Reconciliation: Conversations Beyond Cultural Boundaries

Conference at Adelaide, South Australia, 29 November - 1 December 2001

ABSTRACTS: PRACTICE THEORY STREAM

David Moore - When the Dispute's not the Primary Problem

Pat Marshall - abstract still awaited

Rick Sarre - ADR and non-adversarial regulation

Kathryn Vadura, Giancarlo Chiro, Peter Gale - Bridging the gap

Basil Varghese - abstract still awaited

Rosemary Lyster - Managing conflict: the Water Management Act 2000 (NSW)

People in conflict often take part in some form of dispute resolution. The process may be adversarial; it may be non-adversarial. Unfortunately, both options are sometimes the wrong medicine. In many cases of conflict, people don’t need so much to clarify the facts of any specific dispute as much as they need to acknowledge and transform the general conflict. In their recent book, Transforming Conflict, David Moore and fellow Transformative Justice Australia Director John McDonald introduced a theory of conflict transformation and a very practical guide to using “conferencing” to transform conflict in workplaces and other communities. In this conversation, we will visit some of the first principles of conflict transformation, and results from some of the very successful conferencing programs internationally.

David B. Moore

David Moore holds degrees in languages, political economy, and social theory. He taught at Melbourne University and Charles Sturt, where he coordinated Justice Studies and was centrally involved in the Australian pilot of community conferencing. David later worked in the Queensland Premier’s Department, before co-founding Transformative Justice Australia in 1995. David now lives with his family in Sydney, and works internationally promoting transformative justice.

Notwithstanding the push to ADR in some litigation circles and moves towards non-adversarial (civil and administrative) penalties in relation to regulatory and other offences, there appears to be no letting up in the desire for parties to have their day in court. Why might this be the case? What is it about legal formalism that makes it so enduring? This paper outlines the arguments why, sometimes, there may need to be a formal hearing in order to bring about satisfactory outcomes. It will also discuss recent moves to increase regulation of ADR in Australia.

Is Associate Professor of Law and Criminology, with the School of International Business, University of South Australia. Formerly (for 6 years) the Head of the School of Law and Legal Practice, University of SA, he

lectures in criminal justice and criminology, and business law for the University of South Australia, Graceland University (Iowa, USA) and at Hong Kong Baptist University. He is the Program Director, Bachelor of Management (Justice) at the University of South Australia, an Associate of the Australian Institute of Criminology, and, most recently, the author of (with John Tomaino, eds), Considering Crime and Justice: Realities and Responses, Adelaide: Crawford House Publishing, 2000.

Faciliated dialogue - paper to be presented by the conversation leaders to provide background to the discussion (paper circulated prior to session).

The definition of human security moves the debate about security beyond issues of war and peace. It is a human-centred idea rather than a state-centred one and includes issues of population, hunger, disease, social conflict and identity, international crime, and resource scarcity. The importance of this concept is evidenced by the fact that it has become a major component of Western foreign policy, as well as the subject of United Nations debate. In an era of globalisation, it is our belief that the concept is a valuable one offering important possibilities, not only for understanding international relations in the post-cold war world, but also as a basis for meaningful global change.

Biographies of Conversation Leaders

Dr Katharine Vadura, Dr Giancarlo Chiro, Dr Peter Gale

Dr Giancarlo Chiro
Senior Lecturer
School of International Studies
Magil Campus
St. Bernards Road
Magill 5072
8302 4396
giancarlo.chiro@unisa.edu.au

Education

1999 Doctor of Philosophy, University of Adelaide

1983 Graduate Diploma of Education, University of Adelaide

1976 B.A. (Hons) Flinders University.

Employment

2000 Senior Lecturer, School of International Studies, University of South Australia.

1992-1999 Lecturer B, University of South Australia

Research Grants and Consultancies

2001 - " The Idea of Human Security: A Conceptual Investigation"
Divisional Research Performance Funds, Uni SA.

1999-(with T. Nakayama, A. Scarino and V. Tudini) DEASS Teaching and Learning Grant for Integrating language resources on the World Wide Web in French, Italian and Japanese ($ 10,000).

Dr Peter Gale
Lecturer Australian Studies
Unaipon School
Division of Education, Arts and Social Sciences
Yungondi Building
City West Campus
University of South Australia
North Terrace
Adelaide 5000
8302 0564
peter.gale@unisa.edu.au

Education

1997 Doctor of Philosophy

1989-91 Flinders University of South Australia. Honours in Sociology, School of Social Sciences.

