Tag: 2018

By Lisa Schirch

Conflict is dramatic. In theater, literature, story telling, and news reporting, it is a powerful mechanism that draws attention, heightens the senses and evokes emotion. Schirch argues that peacebuilding has the potential to do just the same.

Examples of peacebuilding often center on the serious, rational negotiations and formal problem-solving efforts in conflict situations. Schirch argues, though, that what truly bonds adversaries and helps achieve peace are the symbolic, non-verbal ritual acts–shaking hands, sharing a meal, showing a photograph of a loved one. Yet these are often overlooked as deliberate components of peace negotiations.

Ritual and Symbol in Peacebuilding underscores the importance of incorporating symbolic tools, including ritual, into traditional approaches to conflict. Ritual assists in solving complex, deep-rooted conflicts, and helps to confirm and transform worldviews, identities, and relationships. With theories and language to explain the symbolic dimensions of conflict, this text will be useful to scholars and practitioners active in the diverse field of peacebuilding.

https://www.amazon.com/Ritual-Symbol-Peacebuilding-Lisa-Schirch/dp/1565491947/

By Lisa Schirch and David Campt

The word "dialogue" suffers from over-use, yet its practice is as transforming and as freshly hopeful as ever.

Authors Schirch and Campt demonstrate dialogue's life and possibilities in this clear and absorbing manual: "Dialogue allows people in conflict to listen to each other, affirm their common ground, and explore their differences in a safe environment."

The Little Book is a to-the-point handbook, covering:

• "Dialogue vs. Debate"
• "When to use dialogue"
• "Key dialogue facilitation skills"
• "Inviting people to a dialogue process"
• "Moving from dialogue to action"
• "Assessing the effectiveness of dialogue"

Schirch has worked throughout the Southern hemisphere in peacebuilding projects. Campt has focused on racial and class reconciliation in American cities. Many of the skills and the case studies they offer in this book come from their own wide experiences.

https://www.amazon.com/Little-Dialogue-Difficult-Subjects-Hands/dp/1561485519