Dialog Tandem. Conflict prevention and resolution through language exchange. La Fundación Tandem

Después del fin de la ‘Guerra fría’ esperábamos ‘los dividendos de la paz’ que debían ir orientados hacia los presupuestos sociales, de educación y de sanidad. En lugar de esto, surgen cada vez más conflictos «de motivación étnica o religiosa» promovidos por las grandes potencias.

La Fundación TANDEM quiere apoyar procesos de encuentro y diálogo en regiones en las que conviven grupos de población que hablan diferentes idiomas y existen conflictos violentos. Por este motivo la Fundación lanzó en el 2017 el proyecto ‘Peace-Tandem‘, ahora ‘Dialog-T’.

Esta publicación está publicada en inglés, alemán, francés y ruso.
En este espacio compartimos la versión en inglés.

INDICE

0.1. Instrucciones de uso / Gebrauchsanweisung / Instructions for use
0.2.C Description del proyecto
0.2.D Projektbeschreibung
0.2.E Project description

1. What is the background for the Dialog-Tandem? Are there really ‘ethnic conflicts’?

2. Previous use of ‘tandem’ for peace

3. Definitions of ‘conflict’

3.1. What types of conflicts exist?
3.2. Are there intractable conflicts?
3.3. What role do group identities play in ‘ethnic conflicts’?
3.4. How does the distraction by ‘images of the enemy’ work?
3.5. What is ‘ethnic distance’?
3.6. Do individual psychological explanations suffice?
3.7. How is conflict intensification used as a political tool?
3.8. Are there psychological structures that favour this?
3.9. How to intensify / defuse conflicts?

4. Phases of a conflict

4.1. Prevention
4.1.1. What helps contact between the conflict parties?
4.1.2. What should be done with sectors of the population that are more prone to violent solutions?
4.1.3. How can the willingness to open himself to discussions be encouraged?
4.1.4. What is important for negotiations?
4.1.5. Should unequal power relations be ignored?

4.2. Bridge building
4.2.1. What can be done about the danger of being treated as a ‘traitor’?
4.2.2. Are distance contacts a solution?
4.2.3. What about meetings in third countries?

4.3. Reconciliation
4.3.1. What is meant by this?
4.3.2. Who reconciles with whom and when?
4.3.3. How can this be facilitated?
4.3.4. What are the difficulties?
4.3.5. Is there a relationship between democracy and reconciliation?
4.3.6. What are the factors for willingness to reconcile?
4.3.7. Can it be ‘necessary’ to maintain hatred?
4.3.8. Does contact also help in this phase?
4.3.9. What role do the peace NGOs play in this?
4.3.10. Where to find starting points for contact?
4.3.11. Is ‘Tandem as language activity in Dialog-Tandem’ equal to ‘Speaking about the past’?

5. ‘Dialog-Tandem’

5.1. How does Tandem fit into these phases, processes and levels?

5.2. How are tandem partnerships formed and managed?
5.2.1. Where does the idea come from?
5.2.2. How does the individual matching of tandem partners work?
5.2.3. For whom does participation in tandems make sense?
5.2.4. Who can set up an intermediation centre?
5.2.5. What is important in intermediation?
5.2.6. What is the purpose of the interview?
5.2.7. Should we continue to take care of the tandems?
5.2.8. What does the organisation need?
5.2.9. What are the costs?
5.2.10. What difficulties and problems can there be in the couple matching?

5.3. How to form couples with large numbers of participants?
5.3.1. Why was the ‘cocktail’ developed?
5.3.2. How does it work?
5.3.2.1.What is the content?
5.3.2.2.What else is important?
5.3.3. What are the advantages and disadvantages of hand intermediation and cocktail parties?
5.3.4. Are there other possibilities?
5.3.5. What do the results of the accompanying research show?

5.4. How does the exchange take place in groups/courses?

5.5. How many different fields of application exist?
5.5.0. «Not for school, but for life we learn.»
5.5.1. Age
5.5.2. Institution
5.5.3. Location
5.5.4. Language
5.5.5. Goal
5.5.6. Content
5.5.7. Form
5.5.8. «All beginnings are…» (specially in schools)

5.6. How can tandems with advanced knowledge work with technical languages ?
5.6.1. How are the situation and needs assessed?
5.6.2. What are the contents?
5.6.3. How is this organised?

5.7. What is special about the intercultural tandem?
5.7.1. General introduction
5.7.2. The situation and its context
5.7.3. InterCultural Tandem
5.7.3.1. Formation of the first Intercultural Tandem Group
5.7.3.2. The InterCultural Tandem Net
5.7.4. Development of the InterCultural Tandem Group Donostia

5.7.4.1. Participants
5.7.4.2. Contents
5.7.4.3. Methodology
5.7.4.3.1. Topic-centered interaction (TCI)
5.7.4.4. Some concrete experiences

5.7.5.Conclusions

5.8. Is a combination with the cross-border ‘Mugaz Gain’ tandem useful in border areas?

5.9. What to do if there are several language groups in the area?

5.10. What other details need to be considered?

5.11. What are the complementary offers and aids?

5.12. How is the Dialog-Tandem organised?

5.12.1. What do experiences of attempts to reduce violent conflicts show?
5.12.2. Why not import unchanged central models?
5.12.3. Why strengthen local groups?
5.12.4. With whom can alliances be formed?
5.12.5. What are the practical steps now?

6.1. Bibliography

6.2. Web sources

6.3. Lectures

Thank you for contact information, background information, support in literature research and/or comments:
Oscar Sanz, Carmen Symalla, Petra Zimmermann and many others who would like to remain unnamed; the intermediators team of alpha beta picadilly South Tyrol / Alto Adige, the Adult Education Association of Latvia, Gernika Gogoratuz, the Library of the Hessian Foundation for Peace and Conflict Research Frankfurt/Main and the Chair Board of Tandem Foundation.

The opinions expressed in the chapters are of course the responsibility of the authors.

The project ‘Dialog-Tandem’ is supported by:
Tandem Escuela Internacional Madrid, Tandem International and private Persons
This book (pdf) is published as No. 72 of the ‘Tandem News’.
(Número 68 de las ‘Tandem-Neuigkeiten’, periodicidad variable):
ISSN 1137-2257
Depósito Legal SS-1279/96
Publishing licence of the Spanish Ministry of Culture (permiso editorial del Ministerio de
Cultura) 16-06-87
© Peace-Tandem / Tandem Fundazioa, Donostia / San Sebastián 2019