Community mediation as social intervention

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Practice Note: Community Mediation as Social Intervention Tiago Neves

Rather than understanding mediation solely as an attempt at problem solving between two individuals, this article examines the possibility of mediation as a social intervention designed to bring systemic change. If the mediation process is to have broader societal impact, one must address the questions this raises related to the mediator’s role and neutrality. This article uses the case study of mediation in Brazil as a basis to launch the discussion.

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an mediation be conceived of as a social intervention device aimed at promotion of social justice? A positive answer to this question requires that at least two issues be satisfactorily dealt with. One is the combination of the mediator’s principles of neutrality and impartiality with the goal of bringing about social change oriented to increased social justice. The other is articulation of individual and collective change. This refers to the problem of knowing how mediation of (mostly) individual conflicts can generate collective change, and also knowing how to approach conflict not only in its individuality but also in its structural features. This article addresses both issues. It does so from a particular perspective: that of an ongoing community mediation project in a country with little tradition of mediation. As such, it does not aim to furnish any kind of definitive answers. It does aim, however, at discussing some of the classic tenets of mediation in their relationship with social justice and social change. NOTE: This article is presented within the framework of the project Mediação na Comunidade, sponsored by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia.

CONFLICT RESOLUTION QUARTERLY, vol. 26, no. 4, Summer 2009 © Wiley Periodicals, Inc. and the Association for Conflict Resolution • DOI: 10.1002/crq.244

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