# نظرية التدافع



## Outlandish

I wonder is there an equivalent term for this theory in English?
I read it in this context
*ومن السهل أن نقول: إن المنفعة أيضا أساس إسلامي للحقوق، ونلبس نظريات المقاصد والمصالح في الفقه الإسلامي وأصوله لباس نظرية 
المنفعة بدلالتها الأدنى في الفكر الغربي.

ويمكن من باب المزايدة أن نقول: إن الصراع أحد الأسس التي يحفل بها الإسلام ملبسين في هذا الإطار نظرية التدافع لباس نظرية الصراع.*

 تظل نظرية التدافع والاختلاف أحد السنن الكونية ” ولولا دفع الله الناس بعضهم ببعض لهدمت صوامع وبيع وصلوات ومساجد يذكر فيها اسم الله كثير ”

Oh! I have to add this
Those who speak about this theory say that it is a political and maybe cultural defense mechanism used by societies to ward off aggression or ill influence. At the same time, the nations using it do not practice aggression against others in any way. On the contrary, they build relationships with them in times when no aggressiveness is exhibited by them. In a nutshell, the cultures employing تدافع attack those who attack, are on good term with them if they hold back their aggression. It is a reflexive reaction theory where response in dependent on others actions.


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## Josh_

I've been thinking about this, and I can't seem to think of any English equivalents.  I am, of course, not a political scientist, and may just not be aware of the term.  Or it might not be lexicalized in English. 

The only things that comes to mind are "the theory of (self) defense," or "theory of self-preservation" (or a combination of both), but neither really seem to capture the meaning of the Arabic, according to your explanation.

Hopefully others will chime in.


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## ayed

Just guessing:
Repelent Theory or DisplacementTheory?


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## Outlandish

Josh thank you for participating
Thank you Ayed for participating
Since there isn't a famous equivalent in English, we have to set one.
The theory of defense gives only one side of this theory
the theory of repelling (personally, I thought f it) gives only one side of the theory (the other side)
We really need to combine the two in one
I thought of proportional repelling, or proportional reaction theory; or maybe just repelling theory or self-defense theory?
I'm also concerned about the translation looking like a psychological term


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## Faylasoof

As a complete non-expert (like others) I was wondering if these would be _approximate_ equivalents in English:

نظرية الصراع = Conflict theory - this meaning seems close enough and _conflict theory_ is an officially recognised term.


نظرية التدافع = Competition theory - this is not so close but I know of the term _competiton  theory_ with similar ideas as نظرية التدافع. Of course there many forms of this and in biology it means something very different from what it means in sociology and politics though in both cases it represents a struggle for survival. But here is where the similarity ends.

Again, I have no idea if these are officially recognised terms as such in this context. Anyway, it was good thinking about it!


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## Outlandish

Hi Faylasoof and thanks
You made me look up competition theory and it is an economic theory. That is not a hindrance for not using it here, but I guess it doesn't gather the full meaning of نظرية التدافع ; it takes one's mind  little bit farther. Do we need a two-word term here? Please help me guys, we surely will settle on something valuable.


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## Faylasoof

Hi Outlandish,

You are welcome!

Yes, one of the meanings of competition theory is economic but I know there are more than one situations where this is applicable. Biology for one! Also, just to give you another example, both al-Jahiz (died 869 CE) and Malthus (died 1834 CE) invoked a kind of a social competiton theory. But I do see your point. 

I can try asking some friends who might be able to help. In the meantime, I do recall that Ibn Khaldun had come up with a social theory which in English is called _group theory_ (العصبیۃ), which again doesn't quite fit here but would the terms _group survival / defense theory_ work? Like Josh, I don't know if we have an exact English equivalent of نظرية التدافع .


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## cherine

Hi Outlandish,
This is the first time for me to hear about نظرية التدافع as a term, and if it wasn't for the quote لولا دفع الله الناس I don't think I would've understood what you're talking about.  So, thanks for teaching me something new!


Outlandish said:


> the theory of repelling (personally, I thought f it) gives only one side of the theory (the other side)


How about "mutual repelling".
The Arabic wazn tafaa3ul expresses mutuality: تفاعُل، تصارُع، تقاتُل، تنافُس، تزامُن ... No?


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## Faylasoof

Outlandish said:


> I thought of proportional repelling, or proportional reaction theory; or maybe just repelling theory ....?
> I'm also concerned about the translation looking like a psychological term



How about simply, "Conflict-Avoidance Theory". This term exists for sure and you find it applies to both social and political situations. By repelling you are avoiding conflict, and it has a pyschological aspect to it too. 

May be I need to sleep over this one!


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## Josh_

Since repelling seems to be a recurring theme it just occurred to me that perhaps the Theory of Deterrence might be applicable, but this only has to do with deterring your enemy from attacking you by making sure they know that you are capable of retaliating in a commensurate manner, but little to do with cooperation during periods of peaceful coexistence.  

In fact, perhaps we could use the term "peaceful coexistence" is some way.


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## Faylasoof

Josh_ said:


> Since repelling seems to be a recurring theme it just occurred to me that perhaps the Theory of Deterrence might be applicable, but this only has to do with deterring your enemy from attacking .....but little to do with cooperation during periods of peaceful coexistence.
> 
> In fact, perhaps we could use the term "peaceful coexistence" is some way.


 
Hi Josh, Outlandish and all other participants,

Perhaps that sleep has done me some good! How about this one?

The ideas of cooperating ,defending and repelling could all be represented here.

*Theory of Reciprocity* – you cooperate when others do the same. When attacked, you respond in kind but as it is a response, you are merely defending yourself - with proportional action / reaction.

