Constructive Conflict Initiative Blog
Since early April, we have been corresponding with many people about the need for better conflict handling strategies to address COVID-19, and then after George Floyd's death, racism as well. We decided to compile this correspondence in a blog—now called the Constructive Conflict Initiative Blog. The original Blog Introduction explained our thinking back in April about how the principles of the Constructive Conflict Initiative applied to the COVID-19 challenge and what, in particular, we need to focus on now. But now that the blog has been around awhile, we wanted to let readers jump right in without having to wade through a long introduction. If you want more information about what this is and where it is going, however, please read the longer CCI Blog Introduction.
We hope you will read at least some of what we have assembed so far, and then consider sharing your ideas too—a few sentences to several pages about any of the conflicts that are raging around us right now, and how we might address them more constructively. We are also interested in hearing about things that people are doing to help address any of these issues and links to books and articles that offer helpful insights.
You might also be interested in our Constructive Conflict Massive Open Online Seminar with its more extensive blog which includes additional BI content as well as links to the activities of our conflict and peacebuilding colleagues and articles exploring the larger context surrounding today's big conflicts.
Blog Posts
- Advancing Black Equality in America -- A suggestion that BLM expand its tactics to more extensively negotiate and lobby local, school, state, and national officials. #mbi_cci -- Oct 20
- Does Nonviolence Work? -- Research shows nonviolence is far more effective than violence--it should be all protestors' go-to choice! #mbi_cci -- Oct 14
- Disproportionality Trap and Counter Trap -- It is not enough to address the disproportionate impact of social problems, you also have to equitably address the problem itself. -- Sep 27
- Jay Rothman: Systematic Collaborative Visioning for Conflict Resolution Action and Evaluation in the Post-Covid19 World -- The time is ripe and we have much to contribute do de-escalation: listening, dialogue, reframing, collaboration and more. #mbi_cci -- Sep 24
- Morton Deutsch on Understanding and Overcoming Oppression -- Oppression has been with us through the ages. Fortunately we have learned many strategies for overcoming it. -- Sep 15
- The US Election, COVID, Racism, and the Constructive Conflict Initiative -- If ever the "peacemakers time is at hand," this is it! Join our effort to help share what peacebuilders know that can help. -- Sep 13
- Constructive Confrontation -- Designed to show how conflict skills can be used for more effective advocacy, not just negotiation or compromise. #mbi_cci -- Sep 10
- Fighting Today's Oppression, Not Yesterday's Oppression -- Opposing today's injustices will require cooperation across the racial divides that were a focus of many of the unrightable wrongs of the past. #mbi_cci -- Sep 09
- Power Strategy Mix -- Success is usually obtained by using a combination of two or three strategies, not just one--especially not just coercion! #mbi_cci -- Sep 09
- What does "Justice" Mean? -- The political discussions about justice this summer of 2020 are very narrow; they should take a much wider view of what encompasses "justice." #mbi_cci -- Sep 08
- Suzanne Ghais: Bridging the Police Community Divide -- A reflection on the dangerous escalation between police and their communities and how to address that effectively for all constituencies. #mbi_cci -- Sep 08
- The Blood-Boiling Trap -- Our tendency to focus on things that make us furious distorts the way we look at the world in ways that threaten rather than advance our interests. #mbi_cci -- Sep 07
- Hyper-Polarization, the Pandemic, and the Need for a "Lifeboat Ethic" -- We are all, in a sense, on one giant lifeboat. Surviving the storm will require us to figure out how to work together more effectively. #mbi_cci -- Sep 07
- Where Does The Nightmare of Continuing Hyper-Polarization End? -- Social processes like hyperpolarization can't continue indefinitely without leading to catastrophe. We desperately need an exit strategy. #mbi_cci -- Sep 04
- U.S. Hyper-Polarization—Over the Edge? -- Hyperpolarization at the level of hateful, but entertaining, rhetoric could easily escalate into large-scale 1960s-style civil unrest and violence. -- Sep 03
- Confronting NIMBYs by Polling Community Interests -- By broadening their understanding of their "backyard" to include their whole community, citizens can be much more powerful in their advocacy efforts. -- Sep 03
- Exponential Growth in Pandemics, the Economy, and Escalation -- Economic panic and/or escalating political violence threatens to upend society even more rapidly than the COVID-19 pandemic. #mbi_cci -- Sep 03
- What Happens When We Have an Election That Both Sides Absolutely Positively Can't Afford to Lose? -- Seeing the possibility of electoral defeat as totally unacceptable justifies the use of the most extreme and dangerous forms of political combat. #mbi_cci -- Sep 01
- Constructive Demonstration Strategies -- Primal screams don't change policy or public opinion. Demonstrators should know their goals--and the best way to accomplish them. #mbi_cci -- Sep 01
- The Base-Mobilization Trap -- The inflammatory tactics that make mobilize-the-base politics so effective are tearing us apart In ways that will be very difficult to reverse #mbi_cci -- Sep 01
- (When) Should We Escalate? -- What determines whether escalation of the conflicts over police brutality and systemic racism is beneficial? What can be done to make it as constructive as possible? #mbi_cci -- Aug 31
- The "Primal Scream" Syndrome and the Havlick Solution -- Self-righteous expressions of anger risk making things worse rather than better unless they are accompanied by real problem-solving. #mbi_cci -- Aug 27
- The Crane Brinton Effect -- The key to successful revolutionary (or evolutionary) change a broadly agreed-upon vision for a better society in which most everyone would like to live. #mbi_fundamentals -- Aug 26
- Heidi Burgess and Guy Burgess: Framing the Events of Spring and Summer 2020 -- It's time "we, the people" start taking control of our frames, focusing on shared frames instead of the polarizing ones we are being fed. #mbi_fundamentals -- Aug 24
- Dehumanization in Politics -- Political rhetoric has been moving toward increasingly dehumanized enemy images. If we want to save democracy we have to reverse this trend--NOW! #mbi_cci -- Jul 23
