Abstract
How can a human needs perspective inform the practice of conflict resolution? This chapter attempts to answer this question on the basis of my own experience with “interactive problem-solving,” an approach to the resolution of international conflicts that finds its fullest expression in the problem-solving workshop. This approach derives from the work of John Burton and follows the general principles that he has laid out. My own work has concentrated heavily (though not exclusively) on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and I will draw most of my illustrations from that arena.
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Notes
- 1.
This text was first published as: Herbert C. Kelman (1990). Applying a human needs perspective to the practice of conflict resolution: The Israeli-Palestinian case. In J. W. Burton (Ed.), Conflict: Human needs theory (pp. 283–297). New York: St. Martin’s Press. The permission to include this text here was granted on 5 May 2015 by Claire Smith, Senior Rights Assistant, Nature Publishing Group & Palgrave Macmillan, London.
- 2.
This chapter is a product of an action research program funded by grants from the US Institute of Peace and the Ford Foundation to the Harvard University Center for International Affairs. I am grateful to the two funding agencies and to the Center for their generous support of my work. The chapter was completed while I was a Distinguished Fellow at the US Institute of Peace. The views expressed in this chapter are those of the author alone; they do not necessarily reflect views of the Institute.
- 3.
Kelman, H. C. (1972). The problem-solving workshop in conflict resolution. In R. L. Merritt (Ed.), Communication in international politics (pp. 168–204). Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press; Kelman, H. C. (1979). An interactional approach to conflict resolution and its application to Israeli-Palestinian relations. International Interactions, 16, 99–122; Kelman, H. C. (1986). Interactive problem solving: A social-psychological approach to conflict resolution. In W. Klassen (Ed.), Dialogue toward inter-faith understanding (pp. 293–314). Jerusalem: Tantur Ecumenical Institute for Theological Research; Kelman, H. C. (1991). Interactive problem solving: The uses and limits of a therapeutic model for the resolution of international conflicts. In V. Volkan, D. Julius, & J. Montville (Eds.), The psychology of world politics, volume 2: The tools of unofficial diplomacies (pp. 145–160). Lexington, MA: Lexington Books; Kelman, H. C. & Cohen, S. P. (1986). Resolution of international conflict: An interactional approach. In S. Worchel & W. G. Austin (Eds.), Psychology of intergroup relations (pp. 323–342). Chicago, IL: Nelson-Hall.
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Burton, J. W. (1969). Conflict and communication: The use of controlled communication in international relations. London, UK: Macmillan; Burton, J. W. (1979). Deviance, terrorism and war: The process of solving unsolved social and political problems. New York, NY: St. Martin’s Press; Burton, J. W. (1984). Global conflict. Brighton, Sussex, UK: Wheatsheaf.
- 5.
Kelman, H. C. (1978). Israelis and Palestinians: Psychological prerequisites for mutual acceptance. International Security, 3, 162–186; Kelman, H. C. (1987). The political psychology of the Israel-Palestinian conflict: How can we overcome the barriers to a negotiated solution? Political Psychology, 18, 347–363.
- 6.
Kelman, H. C. (1982). Creating the conditions for Israel-Palestinian negotiations. Journal of Conflict Resolution, 26, 39–75.
- 7.
Kelman, An interactional approach, and Kelman & Cohen, Resolution of international conflict.
- 8.
Kelman, The political psychology of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
- 9.
See, for example, Burton, J. W. (1988). Conflict resolution as a function of human needs. In R. A. Coate & J. A. Rosati (Eds.), The power of human needs in world society (pp. 187–204). Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 196.
- 10.
Allport, F. H. (1933). Institutional behavior. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.
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Kelman, H.C., Fisher, R.J. (2016). Applying a Human Needs Perspective to the Practice of Conflict Resolution: The Israeli-Palestinian Case (1990). In: Kelman, H., Fisher, R. (eds) Herbert C. Kelman: A Pioneer in the Social Psychology of Conflict Analysis and Resolution. Pioneers in Arts, Humanities, Science, Engineering, Practice, vol 13. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-39032-1_4
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