Abstract
Conflict is basically a struggle for the control of space. It may unfold in controlled fashion, ie within an institutional framework, or out of control, with the institutional framework itself at stake. Conflict can also be regarded as a quest for order, as the goal of both parties is invariably that of establishing order to their own advantage. A number of conflict models, conceptualised through systems analysis, is presented. Most of them revolve around the concept of imbalance multiplier. A number of scenarios of conditions paving the way to conflict (in a traditional society, in an industrialising one, in a highly developed one) are considered. More scenarios are envisaged for the conflict resolution (in the case of a strong élite, or of a weak one, or in the case whereby an internal conflict breaks out externally). A simple model of controlled conflict is also presented. These models are a part of a larger theory of development, an early draft of which was published as Paper No. 10 of the Southampton Discussion Papers in 1981. The models have already been applied, or are being applied, to several case studies.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
AA. VV.: La svolta. Jaca Book (transl. from Russian into Italian, first printed in 1990), Milano 1990.
Allworth, G. (ed.): Russia in the USSR: the dilemma of dominance. Pergamon, New York 1980.
Alonso, W.: Industrial location and regional policy in economic development. University of California, Institute of Urban and Regional Development, Working Paper 74, rist. in Regional policy: readings in theory and applications, pp. 64–96. ed. by J. Friedmann; W. Alonso (1975), MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass., 1968a.
Alonso, W.: Urban and regional imbalances in economic development. Economic development and cultural change 17, 1, 1–44 (1968b)
Alonso, W.: Aspects of regional planning in the United States. New Atlantis 1, 8–22 (1969)
Alonso, W.: What are the New Towns for? Urban Studies 7, 1, 37–55 (1970)
Alonso, W.: The economics of urban size. Papers and Proceedings of the Regional Science Association 26, 67–83 (1971)
Alonso, W.: Problems, purposes and implicit policies for a national strategy of urbanisation. In: Mazie, S. M. (ed.), Population distribution and policy. Commission Research Reports, vol. 5, Washington , DC 1972.
Bandini, F.: Il cono d'ombra. SugarCo, Milano 1990.
Barritt, D. P.; Carter, C. F.: The Northern Ireland problem: a study in group relations. Oxford University Press, London 1962.
Bell, D.: The end of ideology: on the exhaustion of political ideas in the Fifties. Collier, 2nd ed., New York 1962.
Biagini, E.: A conflict theory of development. Seminal paper for discussion at the Department of Geography, University of Cape Town, preprint 1979.
Biagini, E.: A general theory of development. University of Southampton, Department of Geography, Discussion Papers 10, (1981)
Biagini, E.: Stadi di sviluppo: una formulazione teoretica. Riv. Geogr. It. 89, 2, 332–346 (1982)
Biagini, E.: Potere e manodopera a buon mercato nello sviluppo della Colonia del Capo, 1652–1795. Boll. Soc. Geogr. It., X, XII, 1–3, 55–74 (1983a)
Biagini, E.: Sviluppo a frontiera discontinua e processo conflittuale nel Sud Africa. Riv. Geogr. It., 90, 2, 193–249 (1983b)
Biagini, E.: Interport competition in an integrated spatial system: Genova-Voltri and Savona-Vado in Northern Italy. pp. 327–341. In: Hoyle, B. S.; Hilling, D. (eds.), Seaport systems and spatial change. Wiley, London 1984a.
Biagini, E.: Sud Africa al bivio: sviluppo e conflitto. Angeli, Milano 1984b.
Biagini, E.: La Riviera di Romagna: sviluppo di un sistema regionale turistico. Pàtron, Bologna 1990a.
Biagini, E.: Riforma e cambiamento nella città sud-africana: alcune osservazioni. Riv. Geogr. It., LXXXXVII, 1, 127–131 (1990b)
Biagini, E.: Irlanda: sviluppo e conflitto alla periferia d'Europa. Nuove Edizioni del Giglio, Genova 1992a.
Biagini, E.: Pianificazione territoriale in Occidente. Pàtron, Bologna 3rd ed. 1992 b.
