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

Introduction: Maria Volpe, from the City University of New York, talks about the lack of conflict resolution response in New York immediately after 9-11.

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

Conflict Resolution During Crisis
Maria Volpe
Professor of Dispute Resolution, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, City University of New York

Interviewed by
Julian Portilla
2003

...You can't just appear on the scene and say that you're a conflict resolver. The leg-work needs to have been done before-hand. One needs to have presence, recognition, and visibility before the crisis. In the middle of the crisis it's really hard for someone to begin to trust you, to find out what you do. We found out that the people who actually did some work were the Community Relations Service mediators from the US Department of Justice. They had established a previous relationship with FEMA in another crisis, so when there were conflicts on the corners over who could get down the street and who was able to get home, there were mediators out there, but they were from CRS because they had been trusted by, and built relationships with FEMA.

If we could read the secret history of our enemies, we should find in each life sorrow and suffering enough to disarm all hostility. -- Longfellow

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Beyond Intractability Version IV
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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
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