Shock & Conflict
Societies and communities are usually not stable and at peace forever. They are adapted to their environment but that does not last forever. New ideas, desires, players, ambitions, resources, neighbours, overlords, climates, routinely create trouble. Rather than building theories which assume a perfect peace and balance, and then treating conflict as an exception, it seems better to build our understanding of communities acknowledging that conflict is part and parcel of community life, of the evolution of societies. Moreover, it can be productive. Shocks, on the other hand, are usually not too productive, and we do not always see them coming. Cultivating adaptive capacity is of the essence, but one cannot adapt to everything.
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