Date: 28th November 2019
Where: Central London

Organisers

• Dialogue Society
• Journal of Dialogue Studies

Introduction

The Dialogue Society and the Journal of Dialogue Studies invite papers from scholars and practitioners, who wish to explore ideas and share their research findings in the field of dialogue and conflict resolution. In this workshop, we aim to critically engage with existing theories and methods utilized to peacefully end conflicts at various levels. Some of these theories were compiled in two volumes by the Dialogue Society and published as Dialogue Theories I and Dialogue Theories II.

Dialogue as a concept comes in various shapes and with differing objectives. For some, it is an existential ethos linked to the essence of being human. For others, ‘dialogue’ is a pedagogical method of learning (Socratic method) and also a means to resolve conflicts peacefully, which means reconciling the incompatible aims of each party harming peace, and establishing harmony sometimes before or during but some other times even after the violent conflict came to an end.

As a tool of conflict resolution, dialogue can be moulded to respond to each conflict. In some cases, it becomes a tent that gives shelter to both sides creating an environment of peace and security; in some other cases, it can become a ship that saves the parties from the results of the conflict; in yet some other cases it can become a fire extinguisher, to extinguish a fire that is about to burn a forest. In all these shapes and forms, dialogue creates an aura facilitating parties to settle their incompatible differences.

Contributors are invited to reflect upon these examples and relevant theories and critically analyse dialogue’s applicability in the most difficult cases.

To download the Call for Abstracts A4 sized poster please click here.

Call for Papers

In applying a theory to a case, contributors are invited to consider questions such as the following:

• How can success and failure be evaluated?
• What has succeeded and what has not yet succeeded in a selected case or cases?
• Can the theory or method be adapted or supplemented accordingly to deal with difficult cases?
• Or may it be necessary to combine the theory with other theories and construct tailored ‘hybrid’ frames for these conflicts at various levels?

Editorial Board

• Prof Oliver Ramsbotham, University of Bradford
• Prof Paul Weller, University of Derby
• Prof Ian Linden, St. Mary's University Twickenham
• Prof Simon Keyes, University of Winchester
• Prof Deborah Dunn, Westmont College, USA
• Dr Oemer Shener, Journal of Dialogue Studies
• Dr Mustafa Demir, University of Staffordshire

Workshop coordinators

The workshop coordinators are Dr Oemer Shener and Dr Mustafa Demir. Any questions should be addressed to them via This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Outcome

The event will be extensively publicised with a ‘workshop proceedings book’ published in advance of the workshop as is customary with Dialogue Society workshops and conferences, with a special issue of Journal of Dialogue Studies. There is a possibility that an edited book may follow in the next phase. We expect the workshop to attract high calibre papers that make a contribution to the field.

Schedule for Submissions

1. Abstracts (400 words maximum) and CVs (maximum of 2 pages, including any personal statement and/or listing of publications or work experience) to be received by 17:00 UK time, 15th June 2019
2. Abstracts to be short-listed by the Editorial Board and papers invited by 30th June 2019
3. Papers to be received by 31st August 2019
4. Papers reviewed by the Editorial Board and classed as: Accepted – No Recommendations; Accepted – See Recommendations; Conditional Acceptance – See Recommendations; Not Accepted.
5. The outcome of the review (including any recommendations for revisions or improvements) communicated to authors by 30th September 2019
6. Final papers to be received by 15th October 2019

Full Paper Submission Procedure

Full Papers should be submitted, in English only, as MS Word documents attached to an email to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , no later than 17:00 UK time, 31st August 2019. Authors must indicate at this stage if audio-visual equipment may be required in the presentation of their paper and must give any relevant technical specifications.

The first page of the manuscript should contain:

• The title
• The name(s) and institutional affiliation(s) of the author(s)
• The address, telephone, and the e-mail address of the corresponding author
• An abstract of 250 words
• A biography of 250 words
• 6 keywords

Manuscripts should be approximately 4,000 to 8,000 words, excluding bibliography. Longer manuscripts will be considered only in exceptional circumstances.

Articles will be peer-reviewed by members of the Editorial Board.

Style Guide for Contributors

Click here to download the style guide for contributors.

Costs

In general, participants will need to cover travel and accommodation costs.

Copyright

Copyright of the papers accepted to the Workshop will be vested in the Dialogue Society.