COMPETITION, CONFLICT AND COOPERATION

In the social sciences, historically, economists have emphasized competition over social (strategic) interaction although that has begun to change with game theory, an increasingly important part of microeconomics. Anthropologists, sociologists and political scientists on the other hand have emphasized social cooperation and conflict, traditionally in the form of functionalism and a variety of descendants of Marxism, even though common sense dictates that not all social relationships are cooperative nor are all antagonistic. There, too, game theory is becoming more prominent (Abell 2000). Instead of either the competition or the conflict versus cooperation approach to social relationships and interaction, this chapter adopts the biologists' three-cornered distinction among all three. This helps make clear some general principles under which these alternatives should be expected to be observed as well as their likely consequences.

Some examples of the inferences that can be drawn are that things that are often seen as going hand in hand, such as environmental depletion and degradation, can be distinguished as consequences of different courses of action. On the other hand, some things which are traditionally seen as opposed, such as liberal and conservative views of crime as well as conflict and cooperation, may proceed hand in hand. We then go on to explore the use of such concepts in understanding the nature of proto-gender and gender differences and relationships – the most fundamental social relationship that exists among unrelated peers.