Source: https://www.irenees.net/article250_en.html
Introduction
This tool was designed for use in situations of conflict of interest that are strongly asymmetrical in terms of power. It describes the necessary processes to construct the conditions for negotiation between two very unequal parties. It is a process that makes it possible to achieve a fair conciliation of interest between parties in order to ease conflict.
The Four-Stepped Staircase is used by ReAct in socio-economic conflicts between subsidiaries of multinational businesses and neighboring populations. In general, the source of conflict has to do with the use of arable land or the redistribution of goods produced by these lands. Developed in this particular type of context, it can be used in all conflicts wherein a dominant, homogenous actor opposes a group of disorganized people whose interests are being overrun.
The image of the Four-Stepped Staircase is a tool that serves leaders of social groups whose interests have been pushed aside. It is first and foremost an educational diagram used by local leaders to promote to their communities the pressing need for collective organization and strategy to defend their interests through negotiation. As such it was designed less as a tool for retrospective analysis of a conflict situation than as a way of summarizing a strategic approach for the actors from the dominated side of the conflict.
In an asymmetrical socio-economic conflict, the Four-Stepped Staircase is a method of conflict resolution that offers an alternative to the methods seen in the diagram below and which end in deadlock.
- The first deadlock is at the end of the path of illusions. It is a naive strategy which looks for benevolence and goodwill from the other party in the conflict. It is about calling out to their goodwill to sacrifice part of their interests for the wellbeing of the population. However, the economic rationale and administrative constraints of the adversary often make him deaf to the language of charity and morals.
- The second deadlock is through a path of blind anger. Most often used after the failure of the first strategy, this impasse results from the exasperation and fatigue of the dominated, which they express through sporadic explosions of violence (riots etc.). “They’ve disregarded us for too long, we are going to give them a good hit and they will see that we won’t let them get away with this any longer”. This path often becomes an impasse because of the strategic weakness of the blows given, but most of all due to a lack of awareness of the logic of negotiating. The absence of a reliable representative or spokesperson, the sporadic nature of action, the efficiency of repression, as well as many other factors driving the adversary to not give priority to the method of negotiation.
The Four-Stepped Staircase is therefore designed to be a third path that can compensate for the limits of the deadlocks:
- The deadlocks tell us first “No negotiation without power”,
- And then “No action without the prospect of negotiation.”
It is the combination of the staircase and the two impasses that constitutes a model for the analysis of conflict between businesses and populations. It allows us to identify the more or less conscious strategies of leaders attempting to defend the interests of their communities. It is prescriptive in the sense that it promotes the third path as a mode of conflict resolution in favor of the dominated parties.
Description
This model was developed as a method that allows people in situations of injustice to quickly visualize the steps that can allow them to change their situation. The staircase diagram has several advantages:
- A progressive ascent:
The staircase shows the successive steps to be followed in order to lead to better cooperation between opposing interests. Climbing the steps requires effort, and it therefore becomes clear to the protagonists that a transformation of the situation will not be immediate, and that it requires consistent work to climb the four steps. It is at the top that success waits, in the same way as at the top of a podium. - A clear view of the different steps:
The diagram shows a procedure that should be followed and clarifies the steps to be taken. For those who are angry and want to change their situation the staircase provides the initial steps for organizing and making priorities. In doing so, it serves as an easily accessible guide to channel anger into a positive energy. - Don’t skip a step
The two deadlocks that we spoke of previously are, in reality, attempts to skip steps. The deadlock of blind anger is an attempt to skip the two steps of ‘Sharing Anger’ and ‘Organization.’ The deadlock of illusions is an attempt to directly pass by the step of ‘Negotiation’ without sufficiently organizing and without developing a ‘Capacity for Action’ that would give real power to the negotiation.
The image of the staircase allows the importance of a particular progression to be more clearly visualized. - Moving to the next step
Using the image of the staircase, the actors can determine where they are in the process of collective action. Were a sufficient number of people contacted? Is the organization solid enough? Is one capable of directing different actions?
These questions allow the actors to establish which step they are on. From there, the next question is how one can go on to the next step? The bubbles above the arrows in the diagram show the different methods to achieve this. - Negotiation as the ultimate, final step
In the diagram, the final step is Negotiation. Confronting the adversary is the last step in the staircase as it is the one that grants access to victory and real gains. One leaves anger and follows the path towards being face-to-face with the adversary in order to change the factors that caused the initial anger. The staircase aims to showcase negotiation as the ultimate end. When there is a conflict of interest only the process of true negotiation between these interests can lead to a just resolution.
