Conflict Dialogue : Working with Layers of Meaning for Productive Relationships

by Peter M. Kellett

• ISBN13: 9781412909303
• ISBN10: 1412909309
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2006-07-06
• Publisher: Sage Publications, Inc

Summary

Conflicts are more effectively managed if people understand the layers meaning in their conflicts and collaborate based on those meanings. In this book, author Peter M. Kellett analyzes and interprets real-life conflict stories as a way to create opportunities for more productive ways to navigate and resolve conflict.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	ix
Introduction	x
Part I: Conflict Stories, Dialogue, and Negotiation: Concepts and Techniques	1	(94)
1. Stories and the Meaning of Conflicts	3	(29)
What Makes a Good Conflict Story?	6	(8)
Why Stories Are Good Starting Points for Interpretive Research	14	(5)
The Challenges and Opportunities of Meaning for the Narrative Researcher	19	(7)
How to Collect a Good Story as Research Data	26	(3)
Lessons From the Field of Practice: An Exercise for Understanding and Showing the Meaning of Conflict	29	(1)
Conclusion	30	(2)
2. From Meaning—to Dialogic Negotiation to New Meaning	32	(29)
How to Use Research Techniques to Explicate the Meaning of Conflicts	35	(2)
Some Helpful Theoretical Background in Sources of Conflict	37	(4)
How Dialogue and Negotiation Build On and Create New Meanings in Conflicts	41	(13)
Skills for Energizing Conflict Communication Toward Dialogic Negotiation	54	(5)
Lessons From the Field of Practice: An Exercise for Further Analysis of Dialogic Negotiation	59	(1)
Conclusion	59	(2)
3. Language as the Fabric of Conflict—and the Foundation for Dialogic Negotiation	61	(34)
Language, Intensity, Energy, and Meaning	64	(7)
Metaphors, Imagery, and Symbolic Fabric of Conflict	71	(6)
Speech, Silence, and the Possibility for Dialogue	77	(6)
Dialogic Negotiation as Conversational Scripts	83	(4)
Lessons From the Field of Practice: Exercises for Exploring the Language of Conflict	87	(6)
Conclusion	93	(2)
Part II: Conflict Stories and the Negotiation of Relationship Dynamics	95	(48)
4. We Belong Together but We Still Have Conflict: Negotiating Synchronicity in Relationships	97	(24)
Relational Synchronicity and Conflict	99	(3)
Understanding and Negotiating Conflict as Clues to Nightmare Relationships	102	(3)
Understanding and Negotiating True Love: When Dreams Come True	105	(5)
Graveside Dialogues: Conversations I Should Have Had but Didn't	110	(9)
Lessons From the Field of Practice: Exploring Synchronicity and Symmetry in Your Conflicts	119	(1)
Conclusion	120	(1)
5. Where Do We Go From Here? Negotiating Through—and Learning From—Crossroads Moments in Relationships	121	(22)
Understanding the Meaning of Crossroads Moments	123	(1)
Relational Motifs: Look How Far We Have Come	124	(4)
Understanding and Negotiating Patterns of Light and Dark	128	(6)
Understanding and Negotiating the Meaning of Differences	134	(5)
Lessons From the Field of Practice: Working From Crossroads Moments to Where You Want to Go	139	(2)
Conclusion	141	(2)
Part III: Stories and the Psychodynamics of Conflict	143	(58)
6. What Is This Really About? Working With Displacement in Conflict Communication	145	(28)
Symbolic Displacement and the Meaning of Conflict	147	(5)
Dangers and Opportunities of Displacement and Conflict Dynamics	152	(2)
Forms and Functions of Symbolic Displacement in Conflict	154	(5)
Symbolic Displacement as a More or Less Conscious Stratagem	159	(5)
Symbolic Displacement as Conflicted Desire	164	(5)
Lessons From the Field of Practice: Exercises for Exploring Displacement	169	(2)
Conclusion	171	(2)
7. What Do We Represent to Each Other? Understanding Projection and Negotiating Conflict	173	(28)
Learning to Read Between the Projections	176	(6)
Projection and the Symbolic Relationship of People in Conflict	182	(5)
Projection and Conflict Discourse Patterns and Dynamics	187	(2)
The Connection Between Projection and Enemy Making and Blame	189	(2)
The Limiting Effects of Projection	191	(2)
From Projection to Integration: Negotiating New Meanings	193	(4)
Lessons From the Field of Practice: An Exercise for Exploring Projection in Conflict	197	(2)
Conclusion	199	(2)
Part IV: Using Story Dynamics to Understand and Negotiate Conflict	201	(60)
8. Heroes and Sheroes, Villains, Victims, and Fools: Using Story Archetypes to Understand Conflicts	203	(23)
Archetypes, Meaning, and the Construction of Conflict Stories	206	(4)
Some Cautionary Notes on Interpreting Archetypes	210	(1)
Questioning Archetypes in a Family Conflict	211	(4)
Impasses, Double Binds, and Conflict Archetypes	215	(5)
Using Three-Cornered Narratives to Open Up Story Possibilities	220	(3)
Lessons From the Field of Practice: An Exercise for Further Analysis of Narrative Archetypes	223	(1)
Conclusion	224	(2)
9. Learning to Tell the Next Chapter: Story Archetypes and the Negotiation and Mediation of New Meanings in Conflicts	226	(20)
Archetypes as Opportunities for Dialogue, Negotiation, and Mediation	228	(5)
Learning to Tell the Next Chapter Through Narrative Mediation	233	(7)
Lessons From the Field of Practice: An Exercise in Creative Scripting	240	(4)
Conclusion	244	(2)
10. Putting It All Together: From an Old Story—to a New Meaning—to a New Story	246	(15)
The Learning Cycle of Conflict Narratives	251	(9)
Conclusion	260	(1)
References	261	(8)
Index	269	(18)
About the Author	287