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Kriesberg Reflections: Discovering Constructive Ways of Peacemaking

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Book cover Louis Kriesberg: Pioneer in Peace and Constructive Conflict Resolution Studies

Part of the book series: Pioneers in Arts, Humanities, Science, Engineering, Practice ((PAHSEP,volume 1))

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Abstract

This essay is a reflection on my work in peace studies and conflict resolution; it is not a personal memoir nor an autobiography. I focus on my academic writings and some related professional activities, tracing my discoveries about and contributions to the emerging and expanding fields of peace studies and conflict resolution. Nevertheless, I will mention not only my thoughts and steps as I made my way in these endeavors, but also the world events and my relationships and engagements that affected my choices, stumbles, and accomplishments. I want to share these reflections to make my work more understandable and hopefully convincing, and also to encourage others to rely on evidence, to think creatively, to appreciate small contributions, and to persevere in the struggle to advance peace and justice. My approach to conflict analysis and resolution has been comprehensive in three ways. First, although I focus on large-scale conflicts within and among countries, my analytic framework pertains to all kinds of inter-group conflicts. I think this is useful because insights gleaned from considering one kind of conflict often offer new understandings to studying other kinds of conflicts. Furthermore, large-scale conflicts incorporate many smaller-scale conflicts, and the different scale conflicts affect each other. Secondly, my approach is comprehensive in examining conflicts at all stages, as they emerge, escalate, de-escalate, and are transformed. Finally, I draw upon multiple explanatory perspectives to understand the trajectory of conflicts. This essay discusses my comprehensive approach and how I came to discover and shape it.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    I have written elsewhere on particular aspects of my life and career. I wrote about the relations between my activism and my scholarship in Kriesberg, Louis. 1999. “Reflections on My Roles, Identities, and Activities, Relating to Conflict Resolution.” Nexus: Journal of Peace, Conflict and Social Change 1 (1,2):118–25. I wrote about my early life in Kriesberg, Louis. 2013. “Beginnings of My Journey.” Peacebuilding (United Kingdom) 2(1):8–10. Both are available, along with much more material relating to my work, including videos and downloadable writings, on my webpage, at: http://faculty.maxwell.syr.edu/lkriesbe. My CV is available at: http://faculty.maxwell.syr.edu/lkriesbe/CV/lkCV15%28ed%29.pdf and at the website of this book: http://afes-press-books.de/html/PAHSEP_Kriesberg.htm.

  2. 2.

    See my mother’s autobiography: Kriesberg, Bessie. 1973a. Hard Soil, Tough Roots. Jericho, N.Y.: Exposition Press, Kriesberg, Bessie. 1976. The Years with Max. Hicksville, N.Y.: Exposition Press.

  3. 3.

    Kriesberg, Louis. 1952. “The Retail Furrier: Concepts of Security and Success.” The American Journal of Sociology 70(27):478–85.

  4. 4.

    Wright, Quincy. 1942. A Study of War. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ibid.

  5. 5.

    Morgenthau, Hans J. 1950. Politics among Nations. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

  6. 6.

    Grodzins, Morton. 1956. The Loyal and the Disloyal. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.

  7. 7.

    Kriesberg, Louis. 1956. “National Security and Conduct in the Steel Grey Market.” Social Forces 34(3):268–77.

  8. 8.

    Coleman, James S. 1957. Community Conflict. New York: Free Press. For years afterward, when Jim was asked about the subject, he suggested that the inquiring person talk to me.

  9. 9.

    Kriesberg, Louis. 1959a. “German Evaluations of the European Coal and Steel Community, 1950–1956. (in German).” Kölner Zeitschrift fürSoziologie und Sozialpsychologie 11(3):496–516. Kriesberg, Louis. 1960. “German Businessman and Union Leaders and the Schuman Plan.” Social Sciences 35(April 1960):114–21. Kriesberg, Louis. 1959b. “German Public Opinon and the European Coal and Steel Community.” The Public Opnion Quarterly 23(1):28–42. Also see: Haas, Ernst B. 1958. The Uniting of Europe. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.

  10. 10.

    The Dean of the Law School, Edward Levi, explained that he wanted the Fellows to demonstrate how their disciplines could help in educating law students. He held up what Aaron Director (brother-in-law of the influential Milton Friedman) was doing to covey economic thinking. Indeed, the experience has influenced many important jurists to adopt the conservative, free-market economic thinking of the Chicago school of economics. I regret that none of us Fellows took up the opportunity to counter Director’s influence.

