Abstrakt
This introductory chapter of the book Cyprus and Its Conflicts: Representations, Materialities and Cultures combines a theoretical discussion about conflict with a historical elaboration of the Cyprus Problem. The chapter argues that the entire edited volume is grounded in the idea that conflict needs to be studied in its environment, to allow for the incorporation of sufficient detail to do justice to its complexity and specificity.
For this reason, this volume focuses on a particular setting: Cyprus, an island of enduring political, military and, more recently, economic conflict, which serves as a locus for the examination and analysis of aspects, dimensions and practices of (mediated) conflict and instances of overcoming conflictual situations. Moreover, conflict is perceived within a broad perspective, rather than reduced to only its violent manifestations.
It is defined in terms of incompatibilities and contradictions (Galtung 2009: 105), and is seen as (a moment of) rupture of consent, or as antagonism, which apart from the expressions of (physical) violence and confrontation (which cannot be ignored) includes aspects of division and crisis that can be discursive, material, or both. Crisis, another key concept, is perceived as a dimension of conflict that can be described as a (highly) disruptive event or situation leading to disorder or even disaster, significantly disturbing the lives of people or the relations among individuals and groups.