Beyond Intractability: A Free Knowledge Base on More Constructive Approaches to Destructive Conflict
Introduction:
Mari Fitzduff, Director of INCORE, suggests that leaders sometimes
intentionally create divisions within a society so as to benefit themselves or their
political party. This mismanagement of diversity often leads to deep conflict.
This rough transcript provides a text alternative to audio. We apologize for occasional errors and unintelligible sections (which are marked with ???).
Intentional Divisions
Mari Fitzduff
Professor and Director of the MA Conflict and Coexistence Programme at Brandeis
University
For instance, most problems today are caused by lack of ability to
manage diversity by governments. Most governments, in fact, often politically
use diversity to gain. So the Sinhalese and the Tamils were doing fine until the
government decided at one stage politically to exclude Tamils from the
university and civil service, etc. A lot of the existing LTTEs, actually the
organizers were students who were disenfranchised by the government within a
particular time.
The same in Northern Ireland where the unionist government felt too afraid to
ensure that Catholics were included, etc., and of course then the cycle began
when the civil rights movement began. What you meet with is a government who,
albeit best knowledge, will still decide to go a certain way in terms of
deciding what they politically need. That brings us to our work in leadership,
because what we find is that politicians are more often followers than leaders
and usually their first thought is for their own sustenance and their party's
sustenance. We've been looking particularly at the model of transaction vs.
transformation; Mandela vs. Milosevic. Unfortunately there are few Mandelas, few
who are prepared to be of their own group but go beyond their own group, and
that is extraordinarily difficult to find.
If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality. -- Bishop Desmond Tutu
Other Resources from Beyond Intractability Peacebuilding in Difficult and Intractable Conflicts This website provides a wealth of resources for peacebuilders working at any stage of difficult or intractable conflicts.
Nobel Peace Prize Winners
Menachem Begin Former Prime Minister of Israel, and 1978 Nobel Peace Laureate
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
