What is Conflict Transformation?
The term “conflict transformation” was coined by John Paul Lederach in the 1980s to distinguish his work from conflict resolution and conflict management, which groups he worked with saw as processes designed to control or eliminate conflict without necessarily addressing root causes.1
Lederach’s definition:
[The intention of] conflict transformation is to envision and respond to the ebb and flow of social conflict as life-giving opportunities for creating constructive change processes that reduce violence, increase justice in direct interaction and social structures, and respond to real-life problems in human relationships.2 3
- John Paul Lederach, The Little Book of Conflict Transformation (Good Books, 2003), 3-4.
- John Paul Lederach, The Little Book of Conflict Transformation (Good Books, 2003), 22.
- Social conflict at work is a “life-giving opportunity for creating constructive change” and should therefore not be avoided when observed or experienced (noting here as a bit of a note-to-self).