A Relational and Dialogical World: Foundations of Transformative Practice

Q & A with Erik Cleven

This is a Q & A for those who heard Erik's talk during the recent conference. Please join us to ask questions and discuss these topics further!

In this lecture Erik explored two topics that have received little attention from scholars and practitioners interested in transformative practice. First, what it might mean to hold a relational worldview. Transformative practitioners often say that transformative practice builds on a relational worldview, but often have difficulty articulating what that means beyond stating that humans are fundamentally social beings. Here Erik turned to what The Promise of Mediation calls "moral dialogic philosophers" to answer this question. Second,  what the implications of a relational worldview might be for those who wish to engage in dialogue. How is dialogue best understood? Most transformative work focuses on the role of the intervener and beyond the Responding Effectively to Conflict modules there has been little discussion of what engaging in dialogue might entail.