Power, identity, and conflict: A post-foulkes perspective

In this article in delimitation to the psychoanalytical discussion the auth or supports a post-Foulkes perspective on the causes for hostilities betwee n groups seen as the expression of group identities which are viewed as the expression of a balance of power. Identities are understood as being the t erm for relationships between people. These relationships define different belongingnesses, where overlaps and conflicts are inevitable. Which of thes e belongingnesses and differences in the end become constitutive for the or ganization of human relationships is determined by the social balance of po wer, and in the further development this is ideologically supported and fin ally internalized, whereby the given organization of the relationships rece ives the status of a natural order which on the individual level develops i nto fixed identities. The status quo can be questioned from the outside - b y disadvantaged groups, and from the inside - by various demands resulting from the different belongingnesses, which bear a great potential for existe ntial anxieties. The more important the names of the relationship clusters, i. e. the identities, the more probable is it that fundamentalism is activ ated to ward off these anxieties. Besides Foulkes the author draws on the c oncepts of Elias and Macte-Blanco for the development of his thoughts.