Compared with other disciplines in the social sciences, conflict resolution is a relatively new, emerging professional and academic field. Many developments have shaped the current reality and boundaries of the field. This article is an attempt to provide a set of reflections on the major issues, challenges and possible future directions facing the field of conflict resolution. By narrating my own personal and professional journey, I hope to capture certain aspects and perspectives of this field. This is not a comprehensive review or ‘scientific’ charting of the field, nevertheless it attempts to shed light on areas and concepts that are otherwise taken for granted or neglected when the mapping of the field is done through more extensive empirical research. This mapping of conflict resolution after 30 years of practice, teaching and research first involves reflections on the conceptual or so-called theoretical groundings of the field. Second, it examines the various professional practices that have branched out through the last few decades. Third, it identifies some of the current limitations and challenges facing conflict resolution practitioners and scholars in their struggle to position the field in relation to current global realities. The final section discusses possible future directions to address existing gaps and refocus the research agenda of the field. |
Search result: 34 articles
Year 2013 xArticle |
Reflections on the Field of Conflict Resolution |
Journal | International Journal of Conflict Engagement and Resolution, Issue 2 2013 |
Keywords | peacebuilding field, culture and conflict resolution, power and conflict resolution, future trends in peacebuilding, critique of peacebuilding |
Authors | Mohammed Abu-Nimer |
AbstractAuthor's information |
Article |
Re-thinking PeacebuildingFrom Universal Models to Mundane Peace |
Journal | International Journal of Conflict Engagement and Resolution, Issue 2 2013 |
Keywords | peace and conflict research, culture, peacebuilding, democracy, truth speaking |
Authors | Tarja Väyrynen |
AbstractAuthor's information |
The article re-theorizes peacebuilding through the critique of the universalizing tendencies prominent in peace and conflict research. The critique is targeted both at the medical analogy and liberal peace theory which epitomize universalism in their own ways. By presenting a case study on a seemingly insignificant, minor and mundane event and person, a Finnish woman Kaisu, the article seeks to demonstrate the usefulness of cultural understanding of peacebuilding and the ethnographic fieldwork methods which open up interesting research questions for the research field. It is shown how peacebuilding is about politics that is ‘not yet’. During peacebuilding society needs to face its troubled past with its full complexity and create a space for constant struggle that does not seek consensus, but rather engages the society in agonistic politics and democracy. Ultimately, the article suggests that the agency of parrhestiastes, truth-speaker, opens up a necessary space for post-conflict peacebuilding as it reveals the fragmented nature of the national self. |
Article |
|
Journal | The Dovenschmidt Quarterly, Issue 4 2013 |
Authors | Martijn Scheltema |
Author's information |
Article |
|
Journal | The Dovenschmidt Quarterly, Issue 4 2013 |
Keywords | CSR, human rights, grievance mechanism, interest-based approach, rights-based approach |
Authors | Cristina Cedillo |
AbstractAuthor's information |
The Special Representative to the UN Secretary-General on human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises, John Ruggie, establishes access to remedy as one of the three pillars of the UN ‘Protect, Respect, Remedy’ Framework. In this Framework, Ruggie prescribes that company-based grievance mechanisms can be one effective means of enabling remediation to those potentially being impacted by business enterprises’ activities. This report proposes a model for company-based grievance mechanisms that follow a combination of interest-based and rights-compatible approaches to conflict resolution of all corporate social responsibility issues in company–stakeholder relationships. |
Article |
Drafting of Legislation in Compliance with Model Laws |
Journal | European Journal of Law Reform, Issue 4 2013 |
Keywords | challenges, domestic legislation, model laws |
Authors | Lesedi Poloko |
AbstractAuthor's information |
Lawmaking is an essential attribute of a state. Laws differ from one country to another, and compliance with different legal rules may create problems. Uniformity of laws is an end in itself, and its value lies in its practical benefits. Interest in the quality of legislative instruments is a major concern, especially as regards the effectiveness of the national legislation. |
Article |
Drafting Conventions, Templates and Legislative Precedents, and their Effects on the Drafting Process and the Drafter |
Journal | European Journal of Law Reform, Issue 4 2013 |
Keywords | drafting conventions, templates, legislative precedents, drafter’s skill, necessary tools for effective communication of language of legislation |
Authors | Agnes Quartey Papafio |
AbstractAuthor's information |