Boal, F.W.: Social space in the Belfast built-up area, pp. 373–393 In: Stephens, N.; Glasscock, R. E. (eds.), Irish geographical studies in honour of E. Estyn Evans. Queen's University, Department of Geography, Belfast 1970.
Boal, F.W.; Douglas, J. H. N. (eds.): Integration and division: geographical perspectives on the Northern Ireland problem. Academic Press, London-New York 1982.
Boal, F.W.; Livingstone, D. N.: The frontier in the city: ethnonationalism in Belfast. International Political Science Review 5, 2, 161–179 (1984)
Bourdeaux, M. et al.: Religions in the Soviet Union 1960–71, pp. 218–268. In: Whitaker, B. (ed.), The Fourth World: victims of group oppression. Sidwick & Jackson, London 1972.
Brambilla, M.: L'eskimo in redazione. Ares, Milano 1991.
Brzezinski, Z. K.: The permanent purge. Harvard University Press, Cambrigde, Mass. 1956.
Caillard, M.: Recherches sur les soulèvements populaires en Basse-Normandie (1620–1640) et spécialement sur la revolte des Nu-Pieds. In: AA.VV. (ed.), A travers la Normandie des XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles. Cahiers des Annales de Normandie 3, 23–154, Caen (1963)
Carrére, d'Encausse, H.: L'Empire éclaté. Flammarion, Paris 1978.
Carrére, d'Encausse, H.: La gloire des nations ou la fin de l'Empire soviétique. Fayard, Paris 1990.
Cole, J. P.; Harrison, M. E.: Regional inequalities in services and purchasing in the USSR 1940–1976. Department of Geography, Queen Mary College, University of London, Occasional Papers 14 (1978)
Coletti, L.: Il tramonto dell'ideologia. Laterza, Bari 1980.
Compton, P. A.: Religious affiliation and demographic variability in Northern Ireland. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers 1, 433–452 (1976)
Compton, P. A. et al.: Conflict and its impact on the urban environment of Northern Ireland, pp. 83–98. In: Enyedi, G.; Mészàros, J. (eds.), Development and settlement systems. Akadémiai Kiadò, Budapest 1980.
Dahrendorf, R.: Class and class conflict in industrial society. Stanford University Press, Stanford Cal. 1959.
Daniels, R. V.: Marxian theories of historical dynamics, pp. 62–85. In: Cahnman, W.; Boskoff, A. (eds.), Sociology and history: theory and research. Free Press, New York 1964.
Darby, H. C.: The draining of the Fens. University Press, Cambridge reprint 2nd ed. 1968.
Darby, H. C.: The changing Fenland. University Press, Cambridge 1983.
Darby, J.: Conflict in Northern Ireland: the development of a polarised community. Gill & Macmillan, Dublin 1976.
Davies, C. S. L.: Peasant revolt in France and England: a comparison. Agricultural History Review 21, 122–134 (1973)
Davies, R. J.: When! — reform and change in the South African city. South African Geographical Journal 68, 1, 3–17 (1986)
Del Noce, A.: Lezioni sul marxismo. Giuffrè, Milano 1973.
Del Noce, A.: Il suicidio della rivoluzione. Rusconi, Milano 1979.
Doherty, P.: Patterns of unemployment in Belfast. Irish Geography 13, 65–76 (1980)
Doherty, P.: Ethnic segregation levels in the Belfast urban area. Area 21, 2, 151–159 (1989)
Downey, J.: Them and us: Britain and Ireland and the Northern question 1969–1982. Ward River Press, Dublin 1983.
Ebenstein, W.: The Nazi state. Farrar, New York 1943.
Ebenstein, W.: National Socialism. In: Sills, D. L. (ed.), International Enyclopedia of the Social Sciences. Macmillian & Free Press, New York 1968.
Edwards, O. D.: The sins of our fathers: roots of conflict in Northern Ireland. Gill & Macmillan, 1970.
Edwards, R. D.: Ireland in the age of the Tudors: the destruction of Hiberno-Roman civilization. Croom Helm, London 1911.
