Tolerance, Cohesion, and Ethnic Conflict in Highly Complex Societies

Abstract

The semantics of recognition and the question of tolerance have become frequently visited topics in contemporary political philosophy. This article analyzes, from Luhmann’s social systems theory, the implications that the spreading of such semantics and the implementation (or not) of regimes of tolerance suppose to the social order. In this task, identity is conceived as an operation oriented towards differentiation that is linked to the recursivity of social communication (or culture). The concluding remarks suggest that the adoption of inter-system coordination oriented to tolerance is key for the survival of democracy in modern society, but under some circumstances, as the weakening of belonging bonds within the state civic community, the accentuation of identity differentiation can lead to conflict and to social fragmentation.