How does one arouse basic human care for an enemy? A story of a transformative moment in a diverse classroom

Abstract

This article demonstrates how stories serve as effective methodology when scrutinizing the meaning of social and political conflicts in diverse classrooms. I base my argument on a story about a distressing conflict among students from different ethnic, and national backgrounds occurring in an academic course at an Israeli college. A detailed description of the clash, which eventually evolved into a moment of mutual support and solidarity, provides a sense of immediacy and verisimilitude, and thus is the best way to introduce the dynamic, messy reality of the classroom. Moreover, I argue that story-like documentation may well expose social and political processes and subtleties better than any thin report and theoretical analysis and can form an archive of hope amid seemingly social and political estrangement and despair.