1145 | Conflict Transformation through the Dialogic Method

What is the ultimate purpose of law? Is it simply the adjudication of disputes or another means to achieve the aspiration of a just, egalitarian and sustainable society? As Roscoe Pound pointed out, lawyers are social engineers “whose calling it is to make a social process or activity achieve its purpose with a minimum of friction and waste.”1 However, the adversarial system that we have relied on to resolve conflicts and disputes has proved to be less than ineffective, as evidenced by the growing mountain of pending cases before the courts in India.

Conventional alternate dispute resolutions like arbitration, mediation and conciliation do indisputably play a role in resolving this issue, and this need is also being addressed by the Bar Council of India’s emphasis on the inclusion of mediation as a mandatorily-offered curriculum in laws schools. As a social sector organisation committed to fostering individual and systemic change through the use of dialogue for conflict transformation, Uncommon Ground believes there is scope for more, particularly in the current polarised global climate.