  11. 11.

    Kriesberg, Louis and with Beatrice R. Trieman. 1960. “Public Attitudes toward Prepaid Dental Care Plans.” Vol. 76. Chicago: National Opinion Research Cente. Krieberg, Louis. 1962. “Mental Health and Public Health Personnel and Programs: Their Relations in the Fifty States,” Vol. 83. Chicago: National Opinion Research Center.

  12. 12.

    Kriesberg, Louis. 1963. “The Relationship between Socio-Economic Rank and Behavior.” Social Problems 10(4):334–53.

  13. 13.

    Love, Barbara J., ed. 2006. Feminists Who Changed America 1963–1975. Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press. p. 264.

  14. 14.

    Coser, Lewis A. 1956. The Functions of Social Conflict. New York: The Free Press.

  15. 15.

    Dahrendorf, Ralf. 1959. Class and Class Conflict in Industrial Society. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.

  16. 16.

    Kriesberg, Louis. 1970. Mothers in Poverty: A Study of Fatherless Families. Chicago: Aldine. Kriesberg, Louis and Seymour S. Bellin. 1967. “On the Relationship between Attitudes, Circumstances, and Behavior: The Case of Applying for Public Housing.” Sociology and Social Research 51(4):453–67.

  17. 17.

    Galtung, Johan. 1969. “Violence, Peace, and Peace Research.” Journal of Peace Research 3 (3):168.

  18. 18.

    Collins, Randall. 1975. Conflict Sociology. New York: Academic Press. Blau, Peter M. 1964. Exchange and Power in Social Life. New York: John Wiley. Berger, Peter L. and Thomas Luckman. 1966. The Social Construction of Reality. New York: Doubleday.

  19. 19.

    Love, Barbara J., ed. 2006. Feminists Who Changed America 1963–1975. Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press. 264.

  20. 20.

    Kriesberg, Louis. 1968a. “U.S. And U.S.S.R. Participation in International Non-Governmental Organizations.” Pp. 466–85 in Social Processes in International Relations, edited by L. Kriesberg. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Kriesberg, Louis. 1972. “International Nongovernmental Organizations and Transnational Integration.” International Associations 24(11):520–25.

  21. 21.

    Angell, Robert Cooley. 1969. Peace on the March: Transnational Participation. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold.

  22. 22.

    Kriesberg, Louis, ed. 1968b. Social Processes in International Relations. New York: John Wiley & Sons.

  23. 23.

    Boulding, Kenneth E. 1962. Conflict and Defense; a General Theory. New York,: Harper.

  24. 24.

    Kriesberg, Louis. 1973b. The Sociology of Social Conflicts. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

  25. 25.

    Boulding, Elise M., Joseph W. Elder, Ted Goertzel, Ruth Harriet Jacobs and Louis Kriesberg. 1974. “Teaching the Sociology of World Conflicts.” The American Sociologist 9 (November):187–93.

  26. 26.

    Fisher, Roger and William Ury. 1981. Getting to Yes. Boston: Houghton Miflin Company.

  27. 27.

    I presented these ideas at a conference on alternative international conflict strategies organized by Carolyn M. Stephenson, at Colgate College in1979. It was later published as Kriesberg, Louis. 1981a. “Non-Coercive Inducements in International Conflicts.” Peace and Change 7(4):37–46. and in Stephenson, Carolyn M., ed. 1982. Alternative Methods for International Security. Washington, DC: University Press of America.

  28. 28.

    Kriesberg, Louis. 1981b. “Non-Coercive Inducements in U.S. - Soviet Conflicts: Ending the Occupation of Austria and Nuclear Weapons Tests.” Journal of Political and Military Sociology 9(Spring):1–16.

  29. 29.

    The presentation was titled Social theory and the de-escalation of international conflicts. Published as: Kriesberg, Louis. 1984. “Social Theory and the De-Escalation of International Conflicts.” Sociological Review 32 (3):471–91.

  30. 30.

    Kriesberg, Louis. 1980. “Interlocking Conflicts in the Middle East.” Pp. 99–118 in Research in Social Movements, Conflicts, and Change, Vol. 3, edited by L. Kriesberg. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.

  31. 31.

    Kriesberg, Louis, Bronislaw Misztal and Janusz Mucha, eds. 1988. Social Movements as a Factor of Change in the Contemporary World, Vol. 10. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press, Kriesberg, Louis and David R. Segal, ed. 1992b. The Transformation of European Communist Societies, Vol. 14, Edited by L. Kriesberg. Greenwich, Conn.: JAI Press.

