Section III: Third-Party Tools and Capacity Building

Explores the context and conditions in which nonviolent resistance can contribute to successful and sustainable conflict transformation processes. The author introduces the concept, aims and methods of nonviolent action, explores conceptual and empirical developments across the 20th and 21st centuries and illustrates its potential and limits, both in transforming asymmetric power structures and in encouraging democratic practices, using the example of the Palestinian first intifada in the Israeli/Palestinian struggle.

Reflects on experiences and lessons learned from an insider activist’s and practitioner’s point of view. The author looks back at 10 years of training practice of the Centre for Nonviolent Action (CNA) in the Western Balkans, offering provocative thoughts on goals and methods, trainer-participant relations and dilemmas such as sustaining momentum, the risk of individual burn-out and achieving social change.

Seeks to provide a first orientation for an audience less familiar with the field of conflict transformation and its educational possibilities. Questions raised include: Who is offering training for which target audience? What are strengths and shortcomings? Are there criteria that help assess training? What challenges remain, what recommendations can be made for improving training offers? The article has an extensive reference section covering training manuals and materials, organisations, resources and analyses.

Discusses how to make sure that training for conflict transformation has an impact on conflict transformation. Written from a trainer's perspective, the article argues that the impact potential of training is heavily influenced by decisions made in the planning and realisation phase. The author shares his insights on analysis, strategy development, participant and trainer selection, training contents and formats, follow-up support, the importance of process, and unavoidable negative impacts.

Describes the most important skills and tools facilitators need in order to enhance capacities at the individual and interpersonal level. The author presents: skills used in moment-by-moment interaction with parties; techniques for facilitating sustained dialogue; and principles of process design for addressing the larger institutional and structural realities of conflicts. (revised for 2004 print edition)

Available translations:

Sinhala / සිංහල
Tamil / தமிழ்
Russian / РУССКИЙ

Offers conflict transformation approaches for groups, teams and organisations. The authors identify five levels of cooperation within teams (i.e. the level of individual members, the content level, the interaction level, the procedural level and the level of external relations between the group and its environment) and offer suggestions for addressing conflict within teams at each level. (revised for 2004 print edition)

Available translations:

Sinhala / සිංහල
Tamil / தமிழ்
Russian / РУССКИЙ

Presents dialogues as the classical means of constructively dealing with conflicts. The author gives an overview of ideal types and identifies the basic elements of most dialogue processes. He discusses dialogue in the context of various other approaches in order to establish criteria for measuring success. (revised for 2004 print edition)

Available translations:

Sinhala / සිංහල
Tamil / தமிழ்
Russian / РУССКИЙ

Reviews various forms of third-party intervention (e.g. conciliation, consultation, mediation, power mediation, arbitration and peacekeeping), focusing on mediation. Using a basic contingency model, the author outlines which third-party role may be most successful in which context. Critical issues are introduced, including: culture, power asymmetries, biases, timing, effectiveness and the ethics of intervention.

Available translations:

Russian / РУССКИЙ
Turkish / Türkçe
Spanish / Español

Focuses on three distinct ways in which culture affects conflicts: culture as a lens that facilitates or blocks effective communication; culture and world view differences as the subject of conflicts; conflicts related to identity and recognition as facets of cultural differences. The author discusses challenges and concrete recommendations for process design in culturally-complex conflicts.

Available translations:

Russian / РУССКИЙ