Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

The discipline of the arts has much to contribute to the field of conflict resolution. This article broadly investigates how artistic engagement facilitates transformative learning and the development of skills and capacities for more constructive engagement with conflict. Many scholar practitioners have acknowledged the widespread use of arts-based approaches to peacebuilding and conflict resolution. While it is important to know what forms of arts-based approaches are utilized today, more empirical work is needed to explain and evaluate how engagement with the arts could foster cooperative relationships and more constructive engagement with conflict even in contexts of intractable conflict. An initial review of the literature, alongside examples of practice and personal reflections, highlights the restorative and transformative power of the arts to foster new perspectives, enhanced capacities for more constructive engagement with conflict, and ultimately, cooperative relationships.

Keywords

arts-based approaches transformative learning conflict resolution

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Barrett

F. J.

(1998). Coda—Creativity and improvisation in jazz and organizations: Implications for organizational learning. Organization Science, 9, 605–622. doi:10.1287/orsc.9.5.605

Batson

C. D.

Ahmad

N. Y.

(2009). Using empathy to improve intergroup attitudes and relations. Social Issues and Policy Review, 3, 141–177. doi:10.1111/j.1751-2409.2009.01013.x

Beausoleil

LeBaron

(2013). What moves us: Dance and neuroscience implications for conflict approaches. Conflict Resolution Quarterly, 31, 133–158. doi:10.1002/crq.21086

Bergh

Sloboda

(2010). Music and art in conflict transformation: A review. Music and Arts in Action, 2, 2–18. Retrieved from http://www.musicandartsinaction.net/index.php/maia/article/view/conflicttransformation/45

Brookfield

(2005). The power of critical theory: Liberating adult learning and teaching. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Brookfield

Holst

J. D.

(2011). Radicalizing learning: Adult education for a just world. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Cohen

(2006). Creative approaches to reconciliation. In Fitzduff

Stout

C. E.

(Eds.), The psychology of resolving global conflicts, Volume 3: Interventions (pp. 69–102). Westport, CT: Praeger.

Coleman

P. T.

(2011a). The five percent: Finding solutions to seemingly impossible conflicts. New York, NY: Public Affairs.

Coleman

P. T.

(2011b, 7 27). Are peacemakers helping or harming? Conflict resolution and the science-practice gap [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/peter-t-coleman-phd/are-peacemakers-helping-o_b_867967.html

10.

Coleman

P. T.

(2014). Intractable conflict. In Coleman

P. T.

Deutsch

Marcus

(Eds.), Handbook of conflict resolution: Theory and practice (pp. 708–744). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

11.

Coleman

P. T.

Deutsch

(2014). Some guidelines for developing a creative approach to conflict. In Coleman

P. T.

Deutsch

Marcus

(Eds.), Handbook of conflict resolution: Theory and practice (pp. 478–489). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

12.

Coleman

P. T.

Lowe

J. K.

(2007). Conflict, identity, and resilience: Negotiating collective identities within the Israeli and Palestinian diasporas. Conflict Resolution Quarterly, 24, 377–412. doi:10.1002/crq.181

13.

Coleman

P. T.

Mazzaro

Ben-Yehuda

Redding

Burns

Bartoli

… Yee

. (2014). Resonance in complex social systems. Manuscript in preparation.

14.

Cranton

(2006). Understanding and promoting transformative learning: A guide for educators of adults (2nd ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

15.

Cranton

Taylor

E. W.

(2012). Transformative learning theory: Seeking a more unified theory. In Taylor

E. W.

Cranton

(Eds.), The handbook of transformative learning: Theory, research, and practice (pp. 3–20). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

16.

Deutsch

(2014). Cooperation, competition, and conflict. In Coleman

P. T.

Deutsch

Marcus

(Eds.), Handbook of conflict resolution: Theory and practice (pp. 3–28). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

17.

Dewey

(1934). Art as experience. New York, NY: Minton, Balch.

18.

Dirkx

J. M.

(2001a). The power of feelings: Emotion, imagination, and the construction of meaning in adult learning. New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, 2001, 63–72. doi:10.1002/ace.9

19.

