ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses the emergence of a cultural critique of mediation and dispute resolution theory and practice in the West. Early critics began in the 1990s to challenge the models of interests-based negotiation and mediation as not universally valid and potential instruments of neo-colonial power. This chapter reviews these early criticisms and asks both to what extent they may have been fair assessments at the time of the model they addressed and also as to their relevance today. In conclusion, these critiques were both relevant while also failing to appreciate the flexibility and potential of Western mediation theory and practice, and they today still offer good reason to be sensitive to the shortcomings of this theory and practice.
