State Domination and the Psycho-Politics of Conflict: Power, Conflict and Humiliation

This book offers a detailed study of the psycho-politics of governmental manipulation, in which a vulnerable population is disciplined by contorting their sense of self-worth.

In many conflict settings, a nation’s government exerts its dominance over a marginalized population group through laws, policies and practices that foster stark inequality. This book shows how such domination comes in the form of systems of humiliation orchestrated by governmental forces. This thesis draws upon recent findings in social psychology, conflict analysis, and political sociology, with case studies of governmental directives, verdicts, policies, decisions and norms that, when enforced, foster debasement, disgrace or denigration. One case centers on the US immigration laws that target vulnerable population groups, while another focuses on the ethnic discrimination of the central government of Sudan against the Sudanese Africans. The book’s conclusion focuses on compassion-motivated practices that represent a counter-force to government-sponsored strategies of systemic humiliation. These are practices for building peace by professionals and non-professionals as a positive response to protracted violence.

This book will be of much interest to students of peace and conflict studies, sociology, psychology, ethics, philosophy and international relations.

Daniel Rothbart is Professor of Conflict Analysis and Resolution at The School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution, George Mason University, USA. His book publications include Civilians and Modern War (co-edited, 2012), Violent Conflict and Peacebuilding (co-authored, 2012) and Systemic Humiliation in America (2018).