The book delves into the pervasive myths surrounding poverty, welfare dependency, and single motherhood. Professor Kriesberg critically examines societal perceptions and stereotypes, aiming to uncover the realities faced by these groups. By challenging misconceptions, the work seeks to foster a deeper understanding of the complexities of poverty and the systemic issues that contribute to it. Through research and analysis, it offers insights into the lives of those often marginalized in discussions about welfare and economic hardship.
Exploring the roots of division and civic disorder in the United States, Louis Kriesberg examines societal shifts in class, status, and power. He argues that these changes stem from how conflicts have been managed—constructively, destructively, or through avoidance. By analyzing key domestic conflicts since 1945, Kriesberg assesses their impact on advancing justice, liberty, and equal opportunity, providing insights into the current state of American society and the potential for resolving its crises.
The book offers a comprehensive framework for understanding and addressing large-scale social and political conflicts. It guides readers through the lifecycle of conflicts—from emergence and escalation to resolution and potential resurgence—highlighting strategies to disrupt and reverse destructive cycles of contention. Through analytical and empirical insights, it equips readers with the tools to effectively intervene in complex disputes.
In this book, author Louis Kriesberg draws on the constructive conflict
approach to assess American involvements in foreign conflicts since the onset
of the Cold War. He looks at what went well and what went poorly in order to
derive ideas for engaging in conflicts more constructively in the future.
"This original and wide-ranging book examines how conflicts may have been more or less constructively conducted and affected the changing class, status, and power inequality in America since 1945. Initially, it assesses how some conflicts destructively contributed to increasing class inequality, with its many unfortunate consequences. It also assesses other conflicts that contributed or might have contributed constructively to fostering less class inequality. Then the book examines conflicts that contributed to some increases in status equality, notably of African Americans and women. Finally it goes on to analyze many specific conflicts that yielded varied and uneven changes in power inequality for different kinds of people. This book indicates how the destructively conducted conflicts contributed to the many contemporary antagonistic divisions currently threatening U.S. democracy. Throughout, possible constructive ways of fighting are noted or suggested, providing hopeful future options This book analyzes numerous conflicts at the national and local levels, both hidden and violent, including constructive conflict transformations. These social science analyses enable judgments to be made of better ways of contending that might have avoided the adverse consequences of many destructive conflicts in the past. The core ideas of the constructive conflict approach are tested as they were varyingly applied to struggles relating to class, status and power inequalities in America. Moreover, and importantly, the book suggests how persons applying the core ideas of the constructive conflict approach can help transform the current political and societal distress in the U.S. and avoid and overcome its many destructive outcomes"-- Provided by publisher
On the occasion of his 90th birthday Louis Kriesberg provides an informative account of his career, tracing the trajectory of his discoveries, contributions, and stumbles as he sought to help the advance toward a more sustainable and just peace in the world. His work contributes to ideas and practices in several areas of conflict studies, notably intractable conflicts and their transformation, reconciliation, conflict analysis, and waging conflicts constructively. Although neither an autobiography nor a memoir, he embeds the course of his work in the context of historical events and in the evolving fields of peace studies and conflict resolution. In addition, he discusses the interaction of those fields with major conflicts. The book includes seven previously-published exemplary pieces on these and other topics, a comprehensive list of his publications, and several photos. A discussion of Kriesberg’s work and its significance is provided by George A. Lopez, Professor of Peace Studies, University of Notre Dame.
