Theory of conflict in the social and political sphere: retrospective dynamics and the modern vector of media communication impact

Attempts to understand the essence and genesis of conflict in human society can be traced back to ancient thinkers and have continued for many centuries. Researchers of all times have been searching for a political system that would harmoniously regulate conflicts between people, transition to a state without “antagonistic” contradictions, and even gradual withering away of the state as such. In the second half of the 20th century, a scientific school emerged that recognized that conflict is an ever-present and essential type of communication in society; it is based on clashes of values, needs, and interests with the leading role of objective socio-economic circumstances. In the search for the causes of socio-political conflict, their hierarchy, and methods of regulation, factors associated with the development of the information society and its media components, which shape citizens’ virtual ideas about what is happening and their subsequent behavioral reactions, have become increasingly important. These processes are the focus of the author’s research. The essential characteristics of the media space of the 20th–21st centuries are given. and the role of media resources in resolving (preventing, inciting, neutralizing) conflicts. The subjective influence of the media is compared with the objective conditions for the development of political processes. The article puts forward and confirms the hypothesis that if earlier information factors, including media components, were perceived by scientists as important causes and instruments for regulating socio-political conflict, then in relation to the 21st century we should talk about their dominance. In a situation of colossal and progressive growth of sources and volumes of information, “objective” reality is replaced by an endless series of semantic interpretations that determine the thoughts and behavior of citizens. In these conditions, the concept of “communications management” becomes a global strategy in the conflict, and within the framework of state policy – ensuring the prevailing volume of information impact and synchronizing messages with a single meaning in traditional and new media. Similar models of media-political management in the conflict between the authorities and the opposition at various stages of historical development are presented. It is stated that “color revolutions”, military clashes, and the intensification of global confrontation on the world stage have shown a further strengthening of the role of the information factor in socio-political relations and motivated strict regulation of media communications in many countries. The desire of states to monopolize media influence with counteraction to the spread of irrelevant values and political images has become a global trend.