For eight years, the San Francisco neighborhood of Bernal Heights was mired in controversy. Traditionally a working-class neighborhood known for political activism and attention to community concerns, Bernal housed a diverse population of Latino, Filipino, and European heritage. The branch library, beloved in the community, was being renovated, raising the issue of whether to restore or paint over a thirty-year-old mural on its exterior wall. To some of the residents the artwork represented their culture and their entitlement to live on the hill. To others, the mural blighted a beautiful building. To resolve this seemingly intractable conflict, area officials convened a mediation led by Roy, an experienced mediator and Bernal resident. The group, which reflected the wide range of ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds in the community, ultimately came to a strong consensus, resulting in the reinterpretation of the artwork to reflect changing times and to honor the full population of the neighborhood. The Bernal Story recounts in detail how the process was designed, who took part, how the group of twelve community representatives came to a consensus, and how that agreement was carried into the larger community and implemented. Roy's firsthand account offers an essential tool for training community leaders and professional mediators, a valuable case history for use in sociology and conflict resolution courses, and a compelling narrative.

Fascinating in its combination of personal stories and analytical insights, "Some Trouble with Cows" will help students of conflict understand how a seemingly irrational and archaic riot becomes a means for renegotiating the distribution of power and rights in a small community.Using first-person accounts of Hindus and Muslims in a remote Bangladeshi village, Beth Roy evocatively describes and analyzes a large-scale riot that profoundly altered life in the area in the 1950s. She provides a rare glimpse into the hearts and minds of the participants and their families, while touching on a range of broader issues that are vital to the sociology of communities in conflict: the changing meaning of "community"; the impact of "the state" on local society; the nature of "memory"; and the force of "neighborly enmity" in reshaping power relationships during periods of change.Roy's findings illustrate important theoretical issues in psychology and sociology, and her conclusions will greatly interest students of ethnic/race relations, conflict resolution, the sociology of violence, agrarian society, and South Asia.

At its core, the field of conflict resolution is about relationships and ways of approaching methods for problem solving. These relationships and approaches vary greatly depending on the individual, society, and historical background. Cultural perspective is thus fundamental to any dispute intervention. ""Re-Centering Culture and Knowledge in Conflict Resolution Practice"" is a collection of essays by scholars and practitioners of conflict resolution and grassroots members of communities whose contributions are not commonly recognized.The volume offers a sampling of the cultural voices essential to effective practice yet often considered marginal in the discourse of conflict resolution. The authors explore the role of culture, race, and oppression in resolving disputes. Drawing on firsthand experience and sound research, the authors address such issues as culturally sensitive mediation practices, the diversity of perspectives in conflict resolution literature, and power dynamics. The first anthology of its kind, this book combines personal narratives with formal scholarship. By melding these varied approaches, the authors seek to inspire activism for social justice in today's multicultural society.

Beyond Equity and Inclusion in Conflict Resolution: Recentering the Profession illustrates how racism has informed the field of conflict resolution and its allied professions. Useful for any field that recruits, standardizes, or "professionalizes" its adherents, this volume addresses how individuals, organizations, and institutions shape and have been shaped by racist ideas and practices. These ideas and practices, embedded in the fabric of our country, are exposed in this historic moment and held up to the light for close examination. In addition to a critique of the status quo, Beyond Equity and Inclusion in Conflict Resolution casts an eye toward creating a just and equitable future for the field. Narratives, interviews, poems, and essays from activists, practitioners, and scholars who represent diverse constituencies marry theory and practice to encourage, stimulate, and motivate colleagues to expand the boundaries for our field and our world.

Beyond Equity and Inclusion in Conflict Resolution: Recentering the Profession illustrates how racism has informed the field of conflict resolution and its allied professions. Useful for any field that recruits, standardizes, or "professionalizes" its adherents, this volume addresses how individuals, organizations, and institutions shape and have been shaped by racist ideas and practices. These ideas and practices, embedded in the fabric of our country, are exposed in this historic moment and held up to the light for close examination. In addition to a critique of the status quo, Beyond Equity and Inclusion in Conflict Resolution casts an eye toward creating a just and equitable future for the field. Narratives, interviews, poems, and essays from activists, practitioners, and scholars who represent diverse constituencies marry theory and practice to encourage, stimulate, and motivate colleagues to expand the boundaries for our field and our world.

When four New York City police officers killed Amadou Diallo in 1999, the forty-one shots they fired echoed loudly across the nation. In death, Diallo joined a long list of young men of color killed by police fire in cities and towns all across America. Through innuendos of criminality, many of these victims could be discredited and, by implication, held responsible for their own deaths. But Diallo was an innocent, a young West African immigrant doing nothing more suspicious than returning home to his Bronx apartment after working hard all day in the city. Protesters took to the streets, successfully demanding that the four white officers be brought to trial. When the officers were acquitted, however, horrified onlookers of all races and ethnicities despaired of justice. In ""41 Shots...and Counting"", Beth Roy offers an oral history of Diallo's death. Through interviews with members of the community, with police officers and lawyers, with government officials and mothers of young men in jeopardy, the book traces the political and racial dynamics that placed the officers outside Diallo's house that night, their fingers on symbolic as well as actual triggers. With lucid analysis, Roy explores events in the courtroom, in city hall, in the streets, and in the police precinct, revealing the interlacing conflict dynamics. ""41 Shots...and Counting"" allows the reader to consider the implications of the Diallo case for our national discourses on politics, race, class, crime, and social justice.

At its core, the field of conflict resolution is about relationships and ways of approaching methods for problem solving. These relationships and approaches vary greatly depending on the individual, society, and historical background. Cultural perspective is thus fundamental to any dispute intervention. ""Re-Centering Culture and Knowledge in Conflict Resolution Practice"" is a collection of essays by scholars and practitioners of conflict resolution and grassroots members of communities whose contributions are not commonly recognized.The volume offers a sampling of the cultural voices essential to effective practice yet often considered marginal in the discourse of conflict resolution. The authors explore the role of culture, race, and oppression in resolving disputes. Drawing on firsthand experience and sound research, the authors address such issues as culturally sensitive mediation practices, the diversity of perspectives in conflict resolution literature, and power dynamics. The first anthology of its kind, this book combines personal narratives with formal scholarship. By melding these varied approaches, the authors seek to inspire activism for social justice in today's multicultural society.