ABSTRACT
The North American model of mediation and of mediator provides a universal approach to mediation that fails to reflect the more complicated social and cultural reality of our world. This chapter emphasizes the importance of considering and incorporating anthropological approaches to culture in mediation by placing the study of mediation within the context of a broader comparative and cross-cultural literature on mediation and conflict resolution. This chapter begins by defining the key concepts of culture, conflict, and mediation, including the role of the mediator, before turning to case studies and empirical studies of mediation in different cultural, international, and cross-cultural contexts. These examples raise key theoretical and methodological issues about cultural difference and cultural variation in the context and practice of mediation and demonstrate the importance of incorporating a complex and dynamic notion of culture into the mediation model.
