Work for social change through constructive engagement and systems disruption in this practical resource for social change advocates and conflict specialists In The Neutrality Trap, expert mediators and facilitators Bernard Mayer and Jacqueline N. Font-Guzmán deliver an insightful and practical exploration of how to understand the conflicts we face as social change agents. You'll learn about systems disruption and constructive engagement: how to develop the relationships and change strategies that help people, systems, and societies confront their most important social challenges. In this important book, you will: Discover how to challenge the status quo in an effective way Practice how to "get into good trouble," and pick the battles worth fighting Learn to be strategic in your approach to social change and sustain your efforts over the long term Perfect for anyone interested in progressing and achieving social justice, The Neutrality Trap is an indispensable guide to engaging in and managing the necessary conflict that comes with meaningful change.

Work for social change through constructive engagement and systems disruption in this practical resource for social change advocates and conflict specialists In The Neutrality Trap, expert mediators and facilitators Bernard Mayer and Jacqueline N. Font-Guzmán deliver an insightful and practical exploration of how to understand the conflicts we face as social change agents. You'll learn about systems disruption and constructive engagement: how to develop the relationships and change strategies that help people, systems, and societies confront their most important social challenges. In this important book, you will: Discover how to challenge the status quo in an effective way Practice how to "get into good trouble," and pick the battles worth fighting Learn to be strategic in your approach to social change and sustain your efforts over the long term Perfect for anyone interested in progressing and achieving social justice, The Neutrality Trap is an indispensable guide to engaging in and managing the necessary conflict that comes with meaningful change.

The Syrian war has been an example of the abuse and insufficient delivery of humanitarian assistance. According to international practice, humanitarian aid should be channelled through a state government that bears a particular responsibility for its population. Yet in Syria, the bulk of relief went through Damascus while the regime caused the vast majority of civilian deaths. Should the UN have severed its cooperation with the government and neglected its humanitarian duty to help all people in need? Decision-makers face these tough policy dilemmas, and often the “neutrality trap” snaps shut. This book discusses the political and moral considerations of how to respond to a brutal and complex crisis while adhering to international law and practice. The author, a scholar and senior diplomat involved in the UN peace talks in Geneva, draws from first-hand diplomatic, practitioner and UN sources. He sheds light on the UN's credibility crisis and the wider implications for the development of international humanitarian and human rights law. This includes covering the key questions asked by Western diplomats, NGOs and international organizations, such as: Why did the UN not confront the Syrian government more boldly? Was it not only legally correct but also morally justifiable to deliver humanitarian aid to regime areas where rockets were launched and warplanes started? Why was it so difficult to render cross-border aid possible where it was badly needed? The meticulous account of current international practice is both insightful and disturbing. It tackles the painful lessons learnt and provides recommendations for future challenges where politics fails and humanitarians fill the moral void.

Why there is no such thing as a free audience in today's attention economy The internet was supposed to fragment audiences and make media monopolies impossible. Instead, behemoths like Google and Facebook now dominate the time we spend online—and grab all the profits. This provocative and timely book sheds light on the stunning rise of the digital giants and the online struggles of nearly everyone else, and reveals what small players can do to survive in a game that is rigged against them. Challenging some of the most enduring myths of digital life, Matthew Hindman explains why net neutrality alone is no guarantee of an open internet, and demonstrates what it really takes to grow a digital audience in today's competitive online economy.

The essential guide for mothers and potential mothers who want to share childrearing responsibilities with men.

Exposes the invisible yet pervasive nature of oppressive dominant ideologies, the urgent need to articulate their existence, and the harmful impact they have on education. The solutions to many of the educational challenges facing subordinated students are not purely technical or methodological in nature, but are instead rooted in commonly unacknowledged discriminatory ideologies and practices. The invisible foundation, hegemonic ideologies that inform our perceptions and treatment of subordinated students, needs to be made explicit and studied critically in order to comprehend the challenges presented in minority education, and possible solutions, more accurately. Confronts the continuing existence and vigorous resurgence of not-easily-named discriminatory perspectives toward students from subordinated cultural groups, as well as their numerous manifestations in schools, and identifies the measures necessary to neutralize unequal material conditions and biased beliefs. From publisher description.

Conflict can either destroy or create—depAnding on whether and how it is guided. This is the simple yet profound insight that underlies Jay Rothman's innovative new framework for understanding and transforming identity-based conflict in nations, organizations, and communities. Reading a newspaper, working in an organization, or sitting in on a town meeting can provide vivid examples of identity conflicts in action. Based in the national, organizational, and community groups that provide individuals with meaning, safety, and dignity, identity conflicts are passionate and volatile because they strike at our core: who we really are and what we care about most deeply. Though often impervious to traditional methods of conflict management, identity-based conflict also provides adversaries with dynamic opportunities for finding not only common ground, but higher ground than separate parties could have found on their own. Grounded in his grassroots conflict resolution work in the Middle East — work that earned him the honor of witnessing the historic White House handshake between Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO President Yasser Arafat — and brilliantly refined to address a wide range of organizational and community conflicts, Rothman's ARIA model is a versatile and innovative synthesis of the best contemporary ideas in conflict management, resolution, and transformation. Step by step, Resolving Identity-Based Conflict traces the ARIA journey through Antagonism, Resonance, Invention, and Action in a variety of environments. In straightforward, jargon-free language, Rothman conveys solid theoretical insights and practical how-to's that allow researchers and practitioners to: Recognize the crucial differences between identity- and resource-based conflicts Zero in on the needs and motivations shared by even the bitterest of adversaries Create joint agendas for groups in conflict Transform intragroup and intergroup conflicts in organizations of every k