[This TEDx Talk was recorded at George Mason University on September 10, 2017. When edited, the video will be posted on the George Mason website and on YouTube.]
HELLO! I’M VERY HAPPY TO BE HERE TODAY TO TALK WITH YOU ABOUT HOW TO RESOLVE DESTRUCTIVE CONFLICTS.
I WISH THAT WE DIDN’T HAVE TO TALK ABOUT THIS TOPIC AT ALL – BUT, UNFORTUNATELY, WE DO. DESPITE THE REAL PROGRESS MADE IN MANY FIELDS OF HUMAN ENDEAVOR, WHEN IT COMES TO LEARNING HOW TO LIVE TOGETHER PEACEFULLY AND HAPPILY, WE STILL HAVE A VERY LONG WAY TO GO.
THREE DECADES AGO, WHEN THE COLD WAR ENDED, MOST PEOPLE BREATHED A SIGH OF RELIEF AND LOOKED FORWARD TO A COMING AGE OF PEACE. BUT THE RESULTS SINCE THEN HAVE BEEN DISAPPOINTING, TO SAY THE LEAST. VIOLENT STRUGGLES AROUND THE GLOBE HAVE INCREASED TO THE POINT THAT THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE MADE HOMELESS AND FORCED TO MIGRATE BY CIVIL VIOLENCE NOW EXCEEDS ANYTHING SEEN SINCE WORLD WAR TWO.
EVEN IN THE UNITED STATES, THE WORLD’S OLDEST DEMOCRACY AND WEALTHIEST NATION, THERE ARE DISTURBING SIGNS OF INTENSIFYING CIVIL CONFLICT. THE PEW FOUNDATION REPORTS THAT DIVISIONS BETWEEN AMERICAN POITICAL GROUPINGS HAVE NOT BEEN SO INTENSE SINCE THEY STARTED POLLING. THESE CONFLICTS ARE STILL MOSTLY NONVIOLENT, BUT RECENT EVENTS LIKE THE FASCIST VS. ANTIFASCIST CONFRONTATION IN CHARLOTTESVILLE, VIRGINIA ARE RAISING FEARS THAT THEY MAY BECOME VIOLENT UNLESS SOMETHING IS DONE TO RESOLVE THEM.
SO WHAT CAN BE DONE TO RESOLVE CONFLICTS THAT HAVE BECOME VIOLENT OR TO PREVENT THEM FROM BECOMING VIOLENT IN THE FIRST PLACE? LET ME START WITH A SIMPLE PROPOSITION: THOSE WHO DON’T UNDERSTAND A CONFLICT PROPERLY PROBABLY CAN’T RESOLVE IT.
THREE DIMENSIONS TO UNDERSTANDING CONFLICT ARE RELEVANT: WE CAN CALL THEM THE PERSONAL, THE SITUATIONAL, AND THE PRACTICAL.
THE PERSONAL: WE NEED TO KNOW WHAT’S IN THE MINDS AND HEARTS OF THE CONFLICTING PARTIES – WHAT MAKES THEM WILLING TO RISK INJURING THEMSELVES AND HURTING OTHER PEOPLE TO OBTAIN SOME DESIRED GOAL.
THE SITUATIONAL: IT’S VITAL TO UNDERSTAND THE SOCIAL, ECOLOGICAL, AND POLITICAL CIRCUMSTANCES THAT HELP TO GENERATE THE CONFLICT OR THAT MAKE IT WORSE.
THE PRACTICAL: SINCE UNDERSTANDING BY ITSELF WON’T RESOLVE MOST CONFLICTS, IT’S NECESSARY TO DEVELOP A PRACTICAL PROCESS THAT HELPS THE CONFLICTING PARTIES ANALYZE THEIR CONFLICT AND DECIDE WHAT IT WILL TAKE TO RESOLVE IT.
“WHERE THERE IS NO VISION, THE PEOPLE PERISH,” SAYS THE BIBLICAL PROVERB. CONFLICTS POORLY ANALYZED TEND TO GET WORSE. PEOPLE EMBROILED IN SERIOUS CONFLICT THINK ABOUT THEMSELVES AND THEIR ENEMIES IN A WAY THAT I CALL “PARTISAN MORALISM.” NOT ONLY DO THEY INSIST THAT THEIR SIDE IS OBVIOUSLY RIGHT AND THE OTHER SIDE OBVIOUSLY WRONG, THEY ALSO CONSIDER THEIR OWN PEOPLE ESSENTIALLY GOOD AND THEIR ENEMIES ESSENTIALLY EVIL.
