Toward Interethnic Peace

General conditions conducive to interethnic peace are examined through the successful experiencesof the post-slavery, multiethnic societies of Réunion and Mauritius. Intimacy, openness to others,and solidarity are identified as key characteristics of Creole societies that facilitate the emergenceof attributes shared across individuals—a prerequisite for the construction of a harmonious societyregardless of skin color. This congruence of values, conceptualized as surface hybridity and represented by the concept of the Creole envelope, was initially fostered by forced miscegenation. It subsequently deepened during the post-emancipation period through growing solidarity in response to recurring hardships, including natural disasters, deadly epidemics, and prolonged economic depression. Because most multiethnic Creole societies did not evolve into peaceful and cohesive communities, we highlight the importance of appropriate political institutions and, more specifically, the central role of human dignity as a foundational value. Drawing inspiration from natural systems and models of collective behavior in both animals and humans, we argue that dignity serves as the linchpin aligning uprooted Creole individuals with common political institutions, which serve as a societal template. Inspired by biomimetic assembly models, we suggest that surface hybridity may constitute a sufficient condition for the emergence of a peaceful and enduring multiethnic society by fostering the convergence of certain values across ethnic groups while preserving their distinctive core values.