Mirror Sites:
CSUDH Habermas UWP

California State University, Dominguez Hills
University of Wisconsin, Parkside
Created: July 23, 2001
Latest update: July 23, 2001
jeannecurran@habermas.org

Presentations from e-conference:

e-symposium on conflict and negotiation
Link on Presentations in the left-most frame:

• Presentation A: "Lessons to be Learned or Unlearned" by Mr. Akashi Yasushi (Japan)

  "When there is basic disagreement and discord on interests, mutual understanding is not a panacea. But understanding each other on a human level often softens the sharpness of conflicts. Therefore, we should encourage human contacts, group discussions, greater transparency, leading to confidence-building. . . .

  "Non-governmental organizations and individuals can be helpful in the broader context, while we should recognize that professional diplomats and mediators in and around the United Nations may be more effective, when a conflict is imminent and precise negotiations are required. . . ."

  jeanne's comments:
  Note particularly the emphasis on different kinds of approaches, depending on whether the mediator is acting on an individual level or a formal level. In Transforming Discourse we are focussing on this interpersonal level. Many of us will not have the opportunity to participate in peacemaking efforts on the formal level, but we all play a part at the informal level.

• Presentation B: "The Importance of Not Parachuting: The Experience of Search for Common Ground in Macedonia" by Mr. John Marks (USA).

  jeanne's comments:
  John Marks deals with the importance of long term negotiation and effort. Thus, his analogy to not "parachuting in for a short stay." And peacemaking is hard work. Relationships, like marriage and family, are something all parties have to work at, over time. Mr. Marks gives the following example:

  "For example, we work closely with almost all the country’s newspapers. For three years (emphasis added), we sponsored a project in which two different papers - usually one Albanian and one Macedonian - assign a reporter to us. We supplied an editor (who functions, in essence, as a third-party facilitator). Under the editor’s guidance, the reporters investigated a particular subject, like the health care system. Then, they co-authored (emphasis added) an article that was translated and appeared simultaneously in both newspapers (emphasis added). About 40 such articles were published, and people from both ethnic groups regularly shared the experience of putting themselves into the other’s shoes." . . .

  "A crucial element in the success of preventive journalism would seem to be longevity. Once tensions are at a flashpoint, it is difficult, if not impossible, to gain the cooperation of journalists to promote responsible reporting."

  jeanne's comments:
  Might this not also prove true in interpersonal relationships? Review the importance which Susan and I place on consistency in your relationship with your professor. Here is a good example of why that is so important. If you have maintained a relationship, then you have a context in which to seek help or understanding when you need it. If there is no relationship, the time when you need that relationship is a bad time for building it. Consistency allows interpersonal trust to develop.

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