Symposia

Fall 2012 Symposium: “Negotiating the Extremes: Impossible Political Dialogues in the 21st Century”

Monday, November 5, 2012

Moot Court Room

In Getting to Yes, the authors praise democracy for “surfacing rather than suppressing conflict.” Such a political system, the authors suggest, allows for productive interest-based bargaining. As the tumultuous 2012 presidential election approaches, one wonders: Is that rosy depiction of democracy still accurate? Do the negotiation strategies endorsed in Getting to Yes and other seminal ADR texts have relevance to modern politicians trying to solve public conflicts—and get elected?

We will interrogate those questions in the Journal of Conflict Resolution‘s Annual Symposium, “Negotiating the Extremes: Impossible Political Dialogues in the 21st Century.” The conference will examine the possibilities for conversation, negotiation and dispute resolution within an increasingly polarized political climate. We will bring together domestic and international experts on elections, democratic dialogue, negotiation and legislation, and modern media.

The timing of our Symposium—the day before the 2012 election—is intentional: a polarized and political moment in our nation’s history. This event offers the opportunity for scholars and practitioners of dispute resolution to consider the question: What does the ADR community have to contribute to dialogue in the public sphere?

Register online at http://goo.gl/bHU7u — Symposium papers will be published by the Journal. The event is free and open to the public.

Past Symposia