Events

A History of Mediation: How Academics Have Dealt with Methods of Non-Institutionalized Conflict Resolution

Speaker: ODAIRA Takeshi

Doctoral Student at GSAPS

Research Assistant at GIARI, Waseda Univ.

How have the scholars of different disciplines and regions studied mediation in conflicts? In order to answer this research problem, the presenter will qualitatively explain the course of development of the studies of mediation in different disciplines and countries such as in Japan and the United States.

The presentation aims to explain the evolution of the concept of mediation in the academic literature of different disciplines. While many researchers admit the need to develop various methods of conflict resolution to end violent conflicts at all levels of analyses, few articles systematically explain the evolution of non-institutionalized methods of conflict resolution. Now that it is difficult to establish institutionalized mechanisms of third-party conflict resolution to end violence between parties in the Asia-Pacific region, it is reasonable to focus more on non-institutionalized mechanisms of third-party conflict resolution such as good offices, mediation and conciliation. Among these non-institutionalized methods to manage various conflicts, mediation is used more often than others in the world, including the Asia-Pacific region.

While mainly scholars of the law discipline have produced a great amount of works on mediation as an alternative dispute resolution to complement the malfunction of formally institutionalized legal institutions, it is going to be revealed that there is a need for further research on how the different types of mediators can coordinate with each other to cooperatively end armed conflicts.

Poster [59KB]

Date: 20 October 2009, 17:00-18:30
Venue: Room 710, Building No. 19 Nishi-Waseda Campus, Waseda University
Presentation in English (No Interpreter)
Admission Free / No Pre-Registration Required
Organized by Waseda University Doctoral Student Network (WUDSN)
www.waseda-giari.jp/jpn/wudsn/index_e.html
Supported by Global Institute for Asian Regional Integration (GIARI)