Edwards, R. D.; Williams, T. D.: The Great Famine. Brown & Nolan, Dublin 1956.
Elliot R. S. P.; Hickie, J.: Ulster: a case study in conflict theory. St. Martin's Press, New York 1971.
Ellis, P. B.: Hell or Connaught: the colonisation of Ireland 1652–1660. Hamish Hamilton, London 1975.
Emerson, R.: From Empire to Nation: the rise to self-assertion of Asian and African peoples. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass., 1960.
Farrell, M.: Northern Ireland: the Orange State. Pluto Press, reprint, London 1982.
Feierabend, I. K.: Expansionist and isolationist tendencies of totalitarian political systems: a theoretical note. Journal of Politics 24, 733–742 (1962)
Feigl, H.: Der niederösterreichischen Bauernaufstand 1596/97. Militärhistorische Schriftenreihe, 2. Auflage, Bundesverlag, Wien 1978.
Ferenczy, E.: From the Patrician State to the Patricio-Plebeian State. Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest 1976.
Fisichella, D.: Totalitarismo: un regime del nostro tempo. La Nuova Italia Scientifica, Roma 1981.
Foisil, M.: La révolte des Nu-Pieds et les révoltes normandes de 1639. PUF, Paris 1970.
Friedmann, J.: Regional development policy: a case study of Venezuela. MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass., 1966.
Friedmann, J.: A general theory of polarized development. In: Hansen, N. M. (eds.), Growth centers in regional economic development, pp. 82–107. Free Press, New York 1972.
Friedmann, J.: Urbanization, planning and national development. Sage Publicatons, Beverly Hills, Cal., 1973.
Friedmann, J.: The spatial organization of power in the development of urban systems. In: Friedmann, J.; Alonso, W. (eds.), Regional policy: readings in theory and applications, pp. 266–304. MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass., 1975.
Gabba, E. Le rivolte militari romane dal IV sec. a. C. ad Augusto. Firenze, Sansoni 1975.
Garlan, Y.; Nieres, C.: Les révoltes bretonnes de 1675. Papier timbré et bonnets rouges. Editions Sociales, Paris 1975.
Garnsey, P.: Tranjan's Alimenta: some problems. Historia 17, 367–381 (1968)
Gavan, Duffy, L. (et al.): The Easter rising, 1916, and University College. Brown & Nolan, Dublin 1966.
Gerth, H.: The Nazi Party: its leadership and composition. American Journal of Sociology 45, pp. 517–541 (1940)
Getty, J. A.: Origins of the Great Purges: the Soviet Communist Party reconsidered 1933–1938. University Press, Cambridge 1985.
Gilison, J. M.: The Soviet image of utopia. John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore 1975.
Glass, D. V.: Population policies and movements. Oxford, Claredon 1940.
Goren, R.: The Soviet Union and terrorism. Allen & Unwin, London 1984.
Gurtner, J.: Reformation und Gegenreformation in der landesfürstlichen Stadt Wels. Philosophische Fakultät (unpublished Dissertation), Wien 1972.
Gwynn, D.: The history of partition, 1912–1925. Browne & Nolan, Dublin 1950.
Harding, R. R.: Anatomy of a power élite: the provincial governors of early modern France. Yale University Press, New Haven 1978.
Hasting, M.; Jenkins, S.: The battle for the Falklands. Pan Books, London — Sydney 1983.
Healy T. M.: Stolen waters: a page in the conquest of Ulster. Longmans-Green & Co., London 1913.
Healy, T. M.: The great fraud of Ulster. Anvil Books, reprint, Tralee, Co. Kerry 1971.
Hechter, M.: Internal colonialism: the Celtic fringe in British national development 1536–1966. Routledge & Kegan Paul, London 1975.
Heichelheim, F. M.: Storia economica del mondo antico. 5 vols., Laterza (transl. from English into Italian), Bari 1979.
Hepburn, A. C.: The conflict of nationality in modern Ireland. Arnold, London 1980.
Hilberg, R.: The destruction of European Jews. Quadrangle Books — Chicago, Allen, London, 1961.
