ABSTRACT
I commend this book to all peacebuilders, problem-solvers and conflictresolvers. It is a bold effort to resist efforts to develop universal, one-size-fitsall approaches to mediation and conflict resolution and it has a very particular value because it flows out of concrete experiences of endeavouring to understand conflict in a variety of different cultural contexts within the AsiaPacific region. Not surprisingly, the diverse contributions stress strongly the importance of deep contextual and cultural analysis and reaffirm the value of placing local cultures and local actors at the centre of all resolution of conflict. Western-trained conflict-resolvers do an injustice to locality if they impose ‘alien’ processes or didactic solutions on complex social and political realities. The authors are right, however, not only to ‘problematize’ dominant
Western perspectives but also to think about the alternatives. It is relatively easy to challenge dominant Western constructs of mediation, for example, but much more difficult to conceptualize how Westerners might add value to rich, local conflict-resolving and relationship-maintaining processes. What is becoming clear in the literature and in conflict resolution practice is the following – many of these themes are picked up in the book. First, collaborative problem-solving and conflict-resolving processes have
to be sensitive to cultural traditions with all of their untidiness and often dissonant relationships to many Western normative and human rights frameworks. Second, it is important for third parties to take the time to develop
medium-to long-term positive relationships with those that they are working with (or as I prefer ‘accompanying’) as they address and work out ways of resolving their own problems. Third, it is vital to understand local concepts of social justice, power and
privilege, and what is understood by human rights in the context one is working in. Fourth, the ‘transformative’ approach to mediation offers the possibility
of a more reflective, non-judgemental, reflexive approach to conflict. It certainly makes it easier to work ‘with the grain’ of locality rather than against it.
