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International Online Training Program On Intractable Conflict |
Conflict Research Consortium, University of Colorado, USA |
All societies have a variety of traditional ways of managing and resolving conflict. These may be informal or formal. Respected elders within a family, clan, religious group, or community may help the people in conflict solve the problem themselves, or may impose a solution which is seen to be legitimate because of the elder's wisdom and/or position. Alternatively, formal systems of courts and administrative decision making bodies may be established to hear and decide a variety of cases.
However, in the case of wars or other major social and political upheavals, the traditional dispute resolution mechanisms may not function effectively or be in existence at all. As the former Soviet states and Warsaw pact countries made the transition from communism to democracy, for example, they disbanded the old court systems and administrative dispute resolution mechanisms, and had to replace them with new institutions. This process has not been quick or easy, however, and in the interim, many disputes have gone unresolved.
Sometimes, traditional institutions remain in place, but they lose their legitimacy. People may stop using the traditional systems, or they may try them, but when they are displeased with the outcome, they may defy it, trying to impose a more desirable outcome by force.
Copyright ©1998 Conflict Research Consortium -- Contact: crc@colorado.edu