PARTISAN MORALISM OPERATES BY CREATING A SHARP DIVISION BETWEEN “THEM” AND “US.” FOR EXAMPLE, “WE” LOVE PEACE BUT ARE FORCED TO DEFEND OURSELVES AGAINST AN AGGRESSIVE ENEMY. WE DON’T WANT TO FIGHT, BUT WE HAVE TO. BY CONTRAST, “THEY” FIGHT BECAUSE THEY ARE ESSENTIALLY WARLIKE. IT IS THEIR NATURE TO LIKE VIOLENCE.
SIMILARLY, WHEN “WE” FIGHT, WE TRY TO MINIMIZE CIVILIAN CASUALTIES. “THEY,” ON THE OTHER HAND, DON’T CARE ABOUT CASUALTIES, BECAUSE THEY ARE INDIFFERENT ABOUT HUMAN LIFE OR ENJOY MAKING OTHERS SUFFER. THEY ARE CRUEL AT BEST, AT WORST SADISTIC BRUTES.
NOT ONLY THAT, THEY ARE LIARS. UNLIKE WE WHO TELL THE TRUTH, THEY ARE TRICKY, UNTRUSTWORTHY DECEIVERS. OF COURSE, THIS MEANS THAT NEGOTIATING WITH THEM WOULD BE A MISTAKE, SINCE THEY WILL TAKE ADVANTAGE OF NEGOTIATIONS TO MAKE FOOLS OF US, AS HITLER MADE A FOOL OF HIS NEGOTIATING PARTNERS AT MUNICH.
FINALLY, WE HAVE NO ULTERIOR MOTIVE IN CONFLICT OTHER THAN TO PROTECT OUR OWN LEGITIMATE INTERESTS. BUT THEY ARE DRIVEN BY A LUST FOR POWER THAT IS INSATIABLE. THEY WANT TO RULE THE WORLD. EVEN MORE, THEY WANT THEIR IDEAS AND VALUES TO RULE THE WORLD: THEY WANT TO BE GOD. SINCE THIS IS THE CASE, OUR GOAL MUST BE TO DESTROY THEM UTTERLY OR FORCE THEIR UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER.
NOW, PUT ALL THESE ENEMY IMAGES TOGETHER, AND WHAT DO YOU GET? AN ADVERSARY THAT, BY ITS VERY NATURE, CHOOSES EVIL, IS ABOMINABLY CRUEL, IS A “FATHER OF LIES,” AND WANTS TO REPLACE GOD. WHO ELSE DO YOU KNOW WHO FITS THIS DESCRIPTION? OUR OLD FRIEND SATAN, OF COURSE! IN AN INTENSE CONFLICT PEOPLE LITERALLY DEMONIZE THEIR ENEMY WHILE, AT THE SAME TIME, THEY SANCTIFY THEMSELVES AND THEIR CAUSE. THIS SORT OF THINKING PUTS BOTH SIDES ON THE ROAD TO TOTAL WAR AND TOTAL DISASTER.
FORTUNATELY, THOUGH, THERE IS AN ANTIDOTE TO PARTISAN MORALISM. THE ANTIDOTE IS STRUCTURAL THINKING. INSTEAD OF BELIEVING THAT THE BASIC CAUSE OF THE CONFLICT IS PERSONAL – THAT THE BAD MOTIVES AND BAD CHARACTER OF ONE SIDE OR THE OTHER CAUSE THE CONFLICT — WE CAN LOOK AT CERTAIN SYSTEMS THAT GENERATE AND SHAPE SOCIAL CONFLICT, AND THAT INTERACT WITH PEOPLE’S PERSONAL NEEDS AND DESIRES TO CREATE A CONFLICT MENTALITY.
THE SYSTEMS I AM TALKING ABOUT CAN BE SOCIOECONOMIC, POLITICAL, CULTURAL, OR PSYCHOLOGICAL – OR ALL THESE AT THE SAME TIME. THEY ARE ARRANGEMENTS OF RULES, ROLES, MODES OF THINKING AND FEELING, AND PATTERNS OF BEHAVIOR THAT GOVERN THE DISTRIBUTION OF POWER AND SOCIAL STATUS IN SOCIETY. THE SYSTEMS THAT CAUSE THE MOST CONFLICT, AS OUR COLLEAGUE JOHAN GALTUNG TEACHES US, ARE HIERARCHIES THAT DISTRIBUTE POWER UNEQUALLY, SECURING THE INTERESTS OF A FEW PEOPLE AT THE TOP WHILE LEAVING MOST PEOPLE’S BASIC HUMAN NEEDS UNSATISFIED.
PERHAPS THE SIMPLEST EXAMPLE OF THIS IS A PRISON. PRISONS ARE SYSTEMS BASED ON DENYING INMATES THE ABILITY TO SATISFY THEIR NEEDS FOR FREEDOM, MOBILITY, HUMAN DIGNITY, AND PERSONAL SECURITY. AS A RESULT, THEY INEVITABLY INCUBATE VIOLENT CONFLICT BETWEEN PRISONERS AND GUARDS, PRISONERS AND OTHER PRISONERS, AND PRISONERS AND THE PRISON ADMINISTRATION. VIOLENCE IS AS MUCH A NORMAL PRODUCT OF THIS SYSTEM AS THE LICENSE PLATES PRODUCED IN THE PRISON SHOP.