Höhne, H.: La vera storia dell “Orchestra Rossa”. Garzanti, Milano 1972 (transl. from German into Italian).
Jacquart, J.: La Fronde des Princes dans la région parisienne et ses conséquences matérielles. Revue d'Historie Moderne et Contemporaine 7, 257–290 (1960)
Jones, E.: The segregation of Roman Catholics and Protestants in Belfast. In: Peach, C. (ed.), Urban social segregation. Longman, London — New York, 1975.
Joutard, P. (ed.): Les Camisards. Gallimard-Juillard, Paris 1976.
Kelly, K.: The longest war: Northern Ireland and the IRA. Brandon Books, Dingle 1982.
Kossmann, E. H.: La Fronde. Universitaire Pers, Leiden 1954.
Lacoste, Y.: La géographie ça sert d'abord à faire la guerre. Maspero, Paris 1976.
Land Oberösterreich: Der oberösterreichische Bauernkrieg (catalogue of the exhibition), Linz 1976.
Lawlor, S.: Britain and Ireland 1914–23. Gill & Macmillan, Totowa 1983.
Leguai, A.: Les ‘émotions’ et séditions populaires dans la généralité de Moulins au XVIIe XVIIIe siècle. Revue d'Histoire Economique et Sociale 43, 44–65 (1965)
Lemon, A.: Apartheid: a geography of separation. Saxon House, Farnborough 1976.
Lemon, A.: Apartheid in transition. Gower, Aldershot 1981.
Lindley, K.: Fenland riots and the English Revolution. Heinemann, London 1987.
Loirette, F.: Une émeute paysanne au debut du gouvernement personnel de Louis XIV: la sédition de Bénauge (dec. 1661 – janv. 1662). Annales du Midi 78, 515–536 (1966)
Mac Caffrey, L. J.: The Irish question. University of Kentucky Press, Lexington 1968.
Marcet, A.: Une révolte antifiscale et nationale: les Angelets du Vallespir 1663–1672. Actes du 102e Congrés National des Sociétés Savantes (Limoges, 1977), Histoire moderne I, 35–48 (1977)
Mather, F. C.: Public order in the age of the Chartists. University Press, Manchester 1959.
Moote, A. L.: The revolt of the judges: the Parlement of Paris and the Fronde 1643–1652. Princeton University Press, New York 1971.
Pakenham, F.: Peace by ordeal: an account from first hand sources of the negotiation and signature of the Anglo-Irish Treaty 1921. Jonathan Cape, London 1935.
Pasolini Zanelli, A.: La caduta dei profeti. De Agostini, Novara 1990.
Pellicani, L.: I rivoluzionari di professione. Vallecchi, Firenze 1975
Pellicani, L.: Il mercato e i socialismi. SugarCo, Milano 1979.
Pellicani, L. Miseria del marxismo: da Marx al Gulag. SugarCo, Milano 1984.
Petrin, S.: Der österreichische Hussitenkrieg 1420–1434. Militärhistorische Schriftenreihe 44, Bundesverlag, Wien (1987)
Pillorget, R.: Les mouvements insurrectionels de Provence entre 1596 et 1715. Pédone, Paris 1975.
Pinder, D. A.: Community attitude as a limiting factor in port growth: the case of Rotterdam. In: Hoyle, B. S.; Pinder, D. A. (eds.), Cityport industrialization and regional development. Pergamon Press, 181–199, Oxford 1981.
Poole, M. A.: Religious residential segregation in urban Northern Ireland. In: Boal, F. W.; Douglas, N. H. (eds.), Integration and division: geographical perspectives on the Northern Ireland problem. Academic Press, London — New York 1987.
Popper, K. R.: The open society and its enemies. 2 vols., Routledge & Kegan Paul, London 1963.
Prendergast, J. P.: The Cromwellian settlement of Ireland. Mellifont, Dublin 1922.
Rauchensteiner, M.: Vom Limes zum “Ostwall”. Militärhistorische Schriftenreihe 21. Bundesverlag, 3. Auflage, Wien (1985)
Rip, C.: Contemporary social pathology. Academica, Pretoria-Cape Town 1966.
