Mediation in political conflicts : soft power or counter culture? / edited by Jacques Faget.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

The metamorphosis of peacemaking / Jacques Faget -- Historical contribution to the ethical and methodological principles of mediation / Manel Canyameres and Anne Catherine Salberg -- Human rights and mediation : a much discussed but not resolved relationship : views on international cooperation / Viola Boelscher -- The poer of powerlessness : religious actors' peaceful mediation in the Basque conflict / Xabier Itcaina -- From 'charity' to 'mediation', from the Roman suburbs to UNESCO : the rise of the 'peace brokers' of the community of Sant'Egidio / Pierre Anouilh -- The Catholic Church as mediator in the Chiapas conflict / Pilar Gil Tebar -- Management of violence and mediation practices at urban interfaces in Northern Ireland / Elise Feron -- A bridge to lasting peace : post-conflict reconciliation and mediation in Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo / Aurelien Colson and Alain Pekar Lempereur -- Traditional approaches and their relevance to coping with contemporary conflicts : experiences from a border region in Africa / Monika M. Sommer.

This book is a vivid reader on the experiences of mediation throughout history and in many different regional, cultural, and legal contexts. For experts in the field of mediation and legal anthropology, it provides a series of fascinating case studies not previously reported on. For those not familiar with the field, it provides a window on an alternative possibility for peacemaking in political conflicts. Mediation in Political Conflicts is held together by the editor's introduction, which defines political mediation, the research methodologies employed, the relationship of mediation to participatory democracy, and the growth of mediation in the past 20 years. The chapters provide the anatomy of successful and unsuccessful mediations in contexts as widely diverse as the 30 Years War (1618-1648), which was ended following the intercession of the future Pope: Alexander VII. The book also examines the role of the Catholic Church in other mediations - in the Basque conflict, in Burundi, and in Chiapas - and looks at conflicts in Ethiopia, Northern Ireland, Central America, and Congo.