March 5: Tactics and Strategies

Carpenter and Kennedy. Managing Public Disputes. Ch. 10 "The Human Side"

This chapter focused on what the authors call "the human side" of negotiation. It brought up dilemmas that might be seen in negotiations due to what certain people bring to the table. For example, the authors talked about the problems that can be caused by differing levels of negotiating experience among the participants. There was a section in this chapter that talked about keeping participants at the table. There are several reasons why participants may want to leave negotiations, but the authors introduced methods of keeping everyone involved. For example, if participants feel that the process is going too slow, interveners can use the group to try to demonstrate the progress that the group has made and the importance of taking time in negotiating.
I really enjoyed this chapter because I thought it addressed a lot of difficult issues that might arise in negotiations. It gave a lot of guidance for how to deal with difficult people and how to convince people of the viability and importance of the process. This chapter reminded me of the article from the Boston Globe about pro-life and pro-choice representatives meeting together because it talked about finding out what words should be avoided during negotiations. In the article, the pro-choice group was offended by the word "murder" when talking about abortion. In this chapter, mobile home owners were offended by the use of the word "trailer" when talking about their homes. I think this chapter is a vital part of learning how to navigate through a negotiation process. Knowing all of the conflict theories and methodology for intervention is almost useless if the intervener fails to understand and address the human side of the conflict or dispute.