Context
The Four-Stepped Staircase was developed throughout the course of ReAct’s project researching the organization around conflicts between transnational corporations and local populations (workers and residents).
It was used by local leaders to translate the local situation simply, and to share a strategy with the members of their communities to change an unfair situation.
It was thought of as a way to fight against the attraction of the two deadlocks (seeking benevolence as well as sporadic uprisings) for numerous people among local communities. Its simplicity allows it to be easily transmittable and to give to all the broad strokes of strategy to be followed.
Theory
This staircase summarizes the four steps of transformation from diffuse frustration born of a unfocused awareness of interests, to a substantive expression of these interests in such a way so as to reconcile them with those of the adversary.
- “BATNA” Collective Action in Negotiation
The staircase concept relies on two main theoretical foundations: on the one hand the theory of negotiation, and on the other hand the sociology of collective action. The first is at the basis of this model since it was created from the starting point of the top step. In effect, it is about looking for a fair compromise in a situation of asymmetrical power. Under what circumstances could negotiation lead to such a result in these conditions? The notion of BATNA (Best Alternative to Negotiated Agreement) expresses the necessity for the weakest party to construct an alternative option that is less desirable to the adverse party than obtaining agreement. This is the key that allows the party that has less power in the negotiations to obtain a favorable agreement. In conflicting situations between businesses and local populations the issue is therefore to identify actions that can be taken by the latter that would be more costly than negotiating an agreement.
This is a rapid overview of the reasoning that leads us to the necessity of the local population to develop a capacity for collective action, especially in order to damage the business involved. It is important to identify actions which can be articulated along with the process of negotiation (beforehand, that can be used as a threat during negotiation, as well as after…).
Putting this forward as a necessary capacity for action brings us back to sociology of collective action. In the following section we describe the three dimensions of this with which we are particularly concerned.
- Sharing Anger: Collectively translating and expressing the feelings of Injustice
The first element of conflict, in its most basic form that this process seeks to transform is individual anger. It is sometimes described as a feeling of frustration or deprivation born from the perceived gap between the good which people feel entitled to (value expectations), and that which they think they can obtain (value capabilities) (Ted Gurr, Why Men Rebel, 1970). This can sometimes be expressed as feelings of injustice in which one considers oneself a victim (William Gamson, Encounters With Unjust Authorities, 1982).
From a normative and cognitive point of view, the sentiment of injustice assumes the existence of stable principles of justice, which allows the individual to establish a judgment, on the basis of which each is able argue why what he undergoes is injust. The use of the term anger is used to translate these sociological concepts into simple language. It is about recognizing that anger is a positive emotion, and that we are right to be angry in unjust situations.
The sociology of social movements puts forward the role of ‘protest entrepreneurs’ who work to translate latent frustrations and to combine dispersed anger. They must express injustice and put it into words to point out causes, responsibilities and the way to combat it.
The first step of the staircase, that of ‘sharing anger,’ corresponds to the process described above.
- The Way to Collective Organization
This stage also draws from classical theories of collective action, particularly those of Anthony Oberschall putting forwards necessary conditions for progressing to action (Oberschall, Social Conflict and Social Movements, 1973).
The minimum conditions for collective organization are shared objectives and identification of those responsible for injustices being perpetrated (the first step). However these basic conditions will only lead to weak forms of protest. To establish solid collective action, that will be repeated, Oberschall identifies two structural factors: an organizational base, and continuity of the movement established.
For each of these two structural factors, Oberschall shows the necessity of using existing resources: villages, families and communities. Traditional community solidarity is an important resource for structuring strong collective organizations, and giving recognized leaders and goals.
For Oberschall weak organizational capacity is the principal cause of short lived, violent and little thought-out revolts, such as the peasant revolts described by the historian Rudé that took place in France before the Revolution, or even the contemporary urban riots in the American ghettos and French suburbs.
- The Development of a Repertoire of Actions
The third step of the step model has also been derived from the sociology of social movements, more specifically that of the “social-movement repertoire” developed by Charles Tilly. In effect, the third step of the staircase is where actors using the organizational base as a resource to develop possible actions. It is about drawing on existing knowledge of the field, about mobilization using symbolism that resonates with the lives of people, encourage mobilization, and possibly even promote communication through the media towards the outside world.
