We invite proposals for chapters of a peer-reviewed edited book provisionally titled "The Language of Conflict Resolution". In its broadest sense, conflict is defined by the Danish Centre for Conflict Resolution as a disagreement that leads to tension within and between people. Conflict resolution is a young field of exploration and has included matters of conflict management, peace-building, third party mediation, peace-enforcement, etc. The task of conflict resolution focuses on assisting conflicted parties who perceive their situation as zero-sum (Self’s gain is Other’s loss) to move in the positive sum direction (Ramsbotham et al., 2011). Furthermore, Ramsbotham et al. (2011) propose that the contemporary approach should take a wider interpretation of the timing of intervention so that conflict resolution a) should begin before conflict has broken out, b) should be maintained in the heat of battle and be relevant for humanitarian intervention, and c) should continue into the post-settlement phase along with peace-building. The topic of conflict resolution is also of interest to linguistics. For example Taylor (2014) differentiates between linguistic analysis at the microlevel (the sequence of specific cues and responses) and macro-level (examination of how episodes of language escalate or de-escalate a situation).

We welcome both theoretical and empirical articles (from different methodological paradigms) that address language form, structure, meaning and usage within a broad range of conflict resolution endeavors, circumstances, and scenarios, including resolving workplace conflict, labor-management dispute, gender conflict, religious conflict, intergroup conflict, armed conflict, moral conflict, etc. Studies that combine linguistic analysis with knowledge from other disciplines, e.g. psychology or sociology, are also welcome. Contributions may explore or overlap with (but are not limited to) the following topics:

- Language in the resolution phases such as conflict management, arbitration, collaboration, compromise, negotiation, adjudication, etc.;
- Language in conflict negotiations and negotiation training;
- Promoting non-inflammatory and cooperative language;
- Language of trust development and trust repair in conflict resolution;
- Language barriers, translation and interpreting in conflict resolution;
- Language of mediation and third-party intervention;
- Language of reconciliation between historically bitter enemies;
- Expressing consensus regarding the problem at hand;
- The language in constructive controversy;
- Peace linguistics and conflict resolution;
- Describing conflicted parties’ conception of what a fair resolution would be;
- Expressing trust in the other party in the process of resolution;
- Persuading the other party of the trustworthiness of one party’s position.

Expressions of interest to contribute to the book should consist of a 250 word proposal, with the title of the chapter, a description of the study, five key words, a list of references and full contact details of the author(s). The chapter proposed can focus on a critical discussion of an issue, on clarifying concepts, on presenting empirical evidence from case-studies, etc., with adequate consideration of relevant theory. Proposals should be sent by 30th August 2024 to Dr. Pascal Hohaus at [email protected] and Dr. Violeta Stojičić at [email protected].

REFERENCES

Ramsbotham, O., Miall, H. & Woodhouse, T. (2011). Contemporary Conflict Resolution. Cambridge: Polity.

Taylor, Paul J. (2014). The Role of Language in Conflict and Conflict Resolution. In Thomas M. Holtgraves (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Language and Social Psychology. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 459-470.

Linguistic Field(s): Applied Linguistics
General Linguistics

Language Family(ies): Germanic