Dealing with Differences: Dramas of Mediating Public Disputes

摘要

Reading John Forester's recent book, Dealing with Differences: Dramas of Mediating Public Disputes, one senses that, although it 'builds upon practice as well as theory' (3), the accent falls on the former. The theoretical aspect effectively irrupts in an inductive manner, stemming from the different accounts of mediators who have worked in the face of conflict. It is an exercise into inference, and a skilful one at that, but the proper vocation of this work rests upon the narratives of practice. It is for this reason that I believe a comprehensive account of Forester's effort cannot be accurately recognized in the absence of a meaningful command of the practical consequences that he offers here.