This notion of social-movement repertoire, while different from its use by Tilly, who attempted to identify its traces in the long-term history of European social movements, allows us to put together the a toolbox of action which can then be used as leverage in the course of negotiations. The diversity and variable impact of actions from the repertoire will add to the strength of the position of the population in negotiations by multiplying the BATNAs possible at each stage.
Case Study
The four-stepped staircase was developed around and used in the conflict in several areas of Cameroon dating from June 2010 which set the Socapalm company and local communities against each other. It is therefore a relatively recently developed tool, within a wider conflict that has been going on for over 40 years.
Socapalm is a company in the oil-palm and rubber agro-industry. Created in the late 1960s in Cameroon, it owned the biggest public plantation in the country. In 2000, the company was privatized and became the holding Socfinal, whose main shareholder is the Bolloré group.
The residents of the lands surrounding the plantions have been the main victims of their development. In spite of the numerous promises made over the past 40 years, this privatization process has never benefited the community, nor has any compensation ever been made for the loss of their lands and heritage. When the ownership of the land was signed over to private industry, the agreement signed between Socapalm and the Government of Cameroon made commitments to the local community on behalf of the private company. 10 years down the line not one of these commitments has been honored. One point in defence of the company is that none of the commitments to the local residents were acted upon when the company was under public ownership either.
1.The basis of the conflict, and the feeling of injustice in the local communities
The creation and development of the first Socapalm plantations in the late 1960s led to the clearing of acres of forest, used up until that point by local communities for hunting and gathering. Arable lands were also requisitioned for the monoculture, taking away lands the local community cultivated. These land confiscations– a vital resource for the community – is the cause of the conflict between Socapalm and the local population. Local communities enjoyed rights over these different areas of land that are recognized in Camerounian law and for which they have never been compensated. The residents share a strong feeling of injustice over this issue, a feeling further reinforced by the legal recognition of theses rights and the numerous promises made by the government, and more recently by the company.
Besides the land conflict, the current form of land use causes a number of problems for the men and women affected by the activities of the company:
Deprivation of other resources: the destruction of the forest drove away wildlife and the pollution of rivers has made fishing impossible in some areas. Lack of job opportunities within Socapalm for local people. Environmental damage: air, soil and river pollution. Insecurity: violence perpetrated in some areas on the local residents by a private security company employed by Socapalm.
These different levels of harm inflicted on local communities strengthen the general awareness of being victims of injustice.
2. The deadlocks of the conflict: Blind anger and illusions
An underlying anger prevails among the local communities neighboring the five Socapalm plantations across the country. Recent history shows us two different kind of actions used by locals in an effort to alter the status quo. They represent the two deadlocks at either side of the staircase.
- Deadlock of blind anger:
In almost every plantation we can observe regular cases of the population rising up against the company.
— November 2010: some residents of Bidou 3, a village in the Kienké area, attacked with machetes employees of Socapalm who had come to take measurements for the expansion of the plantations. The previous year, a similar incident took place and was escalated by the intervention of security officers two of whom ended up with severed limbs.
— In Bikondo, North of the same plantation, a bulldozer driver has been seriously injured after being shot with arrows.
— In Mbommono, within the Dibombari plantation, some people were heard bragging about attacking a white executive (French) in 2006 and thrusting a machete in his back. He has not been seen in Cameroon since.
— In another plantation called Mbongo, in March 2010, people from several villages attacked the company offices after having been the victims of abuses by the security company Africa Security. Several offices were vandalized and houses burnt.
This list could be continued at length with other events. In each of them the intervention of law enforcement officials eventually brought the situation under control. Sometimes these incidents were followed by a visit from the local authorities (with or without the director of the plantation) to listen to the grievances of local communities, and at times making promises to maintain “neighbourly relations”.
Most often, these dialogue initiatives that follow local uprisings quickly cease after stability has been re-established.
To discourage the desire that many people have to fight their way out of this situation, leaders who work with the staircase approach found a valuable resource in traditional wisdom and proverbs. This is done with the goal of demonstrating that the violent approach will lead to deadlock.
