1.2.1- Theories of the causes of intrastate
conflicts
There are several theories developed by scholars to explain
the causes of conflict. However, for the sake of this study, we shall deal with
structural theory of conflict, Marxist theory, international capitalist theory
and the economic theory of conflict, as they account better for the conflict in
Mali.
1.2.1.1- The structural theory of conflict
The structural theory attempts to explain conflict as a
product of the tension that arises when groups compete for scarce recourses.
The central argument in this sociological theory is that conflict is built into
the particular ways societies are structured or organized. It describes the
condition of the society and how such condition or environment can create
conflict. The proponents of the structural conflict theory among who Oakland
(2005) identifies such conditions as social exclusion, deprivation, class
inequalities, injustice, political marginalization, gender imbalances, racial
segregation, economic exploitation and the likes, all of which often lead to
conflict. Earlier in 1835, de Tocqueville had the same analysis of the main
causes of the conflicts when he said «Remove the secondary causes that
have produced the great convulsions of the world and you will almost always
find the principle of inequality
8
at the bottom. Either the poor have attempted to plunder
the rich, or the rich to enslave the poor....» (quote from quote from
1954 edition,: 266). Seema Khan (2012) points out that «there are
close links
between social exclusion and conflict and insecurity, both
in terms of causes and consequences. There are now convincing arguments that
some forms of social exclusion generate the conditions in which conflict can
arise. This can range from civil unrest to violent armed conflict and terrorist
activity. Severely disadvantaged groups with shared characteristics (such as
ethnicity or religion) may resort to violent conflict in order to claim their
rights and redress inequalities. ... Social exclusion and horizontal
inequalities provide fertile ground for violent mobilization.»
According to several scholars, many armed conflicts in Africa
fall within this theory. For example, Clionadh Raleigh (2010) says that the
critical factor leading to violent conflicts in sub-Saharan Africa
is the extent of political and economic marginalization. In an
article2 Douma (2006) has examined how the partiality of some state
policies regarding resource distribution promotes inter-group inequality and
contributes to violence sub-Saharan Africa.
Talking of the causes of the conflict in Mali, Sidibé
(2012), says that the attempts since 1960s to challenge state authority relate
to the marginalization of Tuareg and Arab nomadic communities living
in the north of Mali. The ICCT (International center for
Counter-terrorism) in the publication «Is all
about terrorism?» also mentions that the
conflictual dynamics of the Malian conflict are partially linked to the
historical marginalization of the North by the central government of Bamako as
the Tuareg groups
were perceived as an obstacle towards the country's unity, and
therefore have often been marginalized and discriminated by the national
institutions. For Nizeimana & al (2015), decades of marginalization,
discrimination and exclusion from the political and economic processes by the
successive Bamako based governments remained the major uniting force that led
the Tuareg to take arms fighting for a separatist state and the rights of the
Tuareg minorities in Northern Mali.
In view of the above, it can be said that the structuralism
theory accounts to some extent to the causes of conflicts emergence. The theory
is however deficient in its one-sidedness of looking at causes of
conflict. For instance, it does not see the bright sides of
racial or ethnic diversity and the strength that a society may derive from
pluralism. The structural theory thus makes sense only when conflicts are
viewed from the broadest possible perspective, and only if the observer opts to
ignore alternate causes of the conflict. Many conflicts including the conflict
in Mali are determined by other major factors.
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