NOW, SUPPOSE WE TRY TO CHANGE THE SYSTEM BY EMBRACING PRISON REFORMS OF VARIOUS SORTS. THIS IS SURELY BETTER THAN DOING NOTHING, BUT IT PROBABLY WON’T RESOLVE ALL THE CONFLICTS WE HAVE DESCRIBED. WHY NOT? BECAUSE THE PRISON SYSTEM IS ACTUALLY A SUB-SYSTEM – PART OF A LARGER WHOLE. IT IS PART OF A CRIME-AND-PUNISHMENT SYSTEM THAT INCLUDES COURTS, LAWYERS, AN ARMY OF OFFICIALS, AND THE COMPANIES KNOWN AS THE “PRISON-INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX.” IN AMERICA, THIS SYSTEM INCARCERATES MILLIONS OF PEOPLE — THE LARGEST NUMBER OF PEOPLE JAILED BY ANY NATION.
SUPPOSE, THEN, THAT WE TRY TO REFORM THIS LARGER SYSTEM. AGAIN, THIS WILL PROBABLY DO SOME IMMEDIATE GOOD, BUT IT IS UNLIKELY TO SOLVE THE PROBLEM OF MASS INCARCERATION. THIS IS BECAUSE THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM IS ALSO “NESTED” IN A LARGER SYSTEM – THE AMERICAN CAPITALIST ORDER, WHICH REGULARLY GENERATES DEEP, TRANS-GENERATIONAL POVERTY AND SOCIAL INEQUALITY ALONG WITH AN ETHIC THAT TRAINS PEOPLE TO VALUE MATERIAL SUCCESS ABOVE ALL OTHER VALUES.
IT IS NO LONGER CONTROVERSIAL TO POINT OUT THAT THERE IS A CLEAR LINK BETWEEN POVERY, INEQUALITY, AND MASS INCARCERATION. HUNDREDS OF WELL-CONSTRUCTED STUDIES AND THREE PRESIDENTIAL CRIME COMMISSIONS PROVIDE EVIDENCE OF A CAUSAL LINK. POOR PEOPLE, WHO IN THE U.S. ARE DISPROPORTIONATELY MEMBERS OF MINORITY COMMUNITIES, ARE FAR MORE LIKELY THAN WEALTHIER PEOPLE TO BE JAILED AS LAWBREAKERS.
WHAT WILL IT TAKE, THEN, TO CHANGE THIS SITUATION? THE ANSWER SEEMS CLEAR, BUT IT IS DIFFICULT FOR PEOPLE IN OUR COUNTRY TO HEAR. THE CAPITALIST SYSTEM MUST BE CHANGED SUFFICIENTLY TO PRODUCE A RADICAL REDUCTION OF POVERTY AND INEQUALITY IN IMPOVERISHED COMMUNITIES. UNFORTUNATELY, TALKING ABOUT A RADICAL REFORM OF CAPITALISM HAS BEEN PRETTY MUCH TABOO EVER SINCE THE DAYS OF THE COLD WAR. BUT IF WE DON’T TALK ABOUT IT, WE WILL CONTINUE TO CRIMINALIZE POOR PEOPLE AND THE ECONOMICALLY INSECURE.
ONE FINAL EXAMPLE MAY HELP MAKE THE CONNECTION BETWEEN ELITE-DRIVEN SYSTEMS AND VIOLENT CONFLICT CLEAR. IN GLOBAL AFFAIRS, THE SYSTEM THAT HAS PRODUCED THE WORST VIOLENCE, BY FAR, IS THE IMPERIAL SYSTEM. THERE ARE LOTS OF SOURCES OF INFORMATION ABOUT THIS. FROM THE BIBLICAL PROPHETS TO MODERN WRITERS, SHARP OBSERVERS HAVE DESCRIBED HOW EMPIRES PRODUCE CONFLICT BY INSPIRING PEOPLE TO REBEL AGAINST THEIR RULE, THEN BY USING INTENSE VIOLENCE TO SUPPRESS REVOLTS, AND FINALLY BY FIGHTING IMMENSELY DESTRUCTIVE WARS AGAINST IMPERIALIST COMPETITORS.