The aim of this article is to explore whether drafting conventions, templates and legislative precedents contradict or complement the drafter’s style and if they complement the drafter’s style, the various ways in which the use of these tools achieves it. |
Article |
|
Journal | Erasmus Law Review, Issue 3/4 2013 |
Keywords | legal pluralism, rule of law promotion, legal reform, customary law, non-state legal systems, donor policy |
Authors | Dr.mr Ronald Janse |
AbstractAuthor's information |
Over the past 25 years, international organizations, NGOs and (mostly Western) states have spent considerable energy and resources on strengthening and reforming legal systems in developing countries. The results of these efforts have generally been disappointing, despite occasional successes. Among donors, one of most popular explanations of this failure in recent years is that rule of law promotion has wrongly focused almost exclusively on strengthening the formal legal system. Donors have therefore decided to 'engage' with informal justice systems. The turn to legal pluralism is to be welcomed for various reasons. But it is also surprising and worrisome. It is surprising because legal pluralism in developing countries was a fact of life before rule of law promotion began. What made donors pursuing legal reform blind to this reality for so long? It is worrisome because it is not self-evident that the factors which have contributed to such cognitive blindness have disappeared overnight. Are donors really ready to refocus their efforts on legal pluralism and 'engage' with informal justice systems? This paper, which is based on a review of the literature on donor engamenet with legal pluralism in so-called conflict affected and fragile states, is about these questions. It argues that 7 factors have been responsible for donor blindness regarding legal pluralism. It questions whether these factors have been addressed. |
Article |
|
Journal | Netherlands Journal of Legal Philosophy, Issue 3 2013 |
Keywords | pre-trial detention practice, presumption of guilt, incapacitation, presumption of innocence |
Authors | Lonneke Stevens |
AbstractAuthor's information |
The presumption of innocence (PoI) is considered to be an important principle for regulating pre-trial detention. The idea is that pre-trial detention should be a last resort. However, pre-trial detention practice demonstrates that pre-trial detention does not function on the basis of a presumption of innocence but rather from a presumption of guilt and dangerousness. It must be concluded that, with regard to pre-trial detention, the PoI has a rather limited normative effect. |
Article |
|
Journal | Erasmus Law Review, Issue 2 2013 |
Keywords | banking sector, directors' duties, financial crisis, context-specific doctrines, public enforcement |
Authors | Wasima Khan LL.M. |
AbstractAuthor's information |
The global financial crisis gives reason to revisit the debate on directors’ duties in corporate law, mainly with regard to the context of banks. This article explores the need, rationale and the potential for the introduction of context-specific directors’ duties and enforcement mechanisms in the banking sector in the Netherlands from a comparative perspective. |
Article |
The Pursuit of Clarity, Precision and Unambiguity in Drafting Retrospective Legislation |
Journal | European Journal of Law Reform, Issue 3 2013 |
Keywords | retrospectivity, clarity, precision, unambiguity, legislative drafting |
Authors | Elias Turatsinze |
AbstractAuthor's information |
The hypothesis of this paper is that clarity, precision and unambiguity are the essential tools for expressing retrospective intent, which is a pre-requisite for quality and validity of retrospective legislation. The main objective of this work is to show that retrospective laws are valid, if the retrospective intent is expressed in clear, precise and unambiguous words within the statute. The term retrospectivity is used broadly to describe any legislation or decision affecting pre-enacting conduct. It encompasses statutes affecting the pre-enactment events, administrative regulations or decisions which look back in time and judicial decisions that overturn prior decisions. All these areas cannot be covered in this limited piece of work. Thus, the emphasis in this work will be put on retrospectivity of statutes at the drafting stage. Although it may be referred to generally, retrospective delegated legislation is outside the scope of this work. Particular attention will be directed towards the importance of clarity, precision and unambiguity in attaining quality and validity of retrospective legislation. |
Article |
The Drafter’s Role in the Drafting Process |
Journal | European Journal of Law Reform, Issue 3 2013 |
Keywords | drafter, drafting process, techniques, scrutiny |
Authors | Mico Augustin |
AbstractAuthor's information |
Every government needs legislation to cover all issues transposing obligations in the manner required by the initiator and with respect to constitutional obligations and rules that provide for the conduct of society. |
Article |
Legislative Techniques in RwandaPresent and Future |
Journal | European Journal of Law Reform, Issue 3 2013 |
