Peter Coleman

Assistant Professor of Psychology and Education at Teachers College, Columbia University, and Director of the International Center for Cooperation and Conflict Resolution at Columbia

Interviewed by Julian Portilla, 2003

A:...Lederarch says this is that often times it's going to take you as long to get out of a conflict as it took to get into it. And that we're not mindful of that in our strategies. We think, "We only live 70 years. So that's the best we can do," and we think within that scope of time. I think that that often does us a disservice. If we think about what we are able to do in the context of the scope of the conflict that could go on for generations, what is it we can do that is constructive at this stage given the likelihood that this is going to continue. I think that's a better frame than to think about solving the conflict. And that's what I think Heidi and Guy's constructive confrontation model which is really about

process and not outcome orientation is a really useful heuristic because it's really about let's find a way just to relate so that we don't kill each other and that it's fairly morally or ethically sound, just to move forward. I think that's a very important decision point.

Q: So I'm sure all interveners try to think about what's going to be most useful at the stage the conflict is in now. But maybe they don't think of it in a generational scope, is that the difference?

A: I think so, I think we don't tend to think like that, it's too hard to think like that, but I think it is critical. Lederach cites some kind of Indian Nation perspective of seven generations before and after, the decision we make now was affected by seven generations and is about to affect seven generations and that's a good scope. Particularly for these kinds of national-level issues or large inter-group issues. And just look at race relations in this country. South Africans are great at coming to us and saying you guys are still a mess, what are you doing telling us what to do? And they're right. Our race relations have a long history and a long way to go before there is any kind of sense of parity or repair.

Q: Elise Boulding mentions something called the 200-year present, which is basically the seven generations thesis, that the people that are alive now know people as far back as 100 years or more, and the people who are younger than you will be known by people 100 years from now. That same idea of transference, that sort of ripple effect.

A: That's interesting. That's very interesting.