ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a study on the logic of identity-formation, and especially the construction of violent ethnic identities. It suggests a conceptual and theoretical framework within which vital questions related to ethnic identification and ethnic conflict can be asked. The chapter aims at justifying the dialogic mode of conflict resolution. It studies some of the main themes shared by the literature on ethnic conflict and points out the lack of several important discussions. The chapter examines both at micro and macro levels the context and the logic of identity-formation, and argues that the understanding of these is vital for an understanding of ethnopolitical conflict. It establishes a link between identity-formation and the practices of ethnopolitical conflict resolution. The techniques of conflict resolution employed by the 'integrative conflict management' approach have promising features when examined from the point of view of ethnopolitical conflict management. Neither does any political and social practice fully encompass society.