Keywords | legislative drafting, law-making, drafting techniques, Rwanda, quality of legislation |
Authors | Helen Xanthaki |
AbstractAuthor's information |
This report is the result of the collective work of 26 Rwandan civil servants from a number of ministries, who set out to offer the Ministry of Justice a report on legislative drafting in Rwanda. The work was undertaken under the umbrella of the Diploma in Legislative Drafting offered by the Institute for Legal Professional Development (ILPD) in Nyanza under the rectorship of Prof. Nick Johnson. The authors have used their experience of practising drafting in Rwanda, but have contributed to the report in their personal capacity: their views are personal and do not reflect those of the Government of Rwanda. |
Article |
Use of Legislative Section Headings to Achieve Effectiveness: Comparative Study of Rwandan and Australian Jurisdictions |
Journal | European Journal of Law Reform, Issue 3 2013 |
Keywords | headings, legislative drafting, Rwanda, Australia, Horn |
Authors | Samuel Ngirinshuti |
AbstractAuthor's information |
The aim of this study is to prove that the use of section headings in legislation contributes to achieve effectiveness by helping readers of legislation find what they need to know faster, and understand it more easily. To prove the hypothesis, this study uses a comparative methodology by applying Horn’s criteria: Primary Users and Official Interpreters; Assistance for Primary Users; and Assistance for Official Interpreters. The study applies those criteria to Australian and Rwandan jurisdictions. |
Article |
Does Our Field Have a Centre?Thoughts from the Academy |
Journal | International Journal of Conflict Engagement and Resolution, Issue 1 2013 |
Keywords | Conflict and Peace studies, peacebuilding, pedagogy, George Mason University, S-CAR |
Authors | Kevin Avruch |
AbstractAuthor's information |
This article is a personal reflection on the development of the field of conflict resolution/peace and conflict studies from the perspective of the classroom: how what is thought necessary to teach has changed as the field has grown and reacted to often turbulent political change |
Article |
The Historical Contingencies of Conflict Resolution |
Journal | International Journal of Conflict Engagement and Resolution, Issue 1 2013 |
Keywords | History of ADR, consensus building, multi-party dispute resolution, theory development, conflict handling |
Authors | Carrie Menkel-Meadow |
AbstractAuthor's information |
This article reviews the historical contingency of theory and practice in conflict engagement. World War II and the Cold War produced adversarial, distributive, competitive, and scarce resources conceptions of negotiation and conflict resolution, as evidenced by game theory and negotiation practice. More recent and more optimistic theory and practice has focused on party needs and interests and hopes for more party-tailored, contingent, flexible, participatory and more integrative and creative solutions for more than two disputants to a conflict. The current challenges of our present history are explored: continued conflict in both domestic and international settings, the challenge of “scaling up” conflict resolution theory and the problematics of developing universal theory in highly contextualized and diverse sets of conflict sites. The limits of “rationality” in conflict resolution is explored where feelings and ethical, religious and other values may be just as important in conflict engagement and handling. |
Editorial |
Taking Stock of the Field: Past, Present and Future. An Introduction |
Journal | International Journal of Conflict Engagement and Resolution, Issue 1 2013 |
Authors | Michal Alberstein and Jay Rothman |
Author's information |
Article |
|
Journal | Erasmus Law Review, Issue 1 2013 |
Keywords | global water governance, global constitutionalism, global administrative law, water crisis, integrated water resources management |
Authors | Mónika Ambrus |
AbstractAuthor's information |
In addition to (or sometimes rather than primarily) attributing it to water scarcity, water crisis has been described as a ‘crisis of governance’; with the word ‘crisis’ also indicating that water governance lacks (full) legitimacy. The article undertakes the task to analyse the current status of global water governance (GWG) from the perspective of two competing theories relating to the legitimacy of global governance, namely global constitutionalism (GC) and global administrative law (GAL). Having mapped the current legal framework of GWG from these two perspectives, it is discussed how these theories might shape GWG and how this shaping could contribute to solving the water crisis. In addition, it is also explored whether reading one of the most accepted proposals for legitimising global water governance, the concept of ‘integrated water resources management’ (IWRM), through the lenses of either GC or GAL would have an impact on how this concept is interpreted, and whether it can be a useful mechanism to address the water crisis. The use of two theories analysing the same subject matter provides interesting insights into global water governance and the nature of the water crisis as well as the relationship between these two theories. |