Dialogue as a Way of Being: Three Fundamental Considerations for Transforming Conflict From Adversarial to Dialogic Relation

Abstract

The rapidly changing world we live in is fraught with increasing divisions and destructive conflict. Consequently, a resilient social fabric becomes crucial for people to feel included and benefit from their differences. The quality of relationships and the social environments, within which they are constantly being formed, are critical for successfully addressing divisive challenges and the destructive conflicts they might spawn. This chapter proposes a framework of three considerations for transforming conflict: 1. The mode of relationship- how the Self relates to the Other, 2. The understanding of conflict, and 3. The social environment and the role of leadership. Revisiting assumptions pertaining to these considerations can support a shift from the unit of the individual (typically characterizes Western cultural and scientific traditions) to the relational unit. This shift is viewed as a premise for long-term conflict transformation from adversarial interactions into dialogic relation. The latter is suggested as a constructive mode of relationship: a way of being with one another that diminishes destructive relationship while generating the conditions for benefiting and learning from conflict. The chapter concluded with an example of relational transformation as a combination of both micro efforts- consciousness raising to relational dynamics, and macro work—restructuring social context and advancing systemic changes in education.