Processes of Intergroup Conflict

Abstract

If we accept Pruitt and Rubin’s definition of conflict as ‘perceived divergence of interest’ (1986: 4), it follows from Part One that a national revival must almost necessarily entail a national conflict of some kind. This is because, as we concluded in Chapter 9, the decisive cause of national revivals is a wish to correct or counter perceived inequalities or threats caused by another nation-group. This does not, however, mean that national revivals must necessarily lead to intense and violent conflict, although such conflicts are often the most salient ones to the ordinary observer, not least because of the news criteria of the modern mass media.