Abstract
This chapter is an introduction to the field of mediation and the book. The chapter begins with a discussion of peace and justice and that is followed by a definition of mediation; mediation as intervention; the mediation continuum; and conflict, mediation and peace. The chapter concludes with information about the specific contents of the volume.
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Notes
- 1.
This book would not have been completed without the support of organizations. I held the Fulbright Distinguished Chair in Human Rights and International Studies at the Danish Institute of Human Rights (2011) in Copenhagen and was a Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (2012–2013) in Washington, D.C. I am very grateful to the Fulbright program, Danish Institute for Human Rights and Woodrow Wilson Center for giving me the time to complete this book. I also would like to thank urban geographer Mike Ribant for his excellent work in developing figures and maps for this volume and Carlos Jean-Baptiste and Mike Ribant for their fine work as editors.
- 2.
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi is known as Mahatma (great soul) Gandhi. Gandhi “is often spoken of as the ‘father’ of the new nation-state of India” (Brown 2011, p. 1) and he influenced “to a greater or lesser degree… many of the freedom struggles of the mid-to late-twentieth century (Prabhu 2001, p. 2). Gandhi thought that “harmony comes with neither passivity nor blindness…” (Terchek 2011, p. 117). His “embodiment of nonviolent resistance to injustice in many different forms continues to stir the moral imagination of the world more than 50 years after his death” (Prabhu 2001, p. 2).
- 3.
There are thousands of certified Montessori schools (and others that are not certified) in many countries. Thayer-Bacon (2011, p. 4) said teaching in one of the Montessori schools “gave me a way to experience a pedagogical approach that recognizes the importance of cultural diversity, while helping children learn how to be active, engaged, critically aware, self-assured, self-directed, and self-disciplined citizens of democracies-always-in-the-making.” For Maria Montessori, “violence and war are not natural occurrences but aberrant outcomes of aberrant educational and child-rearing practices. Education and child-rearing that did not interfere with normal development would allow the nature of humanity to reveal itself as peaceful and motivated by work for the improvement of all of society; not just for personal gain” (Roos 2012, p. 89).
- 4.
In 1932, Eleanor Roosevelt’s husband, Franklin, was elected the 32nd President of the United States; he held that office from 1933 until 1945. In 1939, Eleanor Roosevelt appeared on the cover of Time, a news magazine. The publication called her “an oracle to millions of housewives” as well as the “world’s foremost female political force” (Beasley 2000, p. 518). Eleanor Roosevelt was known for strongly supporting civil rights, helping found the United Nations, heading the United Nations Human Rights Commission and serving as US Ambassador to the United Nations under both Presidents Truman and Kennedy.
- 5.
The Bahá’í Faith is a monotheistic religion founded in nineteenth century Persia; it emphasizes the spiritual unity of all people.
- 6.
According to Albin (2009, p. 592), “In many situations, particularly in a longer term perspective, the issue is not whether peace or justice is to be chosen or prioritized for both are clearly needed in some sense.” Albin, goes on to say that there are core questions to be answered including “What kind of justice and what kind of peace should be promoted?… (and) How are the pursuits of these two values… best timed, sequenced and combined over time?”
- 7.
This broad definition covers, for instance, mediations dealing with the environment, land use and land ownership.
- 8.
Mediation is interdisciplinary with mediators coming from many disciplinary backgrounds including peace and conflict studies; counseling; law; environment; labor studies; and clinical sociology. It is useful to think about how the disciplinary background of a mediator or a mediation team may affect the design and approach to mediation. See, for instance, “Clinical Sociological Contributions to the Field of Mediation” (Fritz 2008).
- 9.
Some countries have legislation or official guidance that makes it difficult to talk with certain parties (e.g., people or organizations identified as terrorists). Mediators and mediating organizations need to know that it is not illegal for them to talk with all parties.
- 10.
James Laue and Gerald Cormick discussed the approach of interveners in their 1978 article, “The Ethics of Intervention in Community Disputes.” For Laue and Cormick, the basic values for a mediator were freedom, justice, and empowerment. It is worth discussing if the assumptions, values, and principles will be the same for mediators in different kinds of mediation, particularly when the outside influences (e.g., funders, participants, and mediator’s employers) may have different assumptions, values, and principles.
- 11.
The global level refers to work done on a worldwide basis as well as to a time when other worlds may be involved with this world.
- 12.
This model is based on one developed by the United States Institute for Peace (n.d., p. 11). The USIP model is a fully-developed one for analyzing conflicts.
- 13.
They also noted, however, that “a fiscal and organizational base acceptable to the disputing parties (and ideally, in most situations, independent of them) is crucial.”
- 14.
According to Zartman (2009, p. 322), “Negotiation, the process of combining conflicting positions into a joint agreement is synonymous with conflict resolution, and is the most common (although not the only) way of preventing, managing, resolving and transforming conflicts.”
- 15.
The Policy and Mediation Division of the United Nations Department of Political Affairs published its Guidance for Mediators addressing Conflict-related Sexual Violence in Ceasefire and Peace Agreements in 2012. The Department notes that the guidance benefited from material generated for a United Nations Inter-Agency High-Level Colloquium held in 2009. In March 2013, the UN Secretary-General provided a guidance note on racial discrimination and protection of minorities and cited the UN Guidance for Effective Mediation in discussing “conflict prevention, peace-making, conflict-resolution and preventive diplomacy initiatives.”
- 16.
The foreword by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon indicates that the document supports “professional and credible mediation efforts around the world.” It also says it “encompasses the wealth of experience of mediators working at the international, national and local levels.” The document appears to deal more with experiences at the national and international level rather than with the range of activities that take place at the local level.
- 17.
The articles in both sections are meant to be stand-alone pieces and so there may be some overlap in the handling of topics.
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Fritz, J.M., Fritz, J.M. (2014). Introduction. In: Fritz, J. (eds) Moving Toward a Just Peace. Clinical Sociology: Research and Practice. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-2885-1_1
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