BeyondIntractability.org   BeyondIntractability.org
Beyond Intractability: A Free Knowledge Base on More Constructive Approaches to Destructive Conflict
   


Introduction: Worldview conflicts are not a separate category of conflict, every conflict has a "worldview dimension." So says Jayne Docherty of Eastern Mennonite University. She notes the importance of differentiating between impasses caused by worldview differences versus those that are caused by bad faith on the part of the parties or communication problems.This segment is also contained in JDO1. For more on worldview conflicts, listen to other interview segments with Jayne Docherty. Try JDO 1 or 2. 


This rough transcript provides a text alternative to audio. We apologize for occasional errors and unintelligible sections (which are marked with ???).

Worldview Conflicts
Jayne Docherty
Eastern Mennonite University
Interviewed by
Julian Portilla
2003

Worldview conflicts are not a separate category of conflict. Every conflict has a worldview dimension. And there may be some conflicts where it's not as relevant to the parties and you don't have to deal with it directly, but that doesn't mean that dimension of their interaction isn't there. If something breaks down in the negotiation process, we have to ask ourselves if we just hit a worldview block of some kind? As opposed to an integrity block, where parties are not operating with integrity or miscommunicating or something. You better go back to see if there's some sort of underlying reality problem. So that would be one key lesson that I've learned.

 
Most of the fundamental ideas of science are essentially simple, and may, as a rule, be expressed in a language comprehensible to everyone. -- Albert Einstein

Featured Links
Organizations Making Noteworthy Contributions to Efforts to Promote More Constructive Conflict
The Development Executive Group
The Development Executive Group


Other Resources from
Beyond Intractability
Interview With Mari Fitzduff
Interview With Mari Fitzduff

A leading peacebuilder from Northern Ireland, Mari talks about her work around the world transforming religious and ethnic conflicts.

Nobel Peace Prize Winners

Kim Dae-jung
Kim Dae-jung

Former President of South Korea, and 2000 Nobel Peace Laureate

Beyond Intractability Version IV
Copyright © 2003-2007 The Beyond Intractability Project
Beyond Intractability is a Registered Trademark of the University of Colorado
Project Acknowledgements

The Beyond Intractability Knowledge Base Project
Guy Burgess and Heidi Burgess, Co-Directors and Editors
c/o Conflict Information Consortium (Formerly Conflict Research Consortium), University of Colorado
Campus Box 580, Boulder, CO 80309
Phone: (303) 492-1635; Fax: (303) 492-2154; Contact
University of Colorado at Boulder