Elicitive Conflict Mapping: A Practical Tool for Peacework

Abstract

This article presents the tool of elicitive conflict mapping (ECM), developed by Wolfgang Dietrich (2011, 2013, unpublished) at the Innsbruck UNESCO Chair and MA Program in Peace Studies, which seeks to operationalize the philosophy of transrational peace and the art of elicitive conflict work. The art of elicitive conflict work is based on the guiding principle that elicitive transformation does not develop or offer a content solution for the conflict episode, but it provides a safe space for the parties, in which they can work on changes in their relationships along the horizons of their own intelligibility. In this context, the practical relevance of ECM is not the creation of prescriptive methods or recipes, because transrationality and elicitive work exclude such instruments, but to support conflicting parties in finding orientation and recognizing new and concrete courses of action in their own contexts. Read in conjunction with Dietrich’s article in this very same issue and methodologically inspired by mind mapping, this contribution surveys practical ways in which elicitive conflict workers can find a point of entry into conflict analysis and seek guidance in the complex reality of themes, layers and levels. The aim is to shed light on the steps that elicitive workers and facilitation teams can take in order to create possibilities and courses of action that enable the recovery of the dynamic equilibrium of the conflictive system.