September/October, 1997

ADRonline monthly will be an evolving and eclectic resource that is intended to link technology and technique. We hope that it will occupy your attention for about a half hour each month. We are happy to consider recommendations to include in ADRonline monthly but please remember that our ADR Links page is a more comprehensive resource of Web-based materials.

Closing the gap between ADR and technology

Recommended Web site: Mediate.com

Conferences

The SPIDR Conference - September, 1997
If you are attending, there are several sessions dealing with technology, one with John Helie, Janet Rifkin and Michael Lang, and one with David Hoffman.

Reading of the month

A classic on dispute resolution in cyberspace: Julian Dibbel's A Rape in Cyberspace: How an Evil Clown, a Haitian Trickster Spirit, Two Wizards, and a Cast of Dozens Turned a Database Into a Society - also recommended is Dibbel's My Dinner With Catherine MacKinnon And Other Hazards of Theorizing Virtual Rape.

Participate in our online conference of the month

This month's topic: "What stands in the way of increased use of online tools? What kinds of online tools and resources would you like to see available?" Click here to enter the online conference. You will need to enter a name and password. Notify us if you encounter any problems.

Od-Ed/Commentary/Essay of the month

On Media and Mediation
by Ethan Katsh and Janet Rifkin

On Media and Mediation

Can any two topics have a closer or more natural relationship than media and mediation? Shouldn’t media be as natural a focus for mediators as law is for lawyers, as teaching is for teachers, and as accounts are for accountant? Well, perhaps not, and perhaps the media part of mediation derives from a different sense of the word, but certainly we can agree that mediation is a process that is oriented around communication and that our options for communicating are vastly different from what they were even a few years ago.

At present, it may still be that a majority of the dispute resolution community lacks the skills or equipment to read this screen. Many continue to see little reason to devote time and energy to acquiring the skills that are necessary for online participation and many others have been frustrated when making the effort. The discomfort that many feel with the new media suggests that we have some distance to go before the fit between media and mediation, between technology and technique, is, to use some computer jargon, seamless. Our new Center for Information Technology and Dispute Resolution is committed to assisting and guiding those who are willing to be in the forefront.

The new and increasingly varied options for communicating and collaborating pose both a challenge to the dispute resolution community and an opportunity. They are a challenge because every new relationship that is formed online, however temporary or permanent it might be, has within it the potential for conflict. They are also a challenge because the online environment is a complex environment and one that is changes continuously. For alternative dispute resolution to be employed effectively online means that those involved with dispute resolution will have to devote time to understanding much that is now unfamiliar.

Out of chaos, it has been said, comes opportunity. If the online arena is one of high activity and high conflict, the demand for dispute resolution skills should also be high. If the goal of mediation is win/win, then an environment as malleable and as full of resources as the online environment should be a place where those able to apply new and creative dispute resolution strategies will be valued.

The link between communication and conflict should be better understood than it currently is. It will take some time to become aware of all the subtleties and complexities of the new media and to understand when and how to use them appropriately. Currently, the new media seem almost paradoxical, in that they are extraordinarily powerful and yet they lackmuch of the richness of the face to face environment. That is where we are now. It may not be where we will be in a few years.

No single medium is perfect for all tasks. One of our favorite stories is that told by Professor Martha Minow in a recent book called Law’s Stories (Yale University Press, 1996). It is about the walled city of Verona and a dispute occurring some time ago. As recounted by Minow,

Over time, the population inside the wall grew and the city became overcrowded. The problems from this circumstance mounted, until one day the Bishop decided something had to be done, and called a meeting with the Chief Rabbi.

The Bishop said, "The overcrowding in Verona has become unbearable. The Jews must leave."

The Chief Rabbi said, "Leave? But we have lived here for generations! Surely we should talk about so drastic a measure."

The Bishop replied, "But who should talk? We could have a debate. But everyone in town cares about the subject."

The Rabbi proposed. "We could hold it in the amphitheater; there is room for everyone."

But the Bishop said, "No one could hear us there. It will have to be a silent debate."

They agreed and the big day arrived. Everyone turned out and watched expectantly as the Bishop began.

He raised his right hand up to the sky.

The Rabbi brought his right hand down and pointed to his left palm.

The Bishop held up three fingers.

The Rabbi held up one.

The Bishop reached under his chair and brought out a wafer and ate it, and a glass of wine and sipped it.

The Rabbi pulled out an apple and took a bite.

At that moment, the Bishop leaped up and said, "You are right, the Jews can stay. We in Verona will have to find another way to solve our problem."

A crowd gathered around the Bishop, excited and perplexed. "We followed the debate very closely," one person said, "but what exactly was said?"

"Ah, the man was brilliant," said the Bishop. "I said, ‘The Lord of All commands that the Jews leave Verona today.’ He replied, ‘But the Lord is here in Verona with the Jews, too.’ I answered, ‘The three aspects of the trinity - the Father, the Son, and Holy Ghost - guide us on this matter.’ And he answered, ‘But there is just one Almighty, one King of the Universe.’ I responded with the wafer and the wine to say ‘Jesus died for our sins so the Christians could be saved.’ But he responded with the apple, noting ‘We are all children of Adam and Eve.’ And indeed we are; we are in this together and we will work it out together."

Meanwhile, another crowd surrounded the Rabbi. "Rabbi, Rabbi, Rabbi, what happened?" they cried. "I have no idea," said the Rabbi. "The Bishop said, ‘The Jews of Verona must leave today.’ I answered, ‘We are staying right here.’ He returned ‘I will give you three days to pack.’ I offered, ‘We’ll take a week.’ and then he ate his lunch and I ate mine."

In our current environment, most of us face the new technologies as if we are speechless, as restricted in our ability to express ourselves as one might be who can only gesture but not speak. We are in an early stage, however.and we are gradually learning to "speak" online, not in the same voice that we use face to face but in a voice that is, almost daily, growing richer and more flexible.