OUR OWN COUNTRY, WHICH OPERATES MILITARY BASES IN MORE THAN 85 OTHER NATIONS AROUND THE GLOBE, AND WHOSE MILITARY POWER OUTWEIGHS THAT OF ALL OTHER NATIONS COMBINED BY A FACTOR OF AT LEAST 2, HAS BEEN CALLED “THE EMPIRE THAT DARE NOT SPEAK ITS NAME.” THE USA HAS BEEN AT WAR CONTINUOUSLY FOR THE PAST 16 YEARS. SINCE 1945, IN ADDITION TO SERVING AS THE WORLD’S LEADING SOURCE OF ARMS SALES AND WEAPONS TRANSFERS, IT HAS INVADED OR INTERVENED MILITARILY IN MORE THAN THIRTY FOREIGN NATIONS, CAUSING DEATHS ESTIMATED IN THE MILLIONS. IT SEEMS CLEAR THAT THERE IS A CONNECTION BETWEEN THIS PERMANENT STATE OF WAR AND THE EXISTENCE OF A NEO-IMPERIAL SYSTEM.
WHAT CAN BE DONE TO RESOLVE THIS CONFLICT, WHICH HAS BEEN LARGELY FOUGHT IN RECENT YEARS UNDER THE HEADING OF THE “WAR ON TERROR”? HOW CAN WE AVOID FIGHTING FUTURE WARS AGAINST IMPERIAL COMPETITORS LIKE CHINA AND RUSSIA? WE DON’T HAVE TIME HERE TO DISCUSS THIS FULLY, BUT I WANT TO CALL ATTENTION TO THE THIRD DIMENSION OF UNDERSTANDING CONFLICT MENTIONED EARLIER: THE PRACTICAL DIMENSION.
WHAT IS MOST IMPORTANT IN RESOLVING CONFLICTS IS NOT WHAT YOU OR I THINK ABOUT THEM, BUT HOW THE CONFLICTING PARTIES THEMSELVES ANALYZE THEIR STRUGGLE AND THE CHANGES NEEDED TO RESOLVE IT PEACEFULLY.
THEREFORE, JOB NUMBER ONE FOR THOSE INTERESTED IN CONFLICT RESOLUTION IS HELPING PEOPLE TRAPPED IN THE MODE OF PARTISAN MORALISM TO STOP PERSONALIZING THEIR CONFLICT AND TO IDENTIFY ITS UNDERLYING SYSTEM-RELATED CAUSES. FOR MONTHS, I HAVE BEEN PLEADING WITH PRESIDENT TRUMP’S OPPONENTS TO STOP PORTRAYING TRUMP AS A MENTAL CASE, A RUSSIAN STOOGE, OR A WOULD-BE DICTATOR, AND TO START THINKING ABOUT HOW TO SOLVE THE SYSTEMIC PROBLEMS THAT PRODUCED HIS ELECTION.
JOB NUMBER TWO IS TO ENCOURAGE CONFLICTING PARTIES TO SIT DOWN TOGETHER, WITH WHATEVER “THIRD-PARTY” FACILITATION THEY FIND MOST HELPFUL, AND TO ENGAGE IN PROBLEM-SOLVING DIALOGUES. WITH OR WITHOUT THEIR OFFICIAL LEADERS, PEOPLE NEED TO COME TO THEIR OWN CONCLUSIONS ABOUT THE CHANGES NEEDED TO STOP THE VIOLENCE AND MOVE TOWARD “POSITIVE PEACE.” IN MANY CASES, THEY WILL DISAGREE ABOUT HOW TO DO THIS, BUT THESE DISAGREEMENTS ARE FINE; THEY ARE STEPS ON THE ROAD TO SUSTAINABLE CONFLICT RESOLUTION. WHAT IS NOT FINE IS TO MAKE DISCUSSIONS OF VIOLENT SYSTEMS AND HOW TO CHANGE THEM TABOO.
THE GOAL, AFTER ALL, IS TO MAKE THE CHANGES NEEDED TO HEAL POISONED RELATIONSHIPS BY SATISFYING PEOPLE’S BASIC HUMAN NEEDS. TO DO THIS OFTEN TAKES A MASS MOVEMENTS LED BY PEOPLE UNAFRAID TO ENVISAGE AND IMPLEMENT NEW SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ARRANGEMENTS. THIS MEANS THAT CONFLICT RESOLUTION CANNOT BE APOLITICAL – NOT WHEN IT DEALS WITH SYSTEM-GENERATED CONFLICTS. BUT POLITICS IS ORDINARILY STRUCTURED TO MAINTAIN SYSTEMS, NOT TO CHANGE THEM. JOB NUMBER THREE, THEN, IS TO HELP PEOPLE DISCOVER NEW METHODS OF STRUGGLE THAT ARE BOTH RADICAL AND NON-VIOLENT – EFFECTIVE METHODS OF TRANSFORMING SYSTEMS THAT DESPERATELY NEED TO BE TRANSFORMED.
THANKS FOR YOUR ATTENTION, FRIENDS. I’VE ENJOYED TALKING WITH YOU VERY MUCH AND HOPE THAT WE CAN CONTINUE THE CONVERSATION AT ANOTHER TIME.
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