1985-87 Flinders University of South Australia. Bachelor of Arts

Employment

2001 - Senior Lecturer level C in Australian Studies, Unaipon School, University of South Australia

1999-2000 Lecturer level B in Australian Studies (0.8), Unaipon School, University of South Australia

1997-1998 Lecturer level B in Australian Studies (0.4), Unaipon School,

Research Grants and Consultancies
1996 Consultant to Council of Australian Post-graduates Association
2001 "The Idea of Human Security: A Conceptual Investigation" Divisional Research Performance Funds, Uni SA.
2001 Aboriginal Cultural Awareness Training for The Corporation of The City of Adelaide.

Fellowships
1997-98 Research Fellow of Centre for International and Cross-Cultural Studies

Dr Katharine Vadura

Lecturer
School of International Studies
University of South Australia
St Bernards Road
Magill SA 5072
8302 4868
Katharine.Vadura@unisa.edu.au

Education

2001 PhD, Macquarie University
1992 Master of Arts, Monash University
1990 Bachelor of Arts, University of Tasmania

Employment

2001 - Lecturer level B
School of International Studies, University of South Australia

Consultancy:

January - September 2000
“The Incorporation of Inter-cultural Perspectives and Pedagogy in Specific Disciplines”, Department of Education, Training and Employment, Adelaide, South Australia

Research Grants

2001 " The Idea of Human Security: A Conceptual Investigation"
Divisional Research Performance Funds, Uni SA.

Researcher in Residence: March - April 2001
Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Prague, Czech Republic
Project: ‘The fight against the new slave trade: the role of the OSCE’

Thomas Trenczek 

ADR and Restorative Justice Approaches under the Shadow under the (Criminal) Law (System) - The state of the art of  victim- offender- mediation (in Germany), the danger of cooptation and a reconsideration of law theory

Read the full paper - RTF format

The conceptual orientation and enforcement of victim-offender-mediation-programs (VOMP), in German: Täter-Opfer-Ausgleich (TOA), in the criminal and juvenile justice system  brings some dangers with it.  It hides the real nature and character of conflict mediation and it prevents elements of restorative justice from giving up their shadowy existence. The practice of VOMP in Germany in its majority is far from corresponding to the basic idea of mediation, conflict resolution and reconciliation as well as from the established professional VOMP-mediation standards. Most conspicuous are the multiple search for niches of acceptance and the adaptation to inappropriate ideas from the world of juvenile welfare and criminal law. In its conception TOA/VOMP may not be the ideal way to foster a restorative justice approach but for the treatment of conflicts it is a useful means in a continuum of possible steps. If victim-offender-mediation has an essential meaning, it is not because of the modest attempts at practical realization but because the connected ideas and vision make the essential tasks of law clear to us.

Basil Varghese - abstract still to come 

Rosemary Lyster

Managing conflict: the Water Management Act 2000 (NSW)

This conference paper deals with various provisions of the Water Management Act 2000 (NSW) (WMA) which institutionalise, or attempt to resolve, conflict over water. The basic premise adopted is that for water conflict to be resolved there should be adequate access to information, real opportunities to participate in decision-making processes and proper recourse to legal remedies. Conflict resolution and participatory theory are used to analyse the difficulties that are inherent in the Act and, where appropriate, to suggest a possible way forward.

Conflict is institutionalised by the Act with respect to the water management planning process. The Act brings together various parties which have been identified as interested and affected parties in the forum of a water management committee (WMA s. 13). The Act then describes the functions of the committees (WMA s. 14) and their procedures (Schedule 6, Part 2). The members of the committee are directed to ‘strive for consensus in reaching decisions’. Given the level of conflict inherent in the management committees, it is surprising that a process of facilitation or mediation of interests is not prescribed. Will the Chairperson be trained in conflict resolution skills? How will power imbalances within the committees be managed? What level of assistance will be given to members of the committee who struggle to digest the technical and scientific data with which they must deal. Is the taking of decisions by the casting of a majority vote a justifiable mechanism for resolving such conflict?

The paper goes on to suggest the use of mediation or facilitation to assist with the making of management plans in the interest of sustainable water management.

This conference is sponsored by the World Mediation Forum, the University of South Australia, and the Hawke Institute. 

 Related sites: Ausdispute | Conflict Management Research Group | AAPAE Conference

Disclaimer | Copyright (c) 2001 University of South Australia 

updated 03 May 2004