Reciprocity = Something done mutually or in return.


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## Outlandish

Guys, you're doing great 
Thank you Cherine, you're welcome
As for mutual repelling it looks like a very strong suggestion except that it might mean that this theory is in application by both parties while it isn't really so.
Conflict-avoidance theory is good, I like it, but there is a small whispering voice which says: There might be something better 
Theory of Deterrence is also one way out, but again only one part of the meaning is shown
I also noticed Ayed's suggestion which is theory of Displacement. This word is one of the words which I can't grasp fully, but I feel it is kind of functional here, somebody please tell!
The most important thing is what a good sleep is capable of doing. The Theory of Reciprocity is amazing choice! I need to know what others think of it among the other choices.
I suggest that it may be better if we turned it an adjective and followed by a noun like, theory of Reciprocal ....ing 
The best choices for me are:
*Reciprocity, Conflict-Avoidance, and Displacement*
Well, I'll be waiting for more confirmatory opinions, and let's see ...


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## Faylasoof

Hi Outlandish,

About this:


Outlandish said:


> ..I suggest that it may be better if we turned it an adjective and followed by a noun like, theory of Reciprocal ....ing ...



My initial idea was to make a compound term like <*Theory of Reciprocal Action / Interaction *etc.>, but then I felt may be,  just may be it is better not to make it more complicated, opting for simplicity and brevity instead. 

But we can always change back to one of these or some other combination with <_Reciprocal_ ...>. 

(As the original Arabic noun here, * التدافع *,falls in the 3rd verbal form تَفاعَلَ - implying mutual action - it'll be good to keep the implicit idea and I feel <*reciprocal*> is better than <*mutual*>, which is the other possibility, i.e.  _theory of mutual intercation_ / _action_. But I do prefer the choice of <_reciprocal ... / reciprocity_>.)


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## Xence

Faylasoof said:


> My initial idea was to make a compound term like <*Theory of Reciprocal Action / Interaction *etc.>, but then I felt may be, just may be it is better not to make it more complicated, opting for simplicity and brevity instead.


In this regard, the simplest compound term is _Social interaction theory_, since this is a well known scientific theory where the term _interaction_ conveys the idea of reciprocity, and it is the closest idea to what is discussed in this thread, in my opinion.


> In sociology, *social interaction* is a dynamic, changing sequence of social actions between individuals (or groups) who modify their actions and reactions due to the actions by their interaction partner(s). *Social interactions* can be differentiated into accidental, repeated, regular, and regulated. Social interactions form the basis for social relations.
> 
> Source


 
Usually, the term _interaction_ is rendered by the word تآثر, but in this context it could be a good equivalent of تدافع.


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## Faylasoof

Xence said:


> In this regard, the simplest compound term is _Social interaction theory_, since this is a well known scientific theory where the term _interaction_ conveys the idea of reciprocity, and it is the closest idea to what is discussed in this thread, in my opinion.
> 
> 
> Usually, the term _interaction_ is rendered by the word تآثر, but in this context it could be a good equivalent of تدافع.


 I'm aware of the idea of social interactions (I've read both Marx and Weber) but that refers to the behaviour of individuals in a society and not between societies or nations. Besides, from what Outlandish is saying above, تدافع seems to be more than تآثر = interaction, a very general term. I’m not sure if they can be equated.


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## Xence

The term تدافع , as discussed in this thread, was coined by a few moderate islamist thinkers as Muhammad Amara, Taha Jaber Alwani and others at the end of last century. The basic idea was to show that there is an alternative to "conflicts theory" (whether between individuals or societies). The word was inspired from a coranic verse, as explained in the first post.

In my opinion, _interaction_ is the best english translation one could come up with, even though it is a bit general term. That is why we need to add an adjective such as _social_ (*social interaction* = interaction between individuals or groups in the same society), _cultural_ (*cultural interaction* = interaction between different societies or _diffusionism_), etc.


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## Outlandish

Since this theory opposes these which promote conflict, it entails that people should wait for other parties action then react to it. Can we call it the theory of Counterbalance,  Analogous Action, Contingent Reacting, Proportional/Equal Reaction/Action, theory of Equipoise, Counterpoise, Proportional Repelling,........?


I need the word which will emanate Political and Social connotations rather than those relevant to other fields.
I'm still anxious to know others opinions in these suggestions and the former ones: Reciprocity, Conflict-Avoidance, and Displacement


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## djara

This thread is old, but the topic is interesting as it refers to an Islamist alternative to the rule of law. It has been widely used by the Nahdha movement in Tunisia. An example of this is what its President, Rached Ghannouchi, said about the Constitution: "a mere piece of paper; the struggle is in the streets". Here is a review of this "theory".
It was translated into French by "dynamique des pressions sociales" (the dynamics of social pressures". 
There must be a better translation into English. Any suggestions?


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## djara

Further research on Google has given "contentious politics" and "popular contention". These describe the same approach to solving social/political conflicts, but they obviously lack the Islamist background references. 
*Contentious politics* is the use of disruptive techniques to make a political point, or to change government policy. Examples of such techniques are actions that disturb the normal activities of society such as demonstrations, general strike action, riot, terrorism, civil disobedience, and even revolution or insurrection. Social movements often engage in contentious politics. The concept distinguishes these forms of contention from the everyday acts of resistance explored byJames C. Scott, interstate warfare, and forms of contention employed entirely within institutional settings, such as elections or sports. Tilly defines contentious politics as:


"interactions in which actors make claims bearing on someone else's interest, in which governments appear either as targets, initiators of claims, or third parties."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contentious_politics


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