Abstract
This book spans four chapters with contributions from eight authors assessing interdisciplinary approaches to conflict and communication, ways that digital communication could break down walls of communication, men and the notion of masculinity during mediation communication and conflict of genre as presented through annual reports. The first section on interdisciplinary studies posits that how people think about communication shapes how they approach conflict, and vice versa. The authors argue that individuals hoping to transform conflict not only must apply the tools and strategies of their field but must also do so in the context of communicating to specific and often widely divergent audiences. Communicators are required to create documents that promote their work efficiently and safely while also addressing how they deal with conflict. The first chapter highlights research and practices in a range of contexts, including the roles of social media in war, of gender in alternative dispute resolution and of genre during times of industrial crisis. The second chapter presents effective communication as being fundamental in conflict resolution with conflicts often beginning after communication among argumentative parties has broken down. The focus for conflict resolution by scholars is depicted as encompassing behavioural aspects and through the proliferation of mobile-based digital technologies and their uses in social change processes. The authors posit that a new scholarly discourse is slowly emerging in which digital technology can highlight the structural aspects of conflict. The chapter uses a case study of Harass Map in Egypt, a nongovernmental organisation (NGO) focused on changing attitudes towards and preventing gender-based violence, and a framework for assessing digital tool use. The third chapter discusses how mediation affects male participants. It argues that the mediation process itself may alienate, intimidate or offend participants by virtue of their gender identity, regardless of the gender of the mediator(s). The article concludes by providing insights and tactics for mediators who wish to encourage male participants to communicate more actively, fully and openly in order to conclude the mediation process with a greater sense of fairness. The final fourth chapter explores the annual report genre in the context of scholars in conflict management referring to it as ‘intrapersonal conflict’ (p. 60) contrasted to scholars in the field of communication’s reference to this as ‘cognitive dissonance’ (p. 57). The authors utilise annual reports from Ford and Toyota to explore automobile companies’ use of discourse in a genre that encompasses multiple and diverse stakeholders. They argue that enhancements to this genre to reflect an awareness of readers’ inner tensions towards the company, or to temporarily increase readers’ doubts concerning whether to remain a customer, may improve transparency, enhance trust and strengthen the bond between the organisation and its stakeholders. This book provides prompts to the reader that query the role of communication in conflict from varied but relevant perspectives with examples that are topical and interesting. The differing journeys undertaken by the authors are woven coherently together through the core themes being explored in a cogent interdisciplinary manner to deliver a book that has wide appeal.