DEPARTMENT OF PHILOSOPHY AND SOCIOLOGY OF POLITICS
FACULTY OF POLITICAL SCIENCE AT MARIA CURIE-SKŁODOWSKA UNIVERSITY IN LUBLIN, POLAND
kindly invite you to
the 1st International Scientific Conference
in the series "Culture of Conflict Versus Culture of Consensus"
entitled
CONFLICTS, MEDIATION AND NEGOTIATIONS
IN THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD
which will take place on 21 - 22 May in Lublin
Honorary Patronage of
THE POLISH MEDIATION CENTRE
In the human awareness and mentality there are established views, attitudes, beliefs and approaches to the issue of preventing and dealing with social disputes and conflicts. They are manifested in the following three opinions: first, in crisis situations fight is the only effective way; second, conflict is an inevitable element of human life; and third, an individual is not able to prevent conflict. These beliefs considered jointly lead to a pessimistic conclusion that conflicts existing in the social life are the only way to cope with differences. There is a persistent view that conflicts are commonly accepted, unavoidable and significant in a sense that they are an element of social reality. Nevertheless, destructive relations between individuals are not prevalent in the contemporary society and severe conflicts are not so frequent.
Inevitability of social conflicts is balanced by the civilized way of their resolution. Analysing the history of various communities, we may come to the conclusion that a contemporary human is exposed to danger which has been provoked by him/herself. It results from the tradition of involvement in destructive conflicts when differences emerge between two people, groups or nations. Therefore, a human being faces a serious challenge whose essence is to change the culture of social conflicts.
The humanity goes through another major transformation started in the Renaissance period and comparable to the agricultural revolution 10 thousand years ago. This is the revolution of knowledge comprising the accomplishments of the Renaissance epoch, the Industrial Revolution and the Information Age. Knowledge is not a constant reserve, it is divisible. What is more, cooperation is necessary to achieve better results in shorter time. Moreover, knowledge is a new form of power which, on the one hand, can be used to subordinate some people to other, but, on the other hand, can liberate and create a chance for economic independence and autonomy. Due to a high degree of professionalization and specialization, scientific cooperation between various research teams is indispensable, and competition is determined by the time factor. This “cooperation philosophy” results in increased knowledge, so there are more resources to share. A disadvantage of this process is the emergence of the one-sided benefit mentality which presumes that only one party can win. The knowledge revolution has led to aggravation of the conflict logic, and thus to risk of failure by both parties. However, it is probable that since both parties can lose, both can also win. Hence, mutual benefit consists in the fact that the parties actually do not lose what they could lose as a result of mutual failure. The mutual benefit logic is not tantamount to removal of conflicts with the zero outcome, but it increases the probability of choosing peaceful methods as a way of solving a conflict, instead of using force and striving to neutralize or even eliminate the opponent. Thus, the beginning of the 21st country gave the humanity the greatest chance to create co-culture based on coexistence, cooperation and constructive conflict.
The aim of the conference is to discuss the logic of interpersonal conflict dynamics, with special attention to resolution and settlement of conflicts. The focus is on such conflicts where all parties can be the winners and the final result is a new and better quality, and on such social space where different views can coexist according to the principle of mutual understanding and respect.
The current knowledge of social conflicts makes practical use of the existing scientific output in sociology of politics, sociology of conflict, sociology of organization and management, social psychology, as well as philosophy, ethics and law in order to shape the social reality through conflict, turning it into a strategy which brings positive results.
We invite you to the forum for exchange of thoughts and observations, as well as the ways of coping with difficult situations, crises and conflicts in relations of the interpersonal, micro-social and macro-social character. We invite practitioners and theoreticians to discuss and share knowledge, scientific achievements and professional experience regarding the aforementioned problem of the transition from the culture of conflict to the culture of consensus. We suggest that the discussion could focus on the following issues:
1. theoretical approach to the issues of conflicts, mediation and negotiations
2. conflicts, mediation and negotiations from the perspective of law
3. practice of conflicts, mediation and negotiations in Poland and worldwide
4. conflicts, mediation and negotiations in the social awareness and mentality
5. communication in the process of conflicts, mediation and negotiations
We invite you to take part in the mediation workshop led by instructors from the Polish Mediation Centre.
The organisers undertake to publish your papers in the form of scientific articles in a joint monograph or a scientific magazine after reception of positive reviews.
We are waiting for your application with the title and abstract of your paper until 26th of April. The conference fee is 400 PLN including accommodation costs.
We provide all information about the conference by e-mail: conflictus2015@gmail.com
Conference website www.facebook.com/conflictus2015