Dirkx

J. M.

(2001b). Images, transformative learning and the work of soul. Adult learning, 12, 15–16. doi:10.1177/104515950101200306

20.

Dirkx

J. M.

(2006). Engaging emotions in adult learning: A Jungian perspective on emotion and transformative learning. New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, 2006, 15–26. doi:10.1002/ace.204

21.

Dirkx

J. M.

(2012). Nurturing soul work: A Jungian approach to transformative learning. In Taylor

E. W.

Cranton

(Eds.), The handbook of transformative learning: Theory, research, and practice (pp. 116–130). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

22.

Fisher

(2014). Intergroup conflict. In Coleman

P. T.

Deutsch

Marcus

(Eds.), Handbook of conflict resolution: Theory and practice (pp. 230–252). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

23.

Goodman

Ellinger

Mount

(2014, 10 23–26). Experiential session: Transformative learning through fluid sculpture. In Nicolaides

Holt

(Eds.), Spaces of transformation and transformation of space (pp. 659–661). Workshop conducted at the XI International Transformative Learning Conference, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY.

24.

Greene

(1995). Releasing the imagination: Essays on education, the arts, and social change. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

25.

Greene

(2001). Variations on a blue guitar: The Lincoln Center Institute lectures on aesthetic education. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.

26.

Hawes

D. L.

(2007a). Crucial narratives: Performance art and peace building. International Journal of Peace Studies, 12, 17. Retrieved from http://www.gmu.edu/programs/icar/ijps/vol12_2/cover12_2.htm.

27.

Hawes

D. L.

(2007b). Why art matters: How performance art interventions contribute to the field of conflict resolution. Doctoral dissertation, George Mason University. Retrieved from http://scar.gmu.edu/doctoral-dissertation/why-art-matters-how-performance-art-interventions-contribute-field-of-conflict.

28.

Hayes

Yorks

(2007). Lessons from the lessons learned: Arts change the world when …. New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, 2007, 89–98. doi:10.1002/ace.279

29.

Heifetz

(1994). Leadership without easy answers. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

30.

Heifetz

Grashow

Linsky

(2009). The practice of adaptive leadership: Tools and tactics for changing your organization and the world. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Press.

31.

Hoggan

Simpson

Stuckey

(Eds.). (2009). Creative expression in transformative learning: Tools and techniques for educators of adults. Malabar, FL: Krieger.

32.

Hove

M. J.

Risen

J. L.

(2009). It’s all in the timing: Interpersonal synchrony increases affiliation. Social Cognition, 27, 949–960. doi:10.1521/soco.2009.27.6.949

33.

Keller

P. E.

Novembre

Hove

M. J.

(2014). Rhythm in joint action: Psychological and neurophysiological mechanisms for real-time interpersonal coordination. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 369, 20130394–20140494. doi:10.1098/rstb.2013.0394

34.

Koelsch

(2013). From social contact to social cohesion—The 7 Cs. Music and Medicine, 5, 204–209. doi:10.1177/1943862113508588

35.

Lawrence

R. L.

(2005). Knowledge construction as contested terrain: Adult learning through artistic expression. New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, 2005, 3–11. doi:10.1002/ace.184

36.

Lawrence

R. L.

(2008). Powerful feelings: Exploring the affective domain of informal and arts-based learning. New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, 2008, 65–77. doi:10.1002/ace.317

37.

LeBaron

(2014). The alchemy of change: Cultural fluency in conflict resolution. In Coleman

P. T.

Deutsch

Marcus

(Eds.), Handbook of conflict resolution: Theory and practice (pp. 581–603). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

38.

LeBaron

MacLeod

Acland

(Eds.). (2013). The choreography of resolution: Conflict, movement and neuroscience. Chicago, IL: American Bar Association.

39.

Liebmann

(1996). Arts approaches to conflict. London, England: Jessica Kingsley.

40.

Marcic

(2014, 10 23–26). Musicals as problem solving tools in transformative learning. In Nicolaides

Holt

(Eds.), Spaces of transformation and transformation of space (p. 1010). Workshop conducted at the XI International Transformative Learning Conference, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY.

