Realizing the promise of dialogue: Transformative dialogue in divided communities

• Published date: 01 March 2021
• Author: Erik Cleven,Judith A. Saul
• Date: 01 March 2021
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/crq.21296

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Realizing the promise of dialogue:

Transformative dialogue in divided

communities

Erik Cleven

1

| Judith A. Saul

2

1

Department of Politics, Saint Anselm

College, Manchester, New Hampshire

2

Fellow, Institute for the Study of

Conflict Transformation, Dayton, Ohio

Correspondence

Erik Cleven, Department of Politics, Saint

Anselm College, 100 Saint Anselm Drive,

Manchester, NH 03104.

Email: ecleven@anselm.edu

Abstract

This article introduces an approach to conflict transfor-

mation called transformative dialogue. Building on

transformative theory, it differs from other approaches

in two important ways. First, it sees the ethical relation

to conflict parties as of primary importance, taking pri-

ority over any analysis or conceptualization of conflict.

Second, transformative dialogue posits a different rela-

tionship between conflict analysis and practice. Rather

than prioritizing a particular mode of analysis, transfor-

mative dialogue starts from the primacy of human

agency, prioritizing people's own experience and ways

of understanding their conflicts. In this way, transfor-

mative dialogue addresses many of the weaknesses in

current peacebuilding models.

1|INTRODUCTION

In this article, we review common conflict resolution practices and models for strategic

peacebuilding. Research on peacebuilding shows that these efforts are often ineffective or ineffi-

cient because interveners do not spend much time in any given country, fail to connect ade-

quately with local populations, and apply generic models to every conflict situation. In

addition, we argue that conflict resolution practitioners often adopt a series of assumptions that

do not match the complex reality of postconflict settings or people's experience of community

conflict. We introduce an approach to community conflict transformation called transformative

dialogue, which builds on transformative theory. We argue that transformative dialogue differs

from current approaches in two important ways. First, transformative practitioners see their

ethical relation to conflict parties as of primary importance, taking priority over any analysis or

conceptualization of conflict, or over any of their own goals, even peace and reconciliation.

Received: 17 June 2020 Revised: 21 January 2021 Accepted: 22 January 2021

DOI: 10.1002/crq.21296

Conflict Resolution Quarterly. 2021;38:111–125. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/crq © 2021 Wiley Periodicals LLC 111