In a Divided Nation

Conflict Intervention in a Divided Nation

(An online conversation with Gail Bingham and Bernie Mayer)

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ADRHub is pleased to introduce a new online dialogue featuring two of the most experienced mediators in our field, Gail Bingham and Bernie Mayer.  Follow the conversation – and feel welcome to join in.

Gail Bingham is President Emeritus of RESOLVE and currently serves as Chair of the Missouri River Recovery Implementation Committee and as convener of the Lead Service Line Replacement Collaborative. 

Bernie Mayer is Professor of Conflict Studies at the Negotiation and Conflict Resolution Program at Creighton University and a Founding Partner at CDR Associates. 

Together, Bernie and Gail have over 80 years experience in working with environmental, public policy and other types of conflicts.

Gail and Bernie will be continuing a discussion with each other that they began in a webinar last May on the appropriate role of conflict specialists in these polarized times. 

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A note from Gail and Bernie

 In May 2017, the two of us participated in a webinar on the role of conflict specialists in the “Age of Trump” sponsored by the Environmental and Public Policy Sector of the Association of Conflict resolution and ably facilitated by Larry Schooler and Dana Goodson.  We discussed ways to contribute to constructive conflict engagement in this extremely polarized environment.  While we agreed on a lot (for example, that conflict specialists have an important role to play in challenging stereotypes that people have of one another), we also had some very different perspectives (for example, how important is it to stay neutral). 

We both felt that the challenges – even threats – of polarization will have a huge effect on public issues for years to come.  So, we thought it would be valuable to keep the conversation going. We have been friends and colleagues (and sometimes, competitors) for many years, and we look forward to this opportunity to continue to collaborate.  We hope many of you will join us in this discussion.

We have no set format or frequency planned—instead we will follow where the dialogue takes us. Please join in and make this a rich conversation.

Comment by Bernie Mayer on August 7, 2017 at 4:48pm

BEYOND LISTENING, PART ONE

Most of the country, actually much of the world, has been consumed by the soap opera political drama that is our national government this past year and particularly the past six months.  There is a surreal quality to how the new administration is operating in terms of both policy and process. Contradictory messages from different parts of the administration, threats from the President against people in his own administration and against the media, the FBI, and Republicans who won’t bend to his will seem standard fare.  Trump’s tweets are self-parodying and at time self-destructive. So far he has been thwarted on major policy initiatives, but the melodramatic aspects of all this can obscure the significance of what is going on and can lure us into a state of prurient passivity in the face of major changes in US policy and practice.  Trump may be outrageous and at times boneheaded, but he is still extremely powerful, retains his core base of support, and speaks to concerns of a significant number of Americans.

 

Nowhere has this been more dramatic than in the environmental arena.  We are seeing the abandonment or unraveling of environmental regulations and policies, most dramatically the Paris accord on climate change. Environmental policy is  always made amidst a complex matrix of overlapping and competing interests.  The larger the issue, the more complex the matrix, and the process is often extremely politicized.  This complexity has been the source of a great deal of business for conflict engagement professionals—through administrations of all political ilks—and likely this will continue to be the case.  With the new administration, however, the power dynamics have changed dramatically and the struggles around environmental policy are taking place against an increasingly polarized background.

 

This raises some major questions for conflict specialists about what roles we ought to be playing and how.  After the election, many have called for better listening, for challenging the stereotypical way in which many Trump supporters and those who have opposed him view each other, and finding ways to initiate dialogue among people from different parts of the political spectrum.  All these are worthwhile approaches that we should be open to where feasible.  But I doubt that we will get very far in changing the political climate by taking them at this time in our history and don’t think they represent the core challenge.  In fact, I think they could in some respects represent part of the problem in that there is a certain patronizing tone to some of this.  After all, it is not Trump or his supporters who are calling for more listening and reaching out to those they disagree with—it is a call mainly heard from liberals.

Comment by Bernie Mayer on August 7, 2017 at 4:50pm

BEYOND LISTENING, PART TWO

I certainly want to hear what people I disagree with have to say, but to me this is the easier part of the challenge.  Put me in a room with someone who believes abortion is immoral, that human generated climate change is either not a problem or not even a thing, or that Islam is our enemy and I can listen, be curious, ask questions and essentially control my emotions.  But if that is all I do, I am not being authentic, genuine, or honest.  And people know it.  The harder part is to find a way of clearly articulating what I believe, where and why I disagree with what others are saying, and to be true to my deepest values, but to do so in a way that encourages two way (or multiple way) communication—and to help others to do this as well.  This is not easy, especially if we see it as a moral imperative to work against some of the positions being advocated.  That’s why conflict specialists have an important role to play.  But what our optimal role right now?  I am sure we will continue to offer the services we have always provided, but these times call for something different as well.

 

Where we have an opportunity to help people communicate across profound differences in a powerful and constructive way, I am all for it, but I think the most important task right now is to work within different communities along the political spectrum, not between them.  For me that means finding ways of working with those who stand in support of sound policies that fully accept the importance of protecting the environment and dealing with climate change.  Specifically, it means working to help environmental advocates craft their message, build alliances, use the tools of conflict analysis to understand the nature of the problem we face in promoting sound polices, and  reach out to potential allies who are not in accord on all issues but share our basic concerns.

 

How to do this is something we should talk about.  And also whether.  Perhaps, the very best role for me is to go all out as an advocate right now, and give up the trappings of a conflict intervener.  Lots to discuss.

 

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