Conflict transformation: a multi-dimensional task

In: Transforming ethnopolitical conflict: the Berghof handbook, S. 67-89

Abstract

"Hugh Miall identifies the key theorists and modes of practice of conflict transformation, and attempts to distinguish these from the theories and practices of conflict resolution and conflict management, while at the same time arguing that conflict transformation draws heavily on these earlier traditions. The author comes to the conclusion that further developments in theory and practice are underway as the nature of contemporary conflict continues to change. Local armed conflicts may have increasingly global causes and consequences and there is globalisation both of conflict and of interventions in conflict. The author argues that the subject of analysis has to shift from conflict to conflict-in-context, from the society in conflict to the global and regional environment. This creates cultural challenges for those theories and practices that are still dominated by western perspectives, but also ethical questions for practitioners who seek to uphold non-violent methods in contexts where coercion and the use of force are widely accepted" (author's abstract)