“Parity of Esteem”: A Conceptual Framework for Assessing Peace Processes, with a South African Case Study Pierre du Toit ABSTRACT In the first part of this article a conceptual framework for assessing the durability of nego- tiated peace settlements is developed. The framework elaborates on approaches that hold that dealing with issues of relative group status is central to the effectiveness of negotiated settlements. The dynamics of post-settlement competition, the negotiated rules that shape such competition, and the impact of competitive outcomes on inter-group status, whether adverse or positive, is explored. It is argued that peace settlements with rules that shape competition in such a way that both parity of outcomes and parity of esteem can be achieved will be more durable. Parity of esteem is achieved to the extent that competitive rules inhibit stakeholders from drawing invidious comparisons from competitive outcomes. The second part of the article comprises a case study of South Africa. A descrip- tive analysis is made of a particular set of rules that emanate from the 1993/96 negotiated settlement. The competitive arena is the employment market and the rules of affirmative action. The case study centers on a nuting in a case brought to the South African Labor Court by the Solidarity Trade Union. The case illustrates the emergence of invidious comparisons, the dynamics of in-group and out-group interaction, the construction and reconstruction of identities, and she shifting equilibrium of relative group status. In conclusion, it is found that the current rules shaping this competitive situation inhibit the emergence of parity of esteem. The fragility of many recent negotiated peace settlements is apparent (Licklider 1995), A survey by Darby (2001) shows that in the decade from January 1988 to December 1998 thirty-eight formal peace settlements were signed, of which thirty-one failed to endure for more than three years. The obvious indicators of complete settlement failure are collapse and breakdown with a return to civil war and/or warlord politics. Rwanda and Angola represent prime examples. Indicators of settlement weakness, a precursor to failure, are many. These can include: persistent violence rooted in a culture of violence; disagreement about * Department of Political Science, University of Stellenbosch, Private Bag X1, Matieland 7602, South Africa (email: pdt@sun.ac.za). Twas the recipient of a Fulbright New Century Scholars Award for 2002/2003, and express my appreciation to the Fulbright Commission, who made this research possible. Copyright © 2004 SAGE Publications www.sagepublications.com (London, Thousand Oaks, and New Delhi) Vol 45(3-4): 195-212. DOI: 10.1177/0020715204049593196 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE SOCIOLOGY the role of opposition parties (their legitimacy, status, and appropriate function within democratic regimes); and disagreements about redistributive poli issues such as land, jobs, education, culture (language, religion), and symbols (commemorative days, names of public places, monuments). What are the criteria for durable peace settlements in divided societies? What are the essential issues that have to be confronted and dealt with at the negotiating table? How is this durability to be secured? The analysis presented here is guided by the following propositions. First, following Horowitz (2001), I believe the core issue underlying most other matters is relative group status, where social status is understood as a ranking or hierarchy of prestige, as perceived by the respective groups. Second, from this I propose that the key criterion for durable settlements is the maintenance of parity of esteem (Northern Ireland Good Friday Agreement 1998) between various stake- holding communities. Very briefly, esteem in this context entails the positive self-evaluation that a community can make on the basis of succeeding in living up to certain standards of value. Third, conflicts that are settled for the first time, even with adequate measures to address the issue of relative group status, may experience an erosion of this quality over time. When these settlements weaken and the impact of these failures is to undermine such parity of esteem, then re- negotiating them effectively requires that parity in the status relationship be Te-established by way of a post-settlement settlement (Du Toit 2003). If addressed early on, the agenda may include only specific items of weakness, and re- negotiating them may be likened to a process of preventive maintenance. Once settlement failure becomes pervasive, an entire constitutional order may need to be re-drafted. The aim of this article is to present a descriptive analysis of aspects of the South African settlement with a view to assessing the durability of its conflict-regulating mechanisms. A framework for analysis that utilizes aspects of social identity theory will be constructed, so as to aid in the conceptualization of the notion of parity of esteem. This overview will describe the evolving arena in which job seekers compete with one another. A case study of conflict in the labor market will then be presented. The case provides empirical demonstration that some South Africans hold strongly divergent views as to the intended objectives of the constitutional rules affecting competition in the labor market, and about the meaning of the negotiated transition that produced these rules. On this basis, and by interpreting the data within the conceptual framework presented here, it is asserted that in this competitive arena the South African transition fails in crucial aspects to deliver parity of esteem. It will be argued, in conclusion, that there is a case for re-negotiating the meaning of these rules and what they stand for.DU TOIT: “PARITY OF ESTEEM” 197 Parity of Esteem Why would esteem be such a crucial ingredient of long-lasting peace settle ments? Why not socioeconomic status as measured in parity of income, education, and employment? The World Bank recommends this approach in one of its latest reports, Breaking the Conflict Trap: Civil War and Development Policy (Collier et al. 2003). However, there is ample evidence that adversaries in communally based conflicts tend to be relatively insensitive to material costs. Ethnic groups often pursue their objectives at the expense of material gratifi- cation and, as Varshney (2003) has shown, sometimes at great cost, knowing that deprivation, impoverishment, and hardship will be their immediate reward. So, if they do not pursue material rewards in the first place, if there is something else, something more fundamental and basic subsumed within their pursuit of overt political objectives such as regional autonomy, secession, national inde- pendence, etc., what is it? Self-respect, dignity, recognition, and sense of worthi- ness are concepts often cited and usually used interchangeably. For the purposes of this analysis, the concept of esteem is used Self-esteem is a crucial ingredient of personal identity. According to one perspective, a positive sense of self-esteem, along with a sense of self-efficacy (a sense of personal competence) and self-consistency (a sense of personal coher- ence), allow the individual to maintain an identity that serves to help him/her cope with anxiety (Solomon, Greenberg, and Pyszczynski 1991). Some of the core propositions in this perspective are that “the experienced world is an uncertain and anxiety-provoking place and a sense of selfhood is essential in dealing with it.” and that “anxiety-reduction is the ultimate driver of identity formation” (Smyth 2002: 149-150). In order to maintain analytical usefulness and to avoid concept stretch- ing, it is necessary to demarcate the concept of esteem from related concepts. Why not just call it the ability to rate yourself highly? This uncomplicated defi- nition is attractive in its clarity, but not appropriate for the analysis of conflict behavior and methods of containing and moderating conflict. It is important to know how positive evaluations are acquired and lost and what may happen when they come under threat. The definition by Greenberg et al. is useful: “self- esteem is the feeling that one is an object of primary valuc in a meaningful universe. Individuals sustain self-esteem by maintaining faith in a culturally derived conception of reality (the cultural worldview) and living up to the stan- dards of value [emphasis added] that are prescribed by that worldview” (Green- berg et al. 1999: 106). In this definition, then, individual esteem is acquired through individual actions, and is not an attribute that is inherent to the person, either by being an inborn quality or by being a quality assigned or awarded to the person by society and/or state irrespective of his/her actions. Adhering to strict moral codes (Brown 2000: 760), acquiring material prosperity, and achieving competitive