NEEDS, IDENTITY, AND LEADERSHIP : A THEORY OF CONFLICT AND CHANGE Nea Finne A Thesis Submitted for the Degree of PhD at the University of St Andrews 2013 Full metadata for this item is available in Research@StAndrews:FullText at: http://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/ Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/10023/3592 This item is protected by original copyright Needs, Identity, and Leadership: A Theory of Conflict and Change Nea Finne This thesis is submitted in partial fulfilment for the degree of PhD at the University of St Andrews 19 February 2013 1. Candidate’s declarations: I, Nea Finne, hereby certify that this thesis, which is approximately 79,150 words in length, has been written by me, that it is the record of work carried out by me and that it has not been submitted in any previous application for a higher degree. I was admitted as a research student in May 2009 and as a candidate for the degree of PhD in May 2010, the higher study for which this is a record was carried out in the University of St Andrews between 2009 and 2013. I, Nea Finne, received assistance in the writing of this thesis in respect of language and grammar, which was provided by Dylan Lehrke. 2. Supervisor’s declaration: I hereby certify that the candidate has fulfilled the conditions of the Resolution and Regulations appropriate for the degree of PhD in the University of St Andrews and that the candidate is qualified to submit this thesis in application for that degree. 3. Permission for electronic publication: In submitting this thesis to the University of St Andrews I understand that I am giving permission for it to be made available for use in accordance with the regulations of the University Library for the time being in force, subject to any copyright vested in the work not being affected thereby. 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Abstract This Ph.D. dissertation aims to inform theories of conflict and International Relations (IR) by using modified social psychological models of identification and leadership in which needs fulfilment plays a central role. The main hypothesis is that identification with groups and leaders is flexible on the lower needs levels and more lasting on the higher needs levels, and that leadership, to be adaptive, must on the lower needs levels be action-oriented and on the higher levels be relations-oriented. This hypothesis is used to inform group- and system-level theories. On the group level, the hypothesis reads that due to this pattern of individual identification, cohesive collective action and violence in physiological deprivation requires coercive leadership to make up for the absence of unity, while on the higher needs levels collective violence necessitates manipulative leadership to make up for the absence of real deprivation. On the system level, the hypothesis reads that since the dynamics of collective action depend on the level of needs fulfilment and identification, change in the system can only be understood by examining all three levels of analysis. The first two hypotheses (on the individual and group level) are developed and demonstrated through qualitative case studies on the conflicts of the Sudan/South Sudan and between the former Yugoslav republics. These hypotheses are then used to reconcile the various conflicting theories on each level of analysis as well as to create a comprehensive framework through which the various theories and concepts of IR can be seen as connected to a certain level of needs security/ development, and thus as historically and regionally specific. Table of Contents Introduction 1 1. Needs, Identity and Leadership: The Synthesis 15 1.1. The Hierarchy of Human Needs 16 1.2. Identification and the Needs Levels 22 1.3. Leadership on Different Needs Levels 32 1.4. The Synthesis: Conclusion 39 2. Perceived Relative Deprivation and Collective Violence 41 2.1. Motivation and Perceived Relative Deprivation 42 2.2. Bottom-Up and “Middle” Conflicts: Mobilisation and Identity 48 2.3. Top-Down Conflicts: Mobilisation and Ideology 56 2.4. PRD and Conflict: Conclusion 63 3. The Sudan: Ideology and Identity on the Lower Needs Levels 67 3.1. The Development of Northern Identity and Ideology 68 3.2. The Development of a New Southern Identity 80 3.3. Sudanese Identity: Conclusion 88 4. The Sudan: Mobilisation and Leadership in Physiological/Security PRD 91 4.1. South Sudan: Mobilisation and Leadership 91 4.2. Comparison: Mobilisation in the North 105 4.3. Sudanese Mobilisation: Conclusion 111 5. Yugoslavia: Identity and Ideology on the Status Needs Level 115 5.1. Yugoslavism – Illusions of an Ideological Homeland 115 5.2. Heavenly Serbia – Myth and Martyrdom in RD and RG 122 5.3. Comparison: Smooth and Violent Change on the Status Level 130 5.4. Identities in the Former Yugoslavia: Conclusion 141 6. The Serbs: Mobilisation and Leadership in Status PRD 143 6.1. Milošević and the Serbian Serbs: Illusions of Existential Threat 144 6.2. The Yugoslav National Army 151 6.3. Serb Identity and Mobilisation in Croatia 154 6.4. Serb Identity and Mobilisation in Bosnia 159 6.5. Serb Volunteers and Paramilitary Groups: Illusions of Heroism 164 6.6. Serb Mobilisation: Conclusion 169 7. Implications for International Relations Theory 173 7.1. The Realist/Neorealist Worldview 174 7.2. The Liberal Worldview 180 7.3. The Constructivist Worldview 188 7.4. IR Theory: Conclusion 195 Conclusion 199 Bibliography 209 Introduction This dissertation has been motivated by three major concerns which arose during the author’s previous studies in International Relations (IR). The first of these relates to the slack use of the concept of collective identity, or sometimes its exclusion, in IR theories. Although group identification has been found to be a cause of such transformational large-scale phenomena as the rise and fall of nations,1 collective identity is often seen as something fixed and ever-present; it is a kind of black box which is often mentioned yet eludes investigation in the international context. The second, equally serious problem, directly connected to the first, is the exclusion of individual agency, in both IR and various conflict theories, of state and other group leaders who constitute international society. Leader personality does not generally fit into structural theories, nor does the very real capacity of some leaders to manipulate the masses into believing in either the flaws or flawlessness of certain ingroup or national structures, and to mobilise those masses accordingly. The third issue of concern relates to both IR theory and the social sciences more generally. The hierarchy of basic human needs is a well-known idea, yet has remained one of the least investigated and theorised concepts. This is possibly a consequence of the needs hierarchy, as originally devised by Maslow2 and expounded upon by many others, being a concept based more on human intuition than on any falsifiable empirical findings. As Chapter 1 will make clear, the various theoretical models on the needs hierarchy are not especially revealing, although the concept itself can hardly be overlooked. The incapacity to create a convincing framework of needs or a thorough explanation of their practical effects has led to the withering of the entire concept, rendering it an interesting but largely abandoned theoretical fancy. As a result, questions such as how human needs motivation translates into collective action and how the needs hierarchy manifests itself in IR have remained unanswered. The idea of a needs hierarchy must thus be expanded upon in a novel manner so as to give it a new lease on life. 1 For such a use of identity, see for example Rodney Bruce Hall, National Collective Identity: Social Constructs and International Systems (New York: Columbia University Press, 1999). 2 Abraham Maslow, Motivation and Personality (2nd Edition, NY: Harper & Row, 1970). 1 The abandonment of the needs hierarchy as well as the neglect of collective identity in IR theory is unfortunate, for this has meant the exclusion of a major theory of human motivation in the field of IR. Motivation and the ways in which it is transformed into collective action, however, cannot be investigated by looking at only one (needs) or the other (identity). This thesis links motivation and collective action through a simple innovation: the unification of the needs hierarchy with theories of collective identity and leadership. Such a merger, as will be seen, leads to an understanding of identity and motivation that is more flexible and illuminating than the ones used thus far in the social sciences. This connection is essential, for only after motivation on different levels of needs fulfilment is understood can one investigate how the various combinations of needs, identities, and leadership styles are likely to result in various types of collective action in real intergroup relations. Equally importantly, only after understanding the power dynamics of the group can one begin to talk about how these collective mechanisms function on the systemic, international level.