Latent conflict and the erosion of cohesion

While much literature has focused on heterogeneity (i.e. fractionalization) as a condition of cohesion per se, the book argues that we should rather be looking at the dissimilarities in orientations across defined groups. Such cleavages arise because of objective differences in the access to resources and opportunities that may vary systematically with membership in social categories, i.e. "categorical inequalities". Additionally, members of these groups may be engaged in "group referencing" whereby they "deduce" their personal positionality within a society, based on their group membership and the group's perceived relative standing in economic, social, and political terms as compared to other groups. Based on this positionality, they adjust their attitudes with regard to social cohesion. Grave divisions indicate a situation of latent conflict within a society and are addressed extensively in this chapter. The empirical analysis concentrates on regional, religious, socio-economic status, gender, and migration status differences in all societies (and at the end of the previous chapter on ethnic majority and minority populations). Limitations to this analysis are presented by the intersectional nature of group belonging as well as the low population frequency of certain categories. Criteria to deal with these limitations are established and discussed. Results show that generally countries with high variance in social cohesion across groups exhibit lower levels of overall social cohesion. Particularly noteworthy is the strong negative relationship between low cross-regional cohesion within a society and its overall societal cohesion. Religion shows no impact in most countries but is strong in some societies (Kosovo, Montenegro, Israel). No systematic differences for socio-economic status groups can be found. There are mixed results for gender depending on country, and large differences between foreign-born and natives in some societies (Spain, Italy, the United Kingdom, Greece). Such case-specific empirical findings in all result chapters are always substantiated with secondary evidence from other studies. Grave divisions indicate a situation of latent conflict within a society. The empirical analysis concentrates on regional, religious, socio-economic status, gender, and migration status differences in all societies. Societal cohesion also entails that a basic consensus is needed between groups, so that group identities are not contradictory but functionall