Roger V. Gould

“The trigger for a fight is often a challenge, which creates an implicit contest over who is superior.”

“Hierarchy, paradoxically, is a peacemaker.”

“The argument of this book is that symmetrical conflict—violence between people who are socially near to one another—is not the result of status inconsistency but of status ambiguity.”

“Violent conflict is most likely to erupt between people who are unsure of their standing relative to each other, and this uncertainty is greatest when they are social equals.”

“Much of what looks like principled conflict is in fact status conflict in disguise.”

“Solidarity is not a mysterious, ethereal force that emanates from communities of the like-minded; it is a contingent product of social relations.”

“Status ambiguity, in short, is what makes conflict over precedence conceivable, and honor is what makes it matter.”

“People have to have a way of deciding, when they are aggrieved, whether they have a right to be, and if so, what they have a right to do about it.”

“What makes a challenge into a fight is the decision to meet it with a counter-challenge.”