Resolving Identity-Based Conflict In Nations, Organizations, and Communities (Jossey-Bass Conflict Resolution Series) [Hardcover]

Jay Rothman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 5, 1997 | ISBN-10: 0787909963 | ISBN-13: 978-0787909963 | Edition: 1st

Unleash Conflict's Creative Potential

Absolutely essential reading for anyone interested in identity conflicts and how to overcome them. Provides a fascinating theoretical introduction to the phenomena, detailed case study experiences, and a final training guide for practitioners...a landmark work.
--Kevin Clements, director, Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution, George Mason University

Presenting a brilliant new approach to conflict resolution that will intrigue and inform practitioners and scholars alike. Writing from his remarkable range of academic and real-world experiences--including his historic work in bringing Israel and the PLO to the negotiation table--Rothman shows how identity-based conflict can be managed so that both parties reach a higher ground than either could have found on its own. His vehicle is his ARIA model, and here he traces the ARIA process through Antagonism, Resonance, Invention, and Action, demonstrating step-by-step how it can be applied in a variety of environments. Complete with field-tested assessment instruments and action plans, Resolving Identity-Based Conflict is a seamless union of theory and practice anyone seeking to turn the passion of conflict into the fuel of creativity can use.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Absolutely essential reading for anyone interested in identity conflicts and how to overcome them. Provides a fascinating theoretical introduction to the phenomena, detailed case study experiences, and a final training guide for practitioners...a landmark work." (Kevin Clements, Vernon and Minnie Lynch Professor of Conflict Resolution, and director, Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution, George Mason University)

"Jay Rothman not only says it is possible to bring about reconciliation of communities, organizations, and nations involved in long-standing, deeply rooted conflicts, but he shows just how to do it! . . . Focusing on the importance of social identity and the steps involved in transforming antagonism into effective joint action, he helps us go beyond the role of interests to a more complete understanding of needs and their importance in conflict resolution." (Lawrence Susskind, director, MIT-Harvard Public Disputes Program, and president, Consensus Building Institute)

"With clarity and imagination, Jay Rothman explores identity conflict from the community to the international arena. . . . This book provides direction and hope for all those engaged in the essential work of conflict resolution." (Richard Deats, editor of Fellowship, the magazine of the Fellowship of Reconciliation)

"Re-imagines conflict mediation in a remarkably new way--by bringing together the empirical language of negotiation with the pattern-recognition skills of the artist, a new and exciting synthesis is possible." (Michael Jones, pianist, composer, Narada recording artist, and author of Creating an Imaginative Life)

?The ARIA framework works at many levels. It is a wonderful metaphor for the phases of constructive conflict resolution that has applications in so many fields. It is the analytic melody that connects the phases through the example of a string quartet, and it captures how creative conflict resolution is like a beautiful song when expertly executed. In all its forms, I have incorporated ARIA into my teaching and practice.? (Deborah M. Kolb, professor of negotiation and conflict resolution, Simmons College; Senior Fellow, Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School)

From the Inside Flap

Conflict can either destroy or create—depAnding on whether and how it is guided. This is the simple yet profound insight that underlies Jay Rothman's innovative new framework for understanding and transforming identity-based conflict in nations, organizations, and communities. Reading a newspaper, working in an organization, or sitting in on a town meeting can provide vivid examples of identity conflicts in action. Based in the national, organizational, and community groups that provide individuals with meaning, safety, and dignity, identity conflicts are passionate and volatile because they strike at our core: who we really are and what we care about most deeply. Though often impervious to traditional methods of conflict management, identity-based conflict also provides adversaries with dynamic opportunities for finding not only common ground, but higher ground than separate parties could have found on their own. Grounded in his grassroots conflict resolution work in the Middle East — work that earned him the honor of witnessing the historic White House handshake between Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO President Yasser Arafat — and brilliantly refined to address a wide range of organizational and community conflicts, Rothman's ARIA model is a versatile and innovative synthesis of the best contemporary ideas in conflict management, resolution, and transformation. Step by step, Resolving Identity-Based Conflict traces the ARIA journey through Antagonism, Resonance, Invention, and Action in a variety of environments. In straightforward, jargon-free language, Rothman conveys solid theoretical insights and practical how-to's that allow researchers and practitioners to:

