Conflict Across Cultures: A Unique Experience of Bridging Differences - Softcover

Michelle LeBaron; Venashri Pillay

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1931930228 ISBN 13: 9781931930222

Publisher: John Murray Business Academic, 2006

Synopsis

Cultural differences among members of any group-be it a multinational business team or an international family-are frequently the source of misunderstanding and can lead to conflict. With powerful techniques for resolving or at least reducing conflicts, scholars and teachers from around the globe demystify the intricate and important relationship between conflict and culture.

Stories, which are at the heart of the book, come from a wide variety of groups and locations, and they give sound counsel for all kinds of settings: business, law, government, non-governmental agencies, schools, communities and families. Conflict across Cultures is written by a new generation of conflict resolution scholars from four parts of the world: Canada, South Africa, Japan and the US. They describe processes and help build the skills necessary for successful conflict resolution. Here is a new framework for understanding others-a map for making progress through differences that can otherwise overwhelm us. Conflict across Cultures offers hope in countering the view that differences must divide us.

About this title

From the Publisher

"Conflict Across Cultures is a rare breed of work combining theory and practice, real life stories and metaphor, critical analysis and holistic approaches. The end result is a book that is remarkably readable, and even more valuable for its contribution to understanding the problems that underpin virtually every major conflict in the world today.

This is one of the few works on culture and conflict resolution that actually practices what it preaches. The authors have drawn on their own cultural diversity to produce a framework that can be used by conflict resolution practitioners and laypeople from all walks of life."
-Ambassador John W. McDonald, Chairman, The Institute for Multi-Track Diplomacy

Learning to handle cross-cultural conflict is emerging as a central problem in human relations. And no one is better qualified to describe the intricate ins and outs of that learning process than the extraordinary - and extraordinarily honest - team that has written Conflict Across Cultures."
-Christpher Honeyman, Conflict Management Consultant and Co-Editor, The Negotiator's Fieldbook

"Michelle and colleagues fused, with elegance, their substantial knowledge in the fields of peace, conflict and culture, with stories and experiences, and artistic imagination which made reading this book like a walk in terrain, or a swim in the river...with pleasant friends."
-Amr Abdalla, Ph.D., Professor and Dean for academic Programmes, University for Peace, United Nations Affiliated University

"Conflict Across Cultures teaches how each of us can build bridges across the chasms that separate different cultures. With insights born of rich experiences, the authors explore metaphor, ritual and storytelling to help people understand one another, and by helping us to recognize what is sacred to others, they help us to find our own sacred ground."
-Dr. Mary-Wynne Ashford, International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War

About the Author

Michelle Lebaron is professor of law and director of the UBC Program on Dispute Resolution. She consults on intercultural conflict around the world and is the author of three previous books, Bridging Cultural Conflicts: A New Approach for a Changing World, and Bridging Troubled Waters: Conflict Resolution From the Heart, Venashri Pillay is a senior researcher with ACCORD in South Africa and is completing her PhD in conflict analysis and resolution at George Mason University. She has practiced social work in diverse communities in South Africa and the United States.

Edition details

• Publisher: John Murray Business Academic
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 1931930228
• ISBN 13: 9781931930222
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 240