Sguaitamatti
Fakultäten » Philosophische Fakultät » Philosophisches Seminar » Allgemein » Prof. Dr. Urs Marti » Sguaitamatti
Current research project
| Title / Titel | On the Promises of Mediation: Power and Values in Mediation | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract (PDF, 14 KB) | |||
| Summary / Zusammenfassung | Mediation efforts became more important during the 1990s. Today, about half of all political crises around the world are mediated. Mediation increases the effectiveness of peace negotiations both by finding immediate solutions as well as by reducing tensions in the long-term. The field of mediation research is dominated by the desire to improve the effectiveness of this seemingly powerful tool. Most research thus revolves around the factors for success and failure of mediation engagements. This thesis shifts the focus to a more fundamental reflection on the normative underpinnings of the various understandings of mediation. The question shall not primarily be “how do we best mediate” or “what are the risks involved in mediation”; rather, our guiding question is: what is “good” about mediation and from whose perspective? We answer this question by taking into account the way in which mediation deals with normative issues. The two following main questions will be dealt with: a) To what extent does mediation carry substantial values, i.e. work towards the implementation of a specific vision of society? With regard to the substance-challenge, practitioners are faced with the so called Peace vs. Justice Dilemma, which describes the mediators’ preference for peace-related values over justice. b) To what extent can mediation be understood as a universal process to bridge or even integrate diverging visions of a just society? If mediators decide to promote “justice”, the question arises which or whose justice to promote. Mediators may thereby withdraw to supposedly universally valid procedural principles or invoke universally valid principles of justice and delegate parts of the dispute to (international) courts. |
||
| Keywords / Suchbegriffe | Mediation, Norms, Justice, Peace, Conflict, Values, political philosophy, human rights, power | ||
| Project leadership and contacts / Projektleitung und Kontakte |
|
||
| Funding source(s) / Unterstützt durch |
No project-specific funding |
||
| Duration of Project / Projektdauer | Dec 2009 to Dec 2012 |