  32. 32.

    Kriesberg, Louis. 1981c. “Promoting Peace.” Pp. 538–60 in Handbook of Applied Sociology, edited by M. Olsen and M. Micklin. New York: Praeger.

  33. 33.

    Subcommittee, on International Operations of the Committee on International Relations. 1978. Hearings, National Academy of Peace and Conflict Resolution Congress.

  34. 34.

    Kriesberg, Louis. 1953, July 8. “An Independent Formosa.” Christian Century 70 (27):794–5.

  35. 35.

    Kovick, David. 2005. “The Hewlett Foundation's Conflict Resolution Program: Twenty Years of Field-Building, 1984–2004.” Vol. Menlo Park, CA: Hewlett Foundation.

  36. 36.

    Coy, Patrick G and Lynne M. Woehrle, eds., ed. 2000. Social Conflicts and Collective Identities. Lanham-Boulder-New York-Oxford: Rowman & Littlefield. Fleishman, Rachel. Catherine Gerard, and Rosemary O’Leary, ed. 2008. Pushing the Boundaries: New Frontiers in Conflict Resolution and Collaboration. Bingley, UK: Emerald.

  37. 37.

    Kriesberg, Louis. 1989. “Transforming Conflicts in the Middle East and Central Europe.” Pp. 109–31 in Intractable Conflicts and Their Transformation, edited by L. Kriesberg, T. A. Northrup and S. J. Thorson. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press. The book is available online, at the PARCC website.

  38. 38.

    Kriesberg, Louis and Stuart J. Thorson, eds. 1991. Timing the De-Escalation of International Conflicts. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press.

  39. 39.

    Kriesberg, Louis. 1992a. International Conflict Resolution: The U.S.-Ussr and Middle East Cases. New Haven: Yale University Press.

  40. 40.

    Kriesberg, Louis and David R. Segal, ed. 1992b. The Transformation of European Communist Societies, Vol. 14, Edited by L. Kriesberg. Greenwich, Conn.: JAI Press.

  41. 41.

    Coy, Patrick G and Lynne M. Woehrle, eds., ed. 2000. Social Conflicts and Collective Identities. Lanham-Boulder-New York-Oxford: Rowman & Littlefield.

  42. 42.

    Kriesberg, Louis. 1998. Constructive Conflicts: From Escalation to Resolution. Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield.

  43. 43.

    Dayton, Bruce W. and Louis Kriesberg ed. 2009. Conflict Transformation and Peacebuilding: Moving from Violence to Sustainable Peace. Oxford, UK: Routledge.

  44. 44.

    Lederach, John Paul. 1997. Building Peace: Sustainable Reconciliation in Divided Societies. Washington, D.C.: United States Institute of Peace Press.

  45. 45.

    Dayton, Bruce W. and Louis Kriesberg ed. 2009. Conflict Transformation and Peacebuilding: Moving from Violence to Sustainable Peace. Oxford, UK: Routledge.

References

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  • Blau, Peter M. 1964. Exchange and Power in Social Life. New York: John Wiley.

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  • Boulding, Elise M., Joseph W. Elder, Ted Goertzel, Ruth Harriet Jacobs and Louis Kriesberg. 1974. “Teaching the Sociology of World Conflicts.” The American Sociologist 9 (November):187–93.

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  • Boulding, Kenneth E. 1962. Conflict and Defense; a General Theory. New York: Harper.

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  • Coleman, James S. 1957. Community Conflict. New York: Free Press.

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  • Collins, Randall. 1975. Conflict Sociology. New York: Academic Press.

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  • Coser, Lewis A. 1956. The Functions of Social Conflict. New York: The Free Press.