« Le caillou lancé avec colère rate sa cible ». “The rock thrown in anger misses its target”. This is about standing up for organization and strategy rather than spontaneous uprisings that invariably follow the incidents acting as the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back.
« On ne cuit pas un gros gibier avec un feu de paille ». “Big game cannot be cooked on a hay fire”. With a large organization such as Socapalm, one cannot expect a significant victory after a day of anger.
- Deadlock of naïve illusions
The second method frequently used to address the situation is one defended by some of the traditional headmen. As with the anger deadlock there is a long list of letters to and meetings with the management, meetings for resolving conflict etc. without ever achieving any tangible outcome except vague promises and a token monetary remuneration to the attendees of these meetings.
In the district of Kienké, the traditional headman will show the 18 letters he has written to the General Manager of the plantation as well as the Préfet of the region requesting meetings. He also shows the ones written by the association of the Mabi Headmen, consisting of 7 headmen of villages near the plantation. Most of these letters remain unanswered though a few meetings have occurred, usually initiated by the company when it plans expansions (for example in December 2010, the manager went on tour in different villages around the plantation). However nothing significant has ever come out of these meetings. Moreover, these meetings are looked on with distaste by locals who see them as a sign that the headmen have been bought off by Socapalm.
In Dibombarri, a discussion forum was established in the aftermath of uprisings and monthly meetings took place. Here as well the residents of the villages concerned charged the attendees with being bought by Socapalm.
Leaders that promote collective organization also refer to proverbs to discredit the chiefs’ behavior.
— « Le coq ne négocie pas avec le cafard ». (The rooster does not negotiate with the cockroach).
— « On caresse la vache pour mieux la traire ». (The cow is stroked to better take milk from her).
— « Folle est la gazelle qui au lion se confesse ». (Crazy is the gazelle that goes to the lion to confess).
Usually, these illustrative proverbs are employed to criticize people who are naïve enough to believe that an amicable negotiation is possible in a situation of strong asymmetrical power.
3. Implementing the staircase model
- Step one: agitating, meetings and shared anger
To move this situation forward from stalemate, ReAct initially put into place a set of meetings with key stakeholders from all the different villages around the plantations. The first step here is achieved by engaging in individual and collective discussions on the difficulties induced by the activities of the company. These discussion can (but do not need to be) initiated by outside intervention. This role of catalyzing events is drawn from methods of community organizing as developed by Saul Alinsky.
In the Socapalm case, this function has been fulfilled by various different people:
— In the district of Kienké David N., a native of the region who emigrated to Europe in the 1980s, returned in June 2010 and went around the villages neighbouring the plantation to discuss the problems and the different ways of facing them. His participation is an asset, since he was born in the area, but is capable of proffering an outsider’s point of view as well.
— Nicolas R., organizer for ReAct, went to Cameroon to meet numerous leaders in villages neighbouring Socapalm plantations. As a white outsider his presence is mainly legitimized through sharing the nationality of the main shareholder of the company i.e. Vincent Bolloré.
— Jean E. is a resident of Mbonjo, a village beside the Dimbombarri plantation. Convinced that getting organized was a priority he quickly outgrew the role of local leader to become a regional organizer, going around different plantation districts.
This step of the work mainly consists of identifying key stakeholders, those respected for their leadership in different villages, to share feelings of injustice and agree on the inefficitivity of the two paths leading to deadlock. These meetings are key in mobilising people and initiating meetings that will initiate the organization process.
- Step two: organization
« Un seul doigt n’attrape pas le bout de viande au fond de la marmite. Un seul brin de paille ne peut pas balayer toute la cour. Mais si nous formons tous un seul bloc, alors nous serons assez forts pour revendiquer notre patrimoine ».
One finger cannot catch the piece of meat at the bottom of the pot. One straw cannot sweep up the whole courtyard. But if together we form one unit, then we will be strong enough to reclaim our heritage. Elie Nguimme, President of the national association of the Socapalm residents.
From the starting point of the intial meetings described above, collective meetings are organized at different levels -first within one village, then between neighbouring villages (such as the villages of Bikondo, Bilolo and Bissiang to the north of the Kienké plantation), for the entire plantation (around ten villages), and then at the national level.
Meetings are at the core of organizing:
— Before: Listing key stakeholders in every village, inviting them, and reminding them to attend.
— During the meeting: Organization (setting the agenda, assigning roles, and taking decisions)
— After: Keeping in contact, tracking tasks.
