Bruce W. Dayton (Ph.D., Syracuse University) serves as professor and chair of the Master of Peace and Justice Leadership, the Master of Diplomacy and International Relations, and Executive Director of the CONTACT Peacebuilding Institute at the School for International Training in Brattleboro, Vermont, USA. Professor Dayton has been active in peacebuilding and conflict transformation work for over twenty years as a practitioner, a researcher, and an educator. His other books include Perspectives in Waging Conflicts Constructively and Peacebuilding and Conflict Transformation, each co-authored with Louis Kriesberg. Bruce also served for six years as Executive Director of the International Society for Political Psychology and as Associate at the Center for Policy Negotiation in Boston, Massachusetts where he ran policy-dialogues on pressing public policy controversies.

Louis Kriesberg (Ph.D., University of Chicago) is professor emeritus of Sociology, Maxwell Professor Emeritus of Social Conflict Studies, and founding director of the Program on the Analysis and Resolution of Conflicts (1986-1994), all at Syracuse University. In addition to over 160 book chapters and articles, he is the author or editor of numerous books on conflict studies. He was President of the Society for the Study of Social Problems (1983-1984), and he lectures, consults, and provides training regarding conflict resolution, security issues, and peace studies.

List of Figures and Tables

Preface

Part One: Conflict Analysis and Conflict Theory

Chapter 1. The Constructive Conflicts Approach

Plan for the Book and Intended Audience

Conflict Definitions

Six Foundational Ideas

Varieties of Conflicts

Combinations Constituting Destructiveness and Constructiveness

Summary and Discussion Questions

Chapter 2. Preconditions: Three Perspectives on the Origin of Conflicts

Human Nature

Sociocultural Relations

System Attributes

Synthesis

Summary and Discussion Questions

Part Two: Conflict Emergence and Conflict Strategies

Chapter 3. Emergence

Identity

Grievance

Forming Contentious Goals

Believing Redress is Possible

Summary and Discussion Questions

Chapter 4. Alternative Conflict Strategies: Coercion, Reward, and Persuasion

Choosing Strategies

Coercion, Reward, and Persuasion

Strategies and Modes of Struggle

Illustrative Strategies

Summary and Discussion Questions

Chapter 5. Adopting Conflict Strategies

Conflict Style

Partisan Goals

Partisan Characteristics

Relations between Adversaries

Social Context

Summary and Discussion Questions

Part Three: Conflict Escalation and De-Escalation

Chapter 6. Escalation

Processes of Escalation

Summary and Discussion Questions

Chapter 7. De-Escalation

Social-Psychological Dynamics

Organizational and Tactical Dynamics

Systemic and Structural Dynamics

De-Escalation Strategies

Summary and Discussion Questions

Part Four: Mediation, Negotiation, and Post-Conflict Outcomes

Chapter 8. Mediation

Definitions, Applications, and Benefits

Social Roles

Shapers of Mediator Roles

Assessing Mediator Contributions

Summary and Discussion Questions

Chapter 9. Negotiated and Non-Negotiated Settlements

Non-Negotiated Settlements

Negotiated Settlements

Forms and Stages of Negotiation

Summary and Discussion Questions

Chapter 10. Post-Settlement Outcomes

Variations in Post-Settlement Outcomes

Constructive Transformations

Summary and Discussion Questions

Chapter 11. Toward Constructive Conflict Transformation

Appendix A: Selected Organizations in the Field of Constructive Conflicts