The Dynamics Of Conflict Resolution

This empowering guide goes beyond observable techniques to offer a close look at the creative internal processes--both cognitive and psychological--that successful mediators and other conflict resolvers draw upon.

The Dynamics of Conflict When it was published in 2000, Bernie Mayer’s The Dynamics of Conflict Resolution quickly became one of the seminal works in the conflict resolution field. The book bridged the gap between abstract theoretical approaches and practical handbooks and became an immensely valuable and accessible resource for experienced and novice practitioners, as well as for professors and students of conflict management who needed a deep yet practical view of conflict and methods for dealing with it. The Dynamics of Conflict is the second edition of Mayer’s classic book. While building on the strengths of the first edition, this thoroughly revised and updated book keeps pace with the most current trends and research in the field and explores four key concepts: interactional dynamics, system dynamics, culture and conflict, and conflict engagement. Like the first edition, the focus of the new edition is on the ways we can productively think about conflict and conflict intervention, rather than on specific techniques and processes. Mayer presents ideas about conflict as a set of conceptual tools that build on one another and contribute to a multifaceted view of conflict and conflict intervention but that also stand on their own. Filled with illustrative examples, the book draws from the author’s thirty years of experience with interpersonal, family, community, organizational, labor management, environmental, public policy, and international disputes and includes instances of conflicts that have been in the news. In addition, this vital resource contains information on the most important work that has been done in the past decade on culture, systems, and conflict engagement and shows how conflict concepts apply to new technologies such as online communication and conflict resolution efforts on the Web. In the concluding chapter Mayer explores how conflict intervention efforts fit into more general values about peace, democracy, and social justice, and the personal impact that conflict work as a field has on conflict specialists.

In this thought-provoking, passionately written book, Bernard Mayer—an internationally acclaimed leader in the field—dares practitioners to ask the hard questions about alternative dispute resolution. What’s wrong with conflict resolution? Why aren’t more individuals and organizations using conflict resolution when they have a problem? Why doesn’t the public know more about it? What are the limits of conflict resolution? When does conflict resolution work and when does it not? Offering a committed practitioner’s critique of the profession of mediation, arbitration, and alternative dispute resolution, Beyond Neutrality focuses on the current crisis in the field of conflict resolution and offers a pragmatic response.

Resolving International Conflict rethinks the dynamics of conflict escalation and continuation by engaging with research from the wide range of subfields in this area. The book suggests a new framework for understanding conflict as a particular form of situation, interaction and tension. It shows how conflicts are shaped by varied dynamics relating to emotion, securitization, incentives, digital technology and violence; even attempts at monitoring, resolving or remembering conflicts may end up contributing to their escalation or continuation. Split into two sections, the first part focuses on the question of why and how conflicts escalate, while the second part analyses the continuation of conflict. The book features several case studies of conflict escalation and continuation - in Bahrain, Israel-Palestine, South Sudan, Northern Ireland and, most prominently, the case of the Syrian uprising and subsequent civil war. Throughout the book, and, in particular, in the conclusion, the consequences for conflict transformation are discussed. This work will be of much interest to students of conflict resolution, peace studies, war and conflict studies, security studies and international relations, in general.

All you need to understand the dynamics of conflict -- and the joy of resolution The rapid rate of change in the workplace and among families often leads to conflict and confrontation which can undermine productivity and poison relationships. The Joy of Conflict Resolution helps readers understand conflict and why it arises through the lens of the "drama triangle" of victims, villains and heroes. In an accessible, engaging and light-hearted style that uses stories and humor to explore potentially emotionally charged situations, it provides proven and practical skills to move beyond confrontation to resolve conflicts collaboratively.

First published in 1999, this volume examines ways in which adversarial relationships can be transformed and reconciled in diverse settings. It is intended to enhance our understanding of the nature of structural transformation as well as the processes for changing psychological relations between adversaries. Conflict resolution is ingrained in the analysis of inter-group dynamics as well as the process and outcome of negotiating different values and incompatible interests. The Contributors to the volume include Christopher Mitchell, Tarja Väyrynen, Ronald J. Fisher, Louis Kriesberg, Malvern Lumsden, E. Franklin Dukes and Richard E. Rubenstein.

This book focuses on the social process of conflict news production and the emergence of public discourse on war and armed conflict. Its contributions combine qualitative and quantitative approaches through interview studies and computer-assisted content analysis and apply a unique comparative and holistic approach over time, across different cycles of six conflicts in three regions of the world, and across different types of domestic, international and transnational media. In so doing, it explores the roles of public communication through traditional media, social media, strategic communication, and public relations in informing and involving national and international actors in conflict prevention, resolution and peace-keeping. It provides a key point of reference for creative, innovative, and state-of-the-art empirical research on media and armed conflict.

"Conflict Resolution - Actors, Dynamics and Cases deals with multiple concepts and themes of the broad subject area of conflict resolution, seeking to highlight empirical studies that examine several topics from conflict prevention to peacebuilding, including conflict management, institution building, the role of formal and informal actors, the features of conflicts in different political contexts and the methods and strategies used for resolution or transformation (mediation, non-violence, reconciliation, transitional justice, second track diplomacy, peace education, post-conflict reconstruction, among others) in intra- and inter-state conflicts. The book is open to several methodological approaches, focusing on empirical studies that address several cases, including studies on Cyprus, the South Caucasus region, DR Congo, the Middle East region, Tunisia and Iraq, as well as on the role of regional organizations such as the European Union in peace-making and peacebuilding. Conceived this way, this edited volume on conflict resolution complements existing books on the theme, seeking not only to apply conflict resolution's theoretical frameworks and concepts to contemporary case studies but also to contribute, based on these empirical studies, to advance the academic debate towards critical perspectives that guide the conflict resolution field to more pluralist, emancipatory and transformative approaches"--