Doves of a Feather

Abstract

This study is an analysis of peace and conflict-resolution organizations (P/CROs) active in Israel, Northern Ireland, and South Africa. More specifically, it examines those I refer to as “identity-based,” composed of members or activists, all of whom share a common social identity, be it gender, religious orientation or denomination or professional background. Those not organized around a prescribed attribute of social identity are referred to as “generic.” The very existence of such identity-based organizations, which mobilize individuals sharing a particular social identity around an issue (in this case peace and reconciliation) ostensibly unrelated to that same identity, begs a number of questions: Is it this common identity that engenders peace activism, or would these same individuals be mobilized on behalf of peace independent of the existence of identity-based organizations? What is the significance of these subidentities for these identity-based P/CROs? Do identity-based P/CROs differ from generic ones? This chapter represents an attempt to utilize data from a recent study of P/CROs in Israel, Northern Ireland, and South Africa to provide answers to these and other questions by exploring an aspect of P/CRO life left heretofore uninvestigated.