• Recognize the crucial differences between identity- and resource-based conflicts
• Zero in on the needs and motivations shared by even the bitterest of adversaries
• Create joint agendas for groups in conflict
• Transform intragroup and intergroup conflicts in organizations of every k

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass; 1st edition (June 5, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0787909963
• ISBN-13: 978-0787909963
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #877,090 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jay Rothman, Ph.D.

Since 1998 Rothman has been the president of the ARIA Group, Inc. a conflict resolution training, consulting and evaluation company (www.ariagroup.com). He and his associates assist leaders, organizations, communities and individuals around the world challenged by conflict who seek to forge collaborative solutions. In the fall of 2008 he also accepted a position as Distinguished Visiting Scholar at the College of Education, Criminal Justice and Human Services (CECH) at the University of Cincinnati. In the fall of 2009 he "The ARIA Institute for Creative Conflict Engagement and Cooperative Action" at CECH focusing on researching and engaging identity-based conflicts at home and abroad.

Rothman is both a scholar and a practitioner. In 2006/7 he was a Fulbright Senior Researcher and Scholar in Israel. From 1992-97, he was Assistant Professor at Haverford and Bryn Mawr Colleges, where he was the Coordinator of the Peace and Conflict Studies Program. From 1987-92, he was Visiting Professor at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where he was also Director of the Jerusalem Peace Initiative at the Leonard Davis Institute.

He served as Special Master to a US Federal Judge following civil unrest in Cincinnati, Ohio in 2001, during which he facilitated a city wide strategic visioning process that led to a landmark collaborative agreement to reform policing and improve community-police relations.

Jay has brought his creative and practical approaches to countries and communities around the world, including Cyprus, Israel, Northern Ireland, the former Soviet Union and Sri Lanka. In the U.S. he has mediated a variety of public policy issues, including controversies over the display of the Confederate Flag on public property, major environmental disputes, labor-management relations and various issues in educational institutions. He also works with individuals helping them deal creatively with conflicts in their professional settings as a "conflict coach" and in conducting mediations in highly charged conflict situations.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THE book for experts and novices!, July 13, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Resolving Identity-Based Conflict In Nations, Organizations, and Communities (Jossey-Bass Conflict Resolution Series) (Hardcover)

Jay Rothman writes lyrically, engaging readers in a thoughtful analysis of theory and practice. An expert researcher, practitioner and storyteller, Rothman maps out directions to more peaceful nations, organizations and communities. The book includes extensive bibliographic notes and forges connections across disciplines. It offers the "best of the best" thinking, step by step guides to practical application and approaches for a variety of situations. Jay Rothman, respectfully and intelligently, invites readers to explore the many signs, directions and paths of conflict. He writes "Conflict begs to be viewed not merely as a problem waiting to be solved but an opportunity for growth, cooperation and development waiting to be fulfilled." Rothman is a capable and compelling guide, showing the way to peacemaking

4.0 out of 5 stars New Insight Into Conflict, August 28, 2010

By 

Maria - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Resolving Identity-Based Conflict In Nations, Organizations, and Communities (Jossey-Bass Conflict Resolution Series) (Hardcover)

This book will be the primary text for a course on community conflict offered online at CSUDH. Understanding identity-based conflict and using the four step ARIA approach suggested by the author can help community leaders and mediators as they try to reduce community tensions. The writing is very accessible and the case studies practical and helpful. In fact, the concept of identity-based conflict is as easily applied to an interpersonal conflict as it is to an international conflict, and the material in this book provides useful insight into both. The secondary text is 'The Little Book of Strategic Peacebuilding." Together, they provide a framework that is easily adaptable to local situations.