Towards a hypothesis for the Mediator’s Abroad project Di Bretherton ACPACS 1/8/2007.
-
Upload
holly-potter -
Category
Documents
-
view
212 -
download
0
Transcript of Towards a hypothesis for the Mediator’s Abroad project Di Bretherton ACPACS 1/8/2007.
Towards a hypothesis for the Mediator’s Abroad project
Di Bretherton
ACPACS
1/8/2007
Background
• Growing body of research about conflict resolution and peace
• As Director of the ICRC added to this body of research
• Growing awareness of importance of culture• Awareness of neocolonialism• Different streams eg ADR, peace, conflict
sensitive development• Use broader term conflict resolution to include
mediation
Conflict resolution in the academy
• CR is interdisciplinary• Links theory and practice• Is not simply application of theory to practice• Learns from practice and practitioners• Difficult to find a home in a university• Fits rhetoric but not actuality of university
structure• Content that fits everywhere, can end up no
where (Conley Tyler & Bretherton 2007)
Challenge for Mediator’s Abroad
• Chinese character for conflict gives danger and opportunity
• One danger for us as we formulate a joint research project is that it will not fit the funding priorities and structures
• Need to address needs and concerns of each researcher as well as the group
• Need to use our conflict resolution skills to bridge the differences
Approach
• Decided to follow Lederach who mentally takes away aspects of peace practice to find the core
• Reflecting on experience of conflict resolution projects in many countries found that listening is core
• Focus on listening rather than telling addresses the neocolonial pitfall
Listening
• Coburn (2007) has found listening to be an under researched aspect
• Wilkinson (2005) found through an observational study of mediation services that listening was key
• Wilkinson notes that the perception of being listened to, rather than the act of listening was the vital element
• Follow up studies of mediation ( eg Pruit) suggest that it is the perception of procedural fairness rather than the details of an agreement that is recalled by parties
• Observations of coaching sessions suggest that novices confuse re-iteration of positions with deep listening
Suggestion
• My suggestion is to take a core aspect such as listening as our focus
• We could empirically investigate the idea that listening is a universal feature of conflict resolution across cultures
• We could also look at the variation across cultures in how people listen and respond to show they have heard
Nature/nurture
• Our answer to the nature/nurture controversy will not be “either/or”, but rather “both”.
• Listening is simultaneously a universal constant and a local culturally specific variant.
• Listening will be a feature of both indigenous and introduced methods of conflict resolution
Mapping cultural difference
• In mapping cultural differences we will need to adopt some shared theoretical framework such as that outlined by Hall.
• We will need also to keep in mind that culture is not static.
• Our research needs to review the nature of cultural learning and change.
• We need to be aware of our role as agents of change
Listening in another culture
• It is not easy to learn enough of another language to mediate well
• Even silence may require interpretation
• May be better to work in partnership to develop training for local people
Reflection on our model
• Our model of mediation is quite culturally specific and won’t always fit
• One way in which a mediator shows he or she has listened is that he/she lists the important issues on the agenda
• In other cultures we may miss important agenda items because we don’t understand their local significance
• Relies a lot on writing• Procedes in a linear fashion
Traps for the mediator
• In other cultures we might confuse politeness, wanting to please the sponsor or silence with real agreement
• The bulk of our mediation is two party and multiparty approaches may be more appropriate in some cultures
• May also miss expressions of emotion eg laughter may communicate embarrassment
Vanuatu
• ACPACS project is to work in partnership with the Council of Chiefs
• Nation consists of a group of fertile volcanic South Pacific Islands
• Independence in 1980• Many local languages with Bislama as the
“lingua franca”• Schooling in English or French• History of “blackbirding” by Australia• Alienation of land
Issues
• There are two systems of governance and they don’t really communicate with each other
• Chiefs have responsibility for dispute resolution at the local level
• With young people growing up in the information age traditional methods may not work for chiefs
• Important decisions about development need to be made in a national/global context
• Gender is an issue in both systems of governance
Project
• Project involves preparation of research papers and running workshops or storians.
• Storians are on conflict resolution, community development and governance.
• Storians bring together chiefs on a particular island and allow them to work together to form action plans in local areas
• Pictures are from a workshop on conflict resolution on Santo earlier this year
• Taken by Dickenson Tevi, who is the Chief Executive Officer of the Council of Chiefs, and I have his consent to show them to you today.