The main issues in ascending the organizational step in this conflict were as follows:
— 1. Ability to mobilise people to attend the meetings at different levels.
— 2. Sharing out roles during the meetings (temporary board memebers, committee coordinator, communications officer…). Power issues are always complex and sensitive. In one of the plantations mistakes regarding this led to the failure of organizing attempts in December 2010. One village was not adequately represented, and one leader placed at the head of the organisation turned out to be unreliable.
— 3. Structure, connection between the different levels. The organization is not built from the bottom up, but the rather the different levels are put into place at the same time. First a few local meetings were held, and then a national meeting in order to encourage the most motivated local leaders, and hold an event that can create the dynamics that will break the status quo. The information that there has been a ‘first national meeting’ where ‘for the first time, local leaders from four different plantations gathered’ spreads and motivates people to attend local meetings, thus breaking the pattern of fatalism prevalent over the last 40 years.
- Step three: collective action
Standing on the first two steps of organization, local residents neighboring to the plantations hold actions aimed at making the Socapalm management more responsive and accountable.
In the Kienké plantation where the process of organization started, actions where held in the neighboring villages when the company started it’s expansion. These actions were inspired by the dynamics of meetings and nascent organization. However, they were not anchored within a wider strategy and some of them were reminscent of the earlier outbursts of anger. Blockading bulldozers in January 2011 in Bikondo, or the obstruction of surveyors in Bidou 3 occurred without the coordination necessary to create a shift in the balance of power. However, the combination of the organizational process and the rise in direct action led the management of Socapalm to react.
The first national actions resulting from the organizational process were focussed on leaflet distribution. The flyer contained a text signed by the residents of four different plantations with the objective of informing the population, but also the management, that the set-up was changing and that local residents were no longer isolated in their struggle. This step of action was developed to serve the dual purpose of informing the local communities and also as a veiled threat towards the management of Socapalm, as leaflets were posted in all of the plantations management’s mailboxes, as well the Head Office of the company in Douala.
Next a national day of action was launched after an inter-plantation meeting, as a first attempt to bring the organistion to the same level as the national management of Socapalm and to establish the General Manager as the main target and interlocuter in the dispute. A blockade of the Socapalm employment offices occurred in Dibombarri, whilst a gathering disturbed the main entrance of the factories in the Kienké and Mbongo plantations. What is significant here is more the symbolic impact of simultaneous actions than the actual disruption caused. However, betrayal within the organization and attempts to sabotage this plan detracted from their efficiency and scope.
- Last step: Negotiation
Action is in reaction. The aim of the actions is to drive the management of the Socapalm to react. The last step of the staircase, negotiation, is the objective of the current organization among local plantations communities.
Even if this process has not been reached at the national scale yet, it has been launched in some of the plantations as a result of the actions that were organized.
— In Dibombarri a first step has been taken towards the objective of arranging for compensation and a fairer sharing of benefits. This first target is simple and easily acheived: the company has to pay for the village water resevoir. A first meeting had already been held between village representatives and the management, though without much success. After the actions causing disturbance to the plantation a new meeting was arranged, and the management finally agreed provide half the money necessary. “It’s a small victory, but a first victory that inspires others”, explains Jean E., leader-organizer in Mbonjo, Dibombarri.
— In the Kienké area, an official negotiation has yet been established, but an implicit dialog is ongoing, with a process of concessions impacting the balance of power. The issue of water pollution caused by the company and providing access to drinking water for residents was highlighted every time the Préfet or the Manager visited the villages. In the aftermath of the awareness raising actions organized between December and February, the company met the traditional headmen again to inform of their willingness to drill and install water conveyances in villages around the plantation. After a few months it was done.
— In the different plantations it is not yet possible to talk about negotiations in the true sense of the word on account of the nature of conflict between the Socapalm and local communities. Snatches of negotiation and first concessions seem however to have come about as a response to the ongoing organization process and direct actions. These compromises from the company could well signal the start of a more fundamental change in the balance of power between Socapalm and local communities. However, the organization is still fragile at the local level, and at the drafting stage at the national level. The unevenness of power dynamics prevailing before the start of climbing the staircase have just started to shift after one year. The outcomes are promising and confirm the relevance of this tool, but the relevance and the degree of efficiency will only be borne out in the long term.