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    Google Scholar 

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    Google Scholar 

  • Kriesberg, Louis. 1953, July 8. “An Independent Formosa.” Christian Century 70 (27):794–5.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kriesberg, Louis. 1956. “National Security and Conduct in the Steel Grey Market.” Social Forces 34(3):268–77.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kriesberg, Louis. 1959a. “German Evaluations of the European Coal and Steel Community, 1950–1956. (in German).” Kölner Zeitschrift fürSoziologie und Sozialpsychologie 11(3):496–516.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kriesberg, Louis. 1959b. “German Public Opinon and the European Coal and Steel Community.” The Public Opnion Quarterly 23(1):28–42.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kriesberg, Louis. 1960. “German Businessman and Union Leaders and the Schuman Plan.” Social Sciences 35(April 1960):114–21.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kriesberg, Louis and with Beatrice R. Trieman. 1960. “Public Attitudes toward Prepaid Dental Care Plans.” Vol. 76. Chicago: National Opinion Research Centre.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kriesberg, Louis. 1963. “The Relationship between Socio-Economic Rank and Behavior.” Social Problems 10(4):334–53.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kriesberg, Louis and Seymour S. Bellin. 1967. “On the Relationship between Attitudes, Circumstances, and Behavior: The Case of Applying for Public Housing.” Sociology and Social Research 51(4):453–67.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kriesberg, Louis. 1968a. “U.S. And U.S.S.R. Participation in International Non-Governmental Organizations.” Pp. 466–85 in Social Processes in International Relations, edited by L. Kriesberg. New York: John Wiley & Sons.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kriesberg, Louis, ed. 1968b. Social Processes in International Relations. New York: John Wiley & Sons.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kriesberg, Louis. 1970. Mothers in Poverty: A Study of Fatherless Families. Chicago: Aldine.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kriesberg, Louis. 1972. “International Nongovernmental Organizations and Transnational Integration.” International Associations 24(11):520–25.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kriesberg, Louis. 1973b. The Sociology of Social Conflicts. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kriesberg, Louis. 1980. “Interlocking Conflicts in the Middle East.” Pp. 99–118 in Research in Social Movements, Conflicts, and Change, Vol. 3, edited by L. Kriesberg. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kriesberg, Louis. 1981a. “Non-Coercive Inducements in International Conflicts.” Peace and Change 7(4):37–46.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kriesberg, Louis. 1981b. “Non-Coercive Inducements in U.S. - Soviet Conflicts: Ending the Occupation of Austria and Nuclear Weapons Tests.” Journal of Political and Military Sociology 9(Spring):1–16.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kriesberg, Louis. 1981c. “Promoting Peace.” Pp. 538–60 in Handbook of Applied Sociology, edited by M. Olsen and M. Micklin. New York: Praeger.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kriesberg, Louis. 1984. “Social Theory and the De-Escalation of International Conflicts.” Sociological Review 32 (3):471–91.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kriesberg, Louis, Bronislaw Misztal and Janusz Mucha, eds. 1988. Social Movements as a Factor of Change in the Contemporary World, Vol. 10. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kriesberg, Louis. 1989. “Transforming Conflicts in the Middle East and Central Europe.” pp. 109–31 in Intractable Conflicts and Their Transformation, edited by L. Kriesberg, T. A. Northrup and S. J. Thorson. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kriesberg, Louis and Stuart J. Thorson, eds. 1991. Timing the De-Escalation of International Conflicts. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kriesberg, Louis. 1992a. International Conflict Resolution: The U.S.-Ussr and Middle East Cases. New Haven: Yale University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kriesberg, Louis. 1998. Constructive Conflicts: From Escalation to Resolution. Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kriesberg, Louis. 1999. “Reflections on My Roles, Identities, and Activities, Relating to Conflict Resolution.” Nexus: Journal of Peace, Conflict and Social Change 1 (1,2):118–25.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kriesberg, Louis. 2013. “Beginnings of My Journey.” Peacebuilding (United Kingdom) 2(1):8–10.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kriesberg, Louis. 2015. Realizing Peace: A Constructive Conflict Approach. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

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    Google Scholar 

  • Lederach, John Paul. 1997. Building Peace: Sustainable Reconciliation in Divided Societies. Washington, D.C.: United States Institute of Peace Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Love, Barbara J., ed. 2006. Feminists Who Changed America 1963–1975. Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Morgenthau, Hans J. 1950. Politics among Nations. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stephenson, Carolyn M., ed. 1982. Alternative Methods for International Security. Washington, DC: University Press of America.

    Google Scholar 

  • Subcommittee, on International Operations of the Committee on International Relations. 1978. Hearings, National Academy of Peace and Conflict ResolutionCongress.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wright, Quincy. 1942. A Study of War. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

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  1. The Program for the Advancement of Research on Conflict and Collaboration, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY, USA

    Louis Kriesberg

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Kriesberg, L. (2016). Kriesberg Reflections: Discovering Constructive Ways of Peacemaking. In: Louis Kriesberg: Pioneer in Peace and Constructive Conflict Resolution Studies. Pioneers in Arts, Humanities, Science, Engineering, Practice, vol 1. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-40751-7_1

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