Robert, D.: Louis XIV et les Protestants. XVIIe Siècle 76–77, 39–52 (1967)
Settembrini, D.: Il labirinto rivoluzionario. Rizzoli, Milano 1979.
Sheehy, A.: The Crimean Tatars and Volga Germans: Soviet treatment of two national minorities. In: Whitaker, B. (ed.), The Fourth World: victims of group oppression. Sigwick & Jackson, London 1972.
Shirer, W. L.: The rise and fall of the Third Reich, Simon & Shuster, New York 1960.
Simington R. C.: The transplantation to Connacht 1654–58. Irish University Press, Shannon 1970.
Simmel, G.: Conflict and the web of group affiliations, Free Press, Glencoe 1956. (transl. from German)
Simms, J. G.: The Willamite confiscation of Ireland 1690–1703. Faber & Faber, London 1956.
Simon, D.: Crisis and change in South Africa: implications for the apartheid city. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers 14, 2, 189–206 (1989)
Smith, A. D.: The ethnic revival, University Press, Cambridge 1981.
Smith, D. M.: Apartheid in South Africa. University Press, revised ed., Cambridge 1987.
Stephens, J.: The insurrection in Dublin. Maunsel, Dublin 1965.
Stieve, F.: Der oberösterreichische Bauernaufstand des Jahres 1626. Mareis, 2. Auflage, Linz 1904–05.
Sunday Times Insight Team: Ulster. Penguin, Harmondsworth 1972.
Thomis, M. I.: The politics of Nottingham enclosure. Transaction of the Thoroton Society, 71, 90–96 (1967)
Thomis, M. I.: Politics and society in Nottingham 1785–1835. Blackwell, Oxford 1969.
Thomis, M. I.: Holt, P.: Threats of Revolution in Britain 1789–1848. Macmillan, London 1977.
Thomis, M. I. (et al.): Nottingham and Reform Bill riots of 1831: new perspectives. Transactions of the Thoroton Society 59, 82–103 (1973)
Tilly, C.: Britain creates the social movement. Working Papers, No. 232, Center for Research on Social Organization, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 1981 a.
Tilly, C.: How one kind of struggle — war — reshaped all other kinds of struggle in seventeenth century France, University of Michigan (unpublished), Ann Arbor 1981 b.
Tilly, C.: Nineteenth century origins of our twentieth-century collective-action repertoire. Working Papers, No. 244, Center for Research on Social Organization, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 1981 c.
Tilly, C.; Schweitzer, R. A.: Enumerating and coding contentious gatherings in nineteenth century Britain. Working Papers, No. 210, Center for Research on Social Organization, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 1977.
Tilly, C.; Schweitzer, R. A.: How London and its conflicts changed shape 1758–1834. Historical Methods 15, 2, 67–77 (1982)
De Tocqueville, A.: L'ntico regime e la Rivoluzione. BUR, Milano 1989. (transl. from French into Italian)
van den Berghe, P.: Dialectic and functionalism: toward a theoretical synthesis. American Sociological Review 28, 695–705 (1963)
von Clausewitz, C.: Della guerra. Mondadori, 3rd reprint, Milano 1987. (transl. from German into Italism)
Voslensky, M. S.: Nomenklatura: la classe dominante in Unione Sovietica. Longanesi, 2nd ed., Milano 1984. (transl. from German into Italian)
Wells, R. A.: Riot and political disaffection in Nottinghamshire in the age of revolutions 1776–1803. Occasional Papers, Centres for Local History, University of Nottingham (1985)
Wemyss, A.: Les Protestants du Mas-Azil: histoire d'une résistance, Privat, Toulouse 1961.
Williams,jr., R. M.: The reduction of intergroup tensions: a survey of research on problems of ethnic, social and religious group relations. Social Science Research Council, New York 1947.
Wittfogel, K. A.: Oriental despotism; a comparative study of total power. Yale University Press, New Haven 1957.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Biagini, E. Spatial dimensions of conflict. GeoJournal 31, 119–128 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00808684
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00808684