Disputant receptivity to negotiation in violent political conflict: lessons from South Africa's apartheid struggle
Date
2001
Authors
Rushton, David Gerald
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
One of the important challenges in trying to reduce the use of violence to resolve political conflict is getting disputants to agree to negotiate. There has been limited attention to this issue in conflict resolution literature. The purpose of this study is to increase our awareness and understanding of factors affecting disputant willingness to move from violence to negotiation. The term Negotiation Receptivity Factors is introduced to identify these factors. From a review of conflict resolution and power theory literature, and through an exploratory case study of South Africa's apartheid struggle, thirteen negotiation receptivity factors; e. g., commitment to cause, power balance, trust, and leader attributes, are defined; and their influence on disputant receptivity to negotiation is described. The issue of cooperative versus competitive power in negotiation receptivity is introduced.