The Conflict Paradox

Chapter NineThe Conflict DialecticBetter Paradoxes, Better Conflict

Conflict resolution is dialectics as a practice.

Ken Cloke, The Dance of Opposites

In this book, I have discussed seven key paradoxes that collectively define the challenge conflict presents to interveners and disputants. Three things may have become clear as you were reading about this:

• This is not an exclusive list.
• There is considerable overlap among the paradoxes.
• The underlying approach used in considering these seeming contradictions is itself an important part of the message of this book.

In this chapter, I discuss paradox as a method and consider several additional paradoxes that conflict presents. In order to examine the overlap and synergies among the key paradoxes, ...