Introduction to Conflict Resolution: Discourses and Dynamics (Peace and Security in the 21st Century) - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1786608529 ISBN 13: 9781786608529

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2019

Synopsis

The field of conflict resolution has evolved dramatically during the relatively short duration of the discipline’s existence. Each generation of scholars has struggled with the major puzzles of their era, providing theories and solutions that meet the needs of the time, only to be pushed forward by new insights and, at times, totally upended by a changing world.

This introductory course text explores the genealogy of the field of conflict resolution by examining three different epochs of the field, each one tied to the historical context and events of the day. In each of these epochs, scholars and practitioners worked to understand and address the conflicts that the world was facing, at that time.

This book provides a framework that students will carry with them far into their careers, enriching their contributions and strengthening their voices. Rather than a didactic approach to the field, students will develop their critical analytical skills through an inductive inquiry. Students will broaden their vocabulary, grapple with argumentation, and develop critical reading skills.

About this title

About the Author

Sara Cobb, Drucie French Cumbie Professor at the School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution, George Mason University, USA.

Sarah Federman, Assistant Professor in the School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Baltimore, USA.

Alison Castel, Assistant Professor of Rhetoric and Communication Studies, Regis University, USA.

Review

Some of the dominant discourses of conflict resolution we see referenced in this book have had devastating impacts on the populations we were meant to serve, from the invasion of Iraq in 2003 to the Oxfam and Save the Children scandals in 2018. This book tells the story of how conflict resolution has become reconciled with critical thinking over time. It is not just an anthology of peace of conflict studies since WW2, but the first systematic look at the power matrix of conflict resolution in its theories, practices and research methods. As peace and conflict practitioners, knowing our colonial past means that we can never lose sight of the populations we now assist in their peacebuilding efforts. (Victoria Fontan, Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies, Social Sciences and Humanities Division Chair, American University of Afghanistan)

By comprehensively tracing developments in conflict resolution theory, this book provides readers with the necessary tools to look at conflict through a variety of lenses. By encouraging readers to critically engage with conflict through various perspectives, Introduction to Conflict Resolution will undoubtedly contribute to the next generation of reflective, responsible and well-rounded conflict resolution students, scholars and practitioners. (Brian A. Kritz, Associate Director of the M.A. Program in Conflict Resolution, Georgetown University)

This book is spectacular – and should be required in conflict resolution across the globe! The editors take us on a fascinating intellectual journey through the evolving field of conflict resolution, highlighting major theoretical contributions and contextualizing each within the broader sociopolitical discourse of its time. We come to see these theories as emergent within the fabric of specific historical eras and, as such, we gain new perspective from which to understand, appreciate, and critique them. In fact, the editors infuse each major theorist’s perspective with their own thoughtful– and at times provocative—insights, turning this book into a living, breathing intellectual conversation that may just be the kind of discourse our world needs right now to embolden a greater peace. (Daniel L. Shapiro, Founder and Director, Harvard International Negotiation Program)

Conflict and its successful resolution is the most important, yet least understood, problem of our time, underlying societies’ inability to deal with its many other unsolved problems: e.g., identity clashes, climate change, and infectious disease. Introduction to Conflict Resolution presents a unique and insightful analysis of the theoretical and practical development of the conflict resolution and peacebuilding fields, giving students a powerful understanding of how conflict might be better handled going forward. (Heidi and Guy Burgess, Co-Directors, Conflict Information Consortium, University of Colorado)

Edition details

• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
• Publication date: 2019
• ISBN 10: 1786608529
• ISBN 13: 9781786608529
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 912
• Editor: Cobb Drucie French Cumbie Professor George Mason University Sara, Federman Presidential Scholar At George Mason University Sarah, Castel Alison