to them. Similarly, senior scholars often find that their work is situated by a blind reviewer in a school of thought that the author has never heard of before. If you place too much stock in disciplinary identity in the study of conflict, you will quickly become a provincial, even if locally celebrated zealot.

A Chorus of Concepts

In an effort to manage this chaos, we have settled on a strategy for selecting topics that are appropriate for this strange and chaotic context. Our plan was to avoid the distractions of disciplinary distinctions entirely. Instead, we would focus only on concepts, particularly novel ones, that speak to some aspect of conflict that the concept is intended to explicate. Like words, these concepts can travel across bodies of literature and conversations, often passing into the lexicon of a new field unnoticed, with scholars using them unaware of their origins.

For most of the twentieth century, researchers and practitioners from fields as diverse as sociology and anthropology, political science, communication, history, economics, and even English have been interested in the study of social and political conflict and in its practical applications. However, most available readers and anthologies were designed for relatively narrow circles of scholars, even those that aspired to see beyond disciplinary boundaries. Accordingly, many of these collections are less useful than they could be in a globalizing academic marketplace that places more value on solving real‐world problems than on disciplinary purity.

This handbook responds to the demand for a practical and comprehensive collection of scholarship that transcends disciplinary boundaries. It consists of recent and original essays that satisfy the growing interest in social and political conflict, preparing any bright student interested in ideas about conflict, peace, power, and justice with a set of methods translating seemingly diverse concepts with origins in specialized disciplines into a common, if complex, transdisciplinary language.