The Handbook of Conflict Resolution: Theory and Practice, 3rd Edition

CHAPTER SIX

POWER AND CONFLICT

Peter T. Coleman

In the Sonagachi red-light district in Calcutta, India, prostitutes have organized to mobilize against AIDS, altering the power structure by challenging any pimp or madam who would insist on a customer’s right to sex without a condom.

At a company in the United States, in an attempt to avoid layoffs, the great majority of employees agreed to cut their own salaries by 20 percent; the CEO rejected the offer and chose instead to fire 20 percent of the workforce, stating that “it was very important that management’s prerogative to manage as it saw fit not be compromised by sentimental human considerations” (Harvey, 1989, p. 275).

In the wilds of Wyoming, groups of ranchers and environmentalists, historically ...