"Using Dialogue to Heal Local & Global Ruptures" with Pablo Lumerman

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Pablo is a conflict transformation colleague from Argentina. We worked together at Fundación Cambio Democratico (Foundation for Democratic Change) in Buenos Aires. He lives in Patagonia. 

In this conversation we talk about the power of living in the present moment, the importance of remembering deep history and enacting our visions for the future. We discuss a comparative history of colonialism, race and racism between Argentina and the United States.

We draw parallels between colonialism and gentrification and ponder how laws and bureaucracy are forms of cultural colonization that undermine indigenous culture and dialogue.

As conflict transformation practitioners we talk about the greatly needed capacity of dialogue to help us reach across our differences and facilitate healing. And, given where we started, we talk about how the transformation of conflict requires us to think beyond neutrality to avoid repeating patterns of oppression. 

Pablo Lumerman Contact Information

Follow Pablo on Social Media:

Twitter: @plumerman
Facebook: @pablo.lumermansirote
LinkedIn: @plumerman
Email: (use Pablo’s Twitter or LinkedIn handle at gmail)

Enjoy watching (listening) to this episode on YouTube.
Includes Subtitles.

Pablo Lumerman

Pablo Lumerman

Check out Duncan’s work as the Chief Transformation Officer at Spoke & Wheel:

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Other Resources

Here are resources about things that came up in this conversation.

Conflict Transformation

John Paul Lederach

Lederach is a person who has greatly influenced Pablo and myself. I highly recommend The Moral Imagination: The Art and Soul of Building Peace. That book is the source of the framework for peacebuilding that informed the conversation with Pablo and led us to take a dive into the deep past.
The graphic comes from the Breathing Forgiveness website, which also has this interview with John Paul Lederach: “Mysticism, New Physics and Peacebuilding.”

According to John Paul Lederach (inspired by Adam Curle) in his book Preparing for Peace: Conflict Transformation Across Cultures, the phases of conflict transformation are,

Source: Just Associates, "Dynamics Of Power, Inclusion And Exclusion.” (Originally from Adam Curle, via Preparing for Peace by John Paul Lederach

  1. Education/Consciousness Raising

  2. Confrontation/Advocacy

  3. Negotiation

  4. Sustainable Peace

Negotiation and efforts for collaboration can't be used until there is a balance of power. When power imbalances and systemic oppression are not addressed in a process, it can create settlements that favor the powerful and support the imbalance of power. This is well explained in an article by Just Associates, "Dynamics Of Power, Inclusion And Exclusion"[4] which also provides the graphic (see: right) from Lederach's book, Preparing for Peace.

Lederach is a proponent and writer of haiku poetry. Here is an excerpt from “An ‘Unfolding Poem’ for the Moment We’re In” at the On Being website.

xiii.
march fourteen, ‘twenty

they say we’re at war
i think we’re falling in love
with the human race

The Upaya Institute and Zen Center has this podcast where Lederach talks about the 200 year present: "Living Now: Re-humanization in the 200 Year Present.” You can find more about the 200 year present at the webpage for the episode with Sunshine Michelle Coleman: "Intersectional & Authentic Transformation."

For more resources from Lederach check out the episode page with fellow Mennonite, David Brubaker: "Honoring Dignity & Leading in Polarization."

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Partners Global

Pablo and I met while he was the Executive Director of Fundación Cambio Democrático part of the network of Partners Global

Beyond Neutrality: Confronting the Crisis in Conflict Resolution by Bernard Mayer 

We discuss Beyond Neutrality in the episode is an insiders critique of the conflict resolution field. One important take home for me personally and professionally is is the way that our skills can help people do conflict better: more effectively, more efficiently and less painfully. It also thoroughly broke me of the habit of calling my work “conflict resolution.” You can read the first chapter of the book here. Here's a taste of what that includes:

Four Problematic Assumptions of the Conflict Resolution Field

  1. We overidentify our work with the third-party neutral role.

  2. We are too focused on collaborative problem solving.

  3. We think our job is to resolve conflicts.

  4. We don’t view ourselves as having anything to offer people who want to continue and deepen a conflict.

What Conflict Resolution Offers: The Essence of the Field

  1. A focus on the integrative potential of conflict.

  2. A needs-based approach.

  3. A focus on communication.

  4. A commitment to empowering disputants.

  5. Process focused.

  6. System focused.

Indigenous History (Mapuche, Argentina, Chile and Kvme Felen (Good Living)

Toki Lautaro, an early Mapuche military leader. Painting by Pedro Subercaseaux.

Toki Lautaro, an early Mapuche military leader. Painting by Pedro Subercaseaux.

Mapuche (The People of the Land)

The Mapuche (Che = People - Mapu = of the land) are one of the indigenous people the current-day Chile and Argentina. The Mapuche Foundation has a number of resources about the Mapuche people, including this article: “Who are the Mapuche?”

Good Living (Mapuche), L’cheim



Colonial History

Conquest of the Desert, by Juan Manuel Blanes

Conquest of the Desert, by Juan Manuel Blanes

Conquest of the Desert led by “General Julio Argentino Roca in the 1870s with the intent to establish dominance over the Patagonian Desert, inhabited primarily by indigenous peoples. Under General Roca, the Conquest of the Desert extended Argentine power into Patagonia and ended the possibility of Chilean expansion there.” (Source: Wikipedia “Conquest of the Desert")

Current Situation

As we discussed in the episode the Mapuche struggles against colonialism came to a head in 2013 in the attack on the Luchsinger home in 2013 when the home was burned to the ground and Werner Luchsinger and Vivian McKay were killed. As we also discussed the story is old.

“The Luchsinger family arrived in Mapuche territory from Switzerland in the late 1800s and benefited from the government's colonisation policies for decades thereafter, becoming one of the largest landowners in Chile's Patagonia region. Their forestry and ranching companies now occupy vast stretches of southern Chile, and impoverished Mapuches live on the margins of their properties.”
(“Chilean couple die in arson attack after land dispute with Mapuche Indians.” The Guardian, January 2013)

Here is a series of articles from a variety of sources detailing the ongoing saga:

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Music

The song in this episode was “Klezmer Tango” by the Dúo Lerner Moguilevsky, comprised of César Lerner and Marcelo Moguilevsky.

Here is their full album Sobreviviente. “Klezmer Tango” begins at 38:03.

Dúo Lerner Moguilevsky / Sobreviviente (full álbum)

season3, history, SpokeandWheel, transforming-conflict, raceDuncan AutreyComment