41.

Marcuse

(1978). The aesthetic dimension: Toward a critique of Marxist aesthetics. Boston, MA: Beacon Press.

42.

Mezirow

(2012). Learning to think like an adult. In Taylor

E. W.

Cranton

(Eds.), The handbook of transformative learning: Theory, research, and practice (pp. 73–95). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass (Reprinted from Learning as transformation: Critical perspectives on a theory in progress, 3–33, 2000).

43.

Miles

L. K.

Lumsden

Richardson

M. J.

Macrae

C. N.

(2011). Do birds of a feather move together? Group membership and behavioral synchrony. Experimental Brain Research, 211, 495–503.

44.

Nicolaides

Holt

(Eds.). (2014). Spaces of transformation and transformation of space. Proceedings of the XI International Transformative Learning Conference Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY.

45.

Pettigrew

T. F.

Tropp

L. R.

(2008). How does intergroup contact reduce prejudice? Meta-analytic tests of three mediators. European Journal of Social Psychology, 38, 922–934. doi:10.1002/ejsp.504

46.

Picher

M. C.

(2007). Democratic process and the theater of the oppressed. New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, 2007, 79–88. doi:10.1002/ace.278

47.

Schütz

(1951). Making music together: A study in social relationship. Social Research, 18, 76–97.

48.

Skyllstad

(1997). Music in conflict management—A multicultural approach. International Journal of Music Education, 1, 73–80. doi:10.1177/025576149702900111

49.

Skyllstad

(2000). Creating a culture of peace: The performing arts in interethnic negotiations. Retrieved from http://www.immi.se/intercultural/nr4/skyllstad.htm

50.

Spychiger

Patry

J. L.

Lauper

Zimmermann

Weber

(1993). Does more music teaching lead to a better social climate? In Olechowski

Svik

(Eds.), Experimental research in teaching and learning (pp. 322–336). Bern, Switzerland: Peter Lang.

51.

Sweet

(2010, 9). The innovators: Viola Spolin. Dramatics Magazine. Educational Theater Association. Retrieved from http://www.spolin.com/?page_id=1384

52.

Tyler

J. A.

(2014, 10 23–26). From spoke to hub: Transforming organization meaning perspectives with story-art. In Nicolaides

Holt

(Eds.), Spaces of transformation and transformation of space (pp. 420–426). Workshop conducted at the XI International Transformative Learning Conference, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY.

53.

Tyler

J. A.

(2015). From spoke to hub transforming organizational vision and strategy with story and visual art. Adult Education Quarterly, 65, 326–342. doi:10.1177/0741713615595066

54.

van Veelen

García

Rand

D. G.

Nowak

M. A.

(2012). Direct reciprocity in structured populations. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 109, 9929–9934. doi:10.1073/pnas.1206694109

55.

Wiessner

(2009). Noting the potential for transformation: Creative expression through music. In Hoggan

Simpson

Stuckey

(Eds.), Creative expression in transformative learning: Tools and techniques for educators of adults (pp. 103–127). Malabar, FL: Krieger.

56.

Wiltermuth

S. S.

Heath

(2009). Synchrony and cooperation. Psychological Science, 20, 1–5. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.2008.02253.x

57.

Yorks

Kasl

(2002). Toward a theory and practice for whole-person learning: Reconceptualizing experience and the role of affect. Adult Education Quarterly, 52, 176–192. doi:10.1177/07417136020523002

58.

Yorks

Kasl

(2006). I know more than I can say: A taxonomy for using expressive ways of knowing to foster transformative learning. Journal of Transformative Education, 4, 43–64. doi:10.1177/1541344605283151

59.

Zelizer

(2003). The role of artistic processes in peacebuilding in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Peace and Conflict Studies, 10, 62–75. Retrieved from http://nsuworks.nova.edu/pcs/vol10/iss2/4

The Restorative and Transformative Power of the Arts in Conflict Resolution

Abstract

Keywords

Get full access to this article

References