TOWARDS COMPLEMENTARITY IN CONFLICT-MANAGEMENT - RESOLUTION AND SETTLEMENT IN NORTHERN-IRELAND

This article argues the case for a model of conflict management based on a complementary view of two approaches to conflict, resolution and settlement, which have traditionally been presented in the literature as opposed. It employs empirical evidence of complementarity in practi ce to highlight the failure of this dichotomized theoretical debate. I t endorses a theoretical model based on complementarity which both unb locks the paralysis caused by such dichotomization and energizes the p rescriptive potential of both approaches. The article first describes and defines the two schools of thought and their respective prescripti ons for conflict management, and then considers the potential for comp lementarity between the two at the theoretical level. Fisher & Keashly 's contingency model of intervention (1991) is critiqued, and two desc riptive weaknesses are identified: an overdependence on a sequential v iew of conflict, and an assumption of intra-party cohesion. Evidence f or complementarity in practical conflict management strategies in the Northern Ireland conflict is then reviewed. Finally, an expansion of t he contingency model based on such empirical study is discussed, in pa rticular a means of building a model which is more flexible and contex t-responsive through the use of embedded criteria at the prescriptive stage.