Article published in:
Dialogue in institutional settingsEdited by Franca Orletti and Letizia Caronia
[Language and Dialogue 9:1] 2019
► pp. 84–105
Dialogical power negotiations in conflict mediation
Emma van Bijnen | Università della Svizzera italiana (Switzerland)
In this study, mediator – party power dynamics in workplace disputes mediation dialogues are examined. Adopting
Gramsci’s concept of hegemony (e.g. 2005) and Foucault′s notion that power is not fixed
in dialogues, but constantly negotiated by participants (e.g. Foucault 1980), the
analyses show that the power dynamics shift in the mediation setting when mediators subordinate dominant parties and enforce their
own formalized power as procedural guides to design (Aakhus 2003, 2007) a favorable context for conflict resolution. When their procedural power is threatened, mediators
may use specific devices in their interventions that correlate with the four devices – interruption, enforcing explicitness, topic
control, and formulation – Fairclough (1989, 135–137) states can be used by dominant
participants to control weaker parties in dialogues.
Keywords: conflict mediation, power asymmetry, power negotiation, context design, workplace disputes, four devices
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.Power, institutionalized discourse, and power asymmetries
- 2.1Power
- 2.2Institutionalized discourse and power asymmetries
- 2.3Types of power asymmetries in workplace disputes
- 2.3.1Party versus party negotiation
- 2.3.2Party versus mediator (re)negotiation
- 3.The four devices
- 4.Data: Collection and treatment
- 5.Case context
- 5.1New board and old church
- 5.2New laws and old habits
- 6.Power device analyses
- 6.1Power negotiations
- 6.2Power device combinations
- 7.Conclusion
- Notes
-
References
Published online: 05 July 2019
https://doi.org/10.1075/ld.00033.bij
https://doi.org/10.1075/ld.00033.bij
References
Aakhus, Mark
Adrian, Lin and Solfrid Mykland
Burr, Anne M.
Carneiro, Davide, Marco Gomes, Paulo Novais and José Neves
Davis, Albie M. and Richard A. Salem
Deason, Ellen E.
Foucault, Michel
Freedman, Lawrence R. and Michael L. Prigoff
Garcia, Angela C.
Gerami, Arghavan
Gewurz, Ilan G.
Gramsci, Antonio
Greco Morasso, Sara
Heritage, John and Paul Drew
Hughes, Scott H.
Jacobs, Scott
Jacobs, Scott and Mark Aakhus
Janier, Mathilde and Chris Reed
Jefferson, Gail
Kelly, Joan B.
Moore, Christopher
Neumann, Diane
Perelman, Chaim
Perelman, Chaim and Lucie Olbrechts-Tyteca
Reboul, Anne and Jacques Moeschler
Rifkin, Janet, Jonathan Millen and Sara Cobb
Silberman, Linda and Andrew Schepard
Van Bijnen, Emma and Sara Greco
Van Eemeren, Frans H., Rob Grootendorst, Sally Jackson and Scott Jacobs
Vasilyeva, Alena L.
Wiseman, Vivian and Jean Poitras