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.