Inviting the Elephant into the Room: Culturally Oriented Mediation and Peace Practice

Author(s): Katrina Abatis
Series Editor(s): Simon J. A. Mason
Series: CSS Mediation Resources
Publisher(s): Center for Security Studies (CSS), ETH Zürich
Publication Year: 2021
Publication Place: Zürich

For a long time, peacebuilding has focused on international actors building social cohesion in mostly non-Western countries following violent conflict, rather than thinking about problems at home. Yet structural inequalities exist throughout the world and conflicts are one result of this. This study by Katrina Abatis turns the spotlight onto the United Kingdom where growing polarization threatens to undermine past social integration strategies and the population increasingly questions established institutions. Societies across the world are becoming more polarized and divisive politics feeds on people’s underlying fears. Culture is often invisible to conflict parties who can only view the world with their own lens, thus value clashes can seem insurmountable.

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Series: CSS Mediation Resources