Von fischen im wasser und andere mediationserzählungen [Of fish in water and other mediation stories] (in German)

• Main Author: ALEXANDER, Nadja
• Format: text
• Language: German
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2015
• Subjects: Mediation; model; culture; Facilitative Mediation; Harvard Approach; Transformative Mediation; Conflict Clarification; Non-violent Communication; Evaluative Mediation; MediAsian; Wise Counsel Mediation; Western Mediation; Traditional Media-tion; Elicitive Approach; Directive Approach; Asian Studies; Dispute Resolution and Arbitration
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/sol_research/1876; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/sol_research/article/3828/viewcontent/Von_Fischen_im_Wasser_und_andere_Mediati.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

This essay offers an international and cross-cultural perspective on mediation. It builds on the contributions to this journal issue and extends the conversation to include (1) the role of culture in mediations models and (2) the taboo topic of directive, evaluative approaches. After reviewing various taxonomies of mediation models, the author’s mediation meta model is used as a framework to analyze diverse approaches of mediation including those presented in this issue. Historical-cultural perspectives provide further layers of depth and nuance that thicken the already complex storylines of the human mediation narrative. If mediation is to succeed in attaining truly global recognition as a profession, this paper argues that we need to embrace diversity and not ignore the aspects of it that we do not like. However in order to embrace diversity we need to understand it better. Therefore a clear articulation of the purposes, values and assumptions underpinning distinct mediation approaches is essential. A comparison of interest-based models of mediation in Asia and the West highlights the practical impact of different cultural understandings and applications of the same idea.