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Exploring Deeper Wisdoms Of Mediation: Notes From The Edge, Margaret S. Herrman

Peace and Conflict Studies

Excerpt

Mediation draws many people into the field of conflict resolution with a promise of rewards like an income stream added to an existing professional practice or agreements pulled from the fires of bitterness and frustration. But for Jim Laue there was more. As a consummate mediator, Jim was equally comfortable mediating technically complex regional disputes, potentially explosive community disputes, and emotionally charged interpersonal disputes. His career began years before a well defined field existed. He came to this work as did others of his and the next generation, determined to address issues of social justice. His mediations during the …

On Advancing Truth And Morality In Conflict Resolution, Louis Kriesberg

Peace and Conflict Studies

Excerpt

The editors of this special issue have articulated many dilemmas facing workers in the fields of conflict analysis and resolution. One way they characterize the difficulties, described by Arthur Koestler , is balancing between spiritually-directed, but socially ineffective activism like that of a Yogi or acting like a Commissar disregarding the means used in order to achieve desirable socioeconomic transformations. This matter is often argued . Some people assert that a wellmeaning person's actions often result in undesired effects, while the person ready to act brutally provides widespread benefits. On the other hand, others argue that acting harshly in …

Why Conflict Transformation Matters: Three Cases, Frank Dukes

Peace and Conflict Studies

This essay begins with an examination of the importance of conflict transformation. The failings of an ideology of management currently dominating the conflict resolution field are contrasted with components of a transformative practice. I then offer three cases from my own experience and draw lessons from them to illustrate the potential of conflict resolution in three distinct areas: fostering community, building a responsive governance, and resolving public conflict. The examples are the following:

• A school redistricting dispute, where a return to the sense of common purpose and community was the primary goal of the convenors;
• A tri-jurisdiction community visioning …

Conclusion, Frank O. Blechman

Peace and Conflict Studies

Excerpt

We, the editors of this Issue, began by saying that both the concept of conflict resolution and social justice are used in multiple ways. We noted that some forms or definitions of each seemed to exclude the other.

Introduction: Conflict Resolution And Social Justice, Richard E. Rubenstein

Peace and Conflict Studies

A daunting obstacle to clarity in formulating ideas about conflict resolution and social justice is the fact that each of these terms has multiple meanings. There is widespread recognition that "social justice" is a multivalent phrase. Commentators since Aristotle have written of distributive, restitutive, retributive, procedural, and relational justice, and each of these types has been further subdivided to reflect differences in social philosophy and in common usage. Less well recognized is the ambiguity of "conflict resolution," a term that refers to a mélange of theories and practices that, although interrelated, do not constitute a cleanly demarcated and coherently defined …

Cultural Pluralism, Social Justice, Peter W. Black, Kevin Avruch

Peace and Conflict Studies

Excerpt

Jim Laue was a major figure in conflict resolution and he is sorely missed. His absence is particularly regretted because his was a strong voice in discussions over the ethical dimension of conflict resolution, arguing eloquently and passionately in favor of a self-consciously ethical theory and practice of conflict resolution. Sometime colleagues of Laue, our work over the last decade has argued equally passionately (if not as eloquently) in behalf of a self-consciously cultural theory and practice of conflict resolution, (see Avruch and Black 1987, 1991, 1993; Black and Avruch 1989, 1993).

Conflict Resolution And Distributive Justice: Reflections On The Burton-Laue Debate, Richard E. Rubenstein, Frank O. Blechman

Peace and Conflict Studies

Excerpt

From its inception, the field of conflict resolution has appealed strongly to practitioners, researchers, and theorists interested in social betterment. Most conflict resolvers would probably agree that their efforts are motivated, at least in part, by the conception of a Good (or at least a Better) Society considerably less violent and contentious, more peaceful and cooperative, than the existing social order. Many would also affirm that in order to reach this goal, the sources of violence and contention, which include cultural norms sanctioning or glorifying violence, invidious and discriminatory "isms" (racism, sexism, etc.), gross socioeconomic and political inequities, and …