Understanding D&D Theory and Practice
Books and Guidebooks
Abu-Nimer, Mohammed
Dialogue, Conflict Resolution, and Change: Arab-Jewish Encounters in Israel (Suny Series in Israeli Studies). 1999. State University of New York.
Through a critical examination of Arab and Jewish encounter programs in Israel, the book reviews conflict resolution and intergroup theories and processes which are utilized in dealing with ethnic conflicts and offers a detailed presentation of intervention models applied by various encounter programs to promote dialogue, education for peace, and democracy between Arabs and Jews in Israel.
A snapshot of some participants at a Jewish-Palestinian dialogue event in the San Francisco Bay area.
Barber, Benjamin R.
Strong Democracy: Participatory Politics for a New Age. 1985. University of California Press.
Barber offers liberal society a new way of thinking about and of practicing democracy.
Bohm, David (Lee Nichol, Editor)
On Dialogue. Routledge: New York, NY. 1996.
David Bohm was one of the greatest physicists and foremost thinkers of the twentieth century. This revised and expanded edition is the most comprehensive documentation to date of David Bohm's dialogical world view.
Buber, Martin
I and Thou. 1974 (translated version). Scribner Press.
This classic philosophical work is among the 20th century's foundational documents of religious ethics. Today considered a landmark of twentieth-century intellectual history, I and Thou is also one of the most important books of Western theology. Buber suggests that in authentic dialogue something far deeper than ordinary conversation goes on. The I-Thou interaction implies a genuine openness of each to the concerns of the other.
Ellinor, Linda and Glenna Gerard
Dialogue: Rediscover the Transforming Power of Conversation. 1998. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Ellinor and Gerard draw upon their combined 50 years of experience in organizations to show how dialogue can change the way we work by widening information arteries so that employees at every level begin to think along "leadership" lines and take responsibility for how their actions affect the whole organization. Leading companies including Levi Strauss, Shell, Hewlett-Packard, Motorola and AT&T are unleashing the wellspring of power that flows naturally from the trust, mutual respect and spirit of inquiry that are at dialogue's core.
Gastil, John
Democracy in Small Groups: Participation, Decision Making and Communication. 1993. New Society Publ.
Hendrick, Clyde. Group Processes and Intergroup Relations: Review of Personality and Social Psychology, Volume 9. 1987. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Isaacs, William N.
Dialogue and the Art of Thinking Together. 1999. New York, NY: Currency.
Isaacs is a colleague of organizational learning guru Peter Senge (who wrote the introduction) and one of the founders of MIT's Organizational Learning Center. He directed MIT's Dialogue Project, on which this book is based. Isaacs argues that organizational learning cannot take place without successful dialogue. For more info, go to Dialogos' website, at www.thinkingtogether.com.
Kennedy, Debbe
Action Dialogues: Meaningful Conversations to Accelerate Change (Diversity Breakthrough! Strategic Action Series). 2000. Berrett-Koehler Press.
Lappe, Frances Moore and Paul Martin Du Bois
The Quickening of America: Rebuilding our Nation, Remaking our Lives. 1994. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Inc. Publishers.
This book reveals how a new citizen-driven approach to solving community problems is working - in local government, education, the workplace, human services and the media. The authors criss-crossed America in search of democracy in action and found moving stories of ordinary people coming together to make their institutions meet their needs.
Leib, Ethan
Deliberative Democracy in America. 2004. Pennsylvania State University Press.
Leib offers a blueprint for a fourth branch of government as a way of giving the people a voice of their own. While drawing on the rich theoretical literature about deliberative democracy, Leib concentrates on designing an institutional scheme for embedding deliberation in the practice of American democratic government. At the heart of his scheme is a process for the adjudication of issues of public policy by assemblies of randomly selected citizens convened to debate and vote on the issues, resulting in the enactment of laws subject both to judicial review and to possible veto by the executive and legislative branches. The "popular" branch would fulfill a purpose similar to the ballot initiative and referendum but would avoid the shortcomings associated with those forms of direct democracy.
Littlejohn, Stephen W. and Kathy Domenici
Engaging Communication in Conflict: Systemic Practice. 2000. Thousand Oaks: Sage.
Mathews, David
Politics for People: Finding a Responsible Public Voice, Second Edition. Kettering Foundation.
Americans make no secret of their disenchantment with the political system. This book is about Americans who are looking for ways to build civic communities and generate the political energy necessary to define and express the public will. This second edition contains compelling new material on the National Issues Forums convened in libraries, churches, prisons, and schools across the country. 275 pages. Call 1-800-545-4703 (mention code MPP) to order through the University of Illinois Press for $12.95 (plus $3 shipping).
Morse, Suzanne W.
Smart Communities: How Citizens and Local Leaders Can Use Strategic Thinking to Build a Brighter Future. 2004.
Based on the results of more than a decade of research by the Pew Partnership for Civic Change, which Morse directs, Smart Communities provides directions for strategic decision-making and outlines the key strategies used by thousands of leaders who have worked to create successful communities. Smart Communities offers leaders the tools they need to create a better future for all the community ?s citizens. Using illustrative examples from communities around the country (including examples of dialogue & deliberation), Smart Communities shows how these change agents? well-structured decision-making processes can be traced to their effective use of seven key leverage points.
Myers, Sondra, editor
Democracy is a Discussion: Civic Engagement in Old and New Democracies. 1996. Connecticut College.
With short excerpts from national and international experts on democracy and civic engagement, including Benjamin Barber, V?clav Havel, Jean Bethke Elshtain, William Galston, and Mary Ann Glendon, this handbook is ideal for starting discussions about building stronger and more just communities.
Rosenberg, Marshall
Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Compassion. 1999. PuddleDancer Press.
NVC is an approach that can be effectively applied at all levels of communication and in diverse situations from self-talk to international politics. The NVC model for communications includes: observing, without judgment, actions that effect our well-being; stating our feelings as we observe the action; saying what needs, values, desires are connected to the feelings; and requesting the concrete actions we would like.
Saunders, Harold H.
A Public Peace Process: Sustained Dialogue to Transform Racial and Ethnic Conflicts. 1999. St. Martin's Press.
Harold Saunders, now Director of International Programs at the Kettering Foundation, distills over 35 years of experience working with conflicts across the globe. This book describes how structured, sustained dialogue can help conflicting groups of citizens move toward resolution.
Schoem, David and Sylvia Hurtado
Intergroup Dialogue: Deliberative Democracy in School, College, Community and Workplace. 2001. University of Michigan Press.
A comprehensive overview of intergroup dialogue which includes 12 in-depth case studies, critical perspectives and the foundation of dialogue in democratic theory. Each of the case studies, which are drawn from leading organizations in the dialogue field, present the program's rationale, an account of its successes, and evaluation data.
Schwartz, G. David
A Jewish Appraisal of Dialogue: Between Talk and Theology. 1994. University Press of America.
Senge, Peter
The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook. 1994. Doubleday.
While "The Fifth Discipline" laid out the principles particularly applicable to long-term organizational improvement, the Fieldbook clearly describes how to get started in the practice of the principles of organizational learning, reflecting not just one person's theory, but the experience and reflection of an entire community of practitioners. Senge promotes dialogue as an important tool for promoting team learning and fostering shared meaning and community within an organization.
Simmons, Annette
A Safe Place for Dangerous Truths: Using Dialogue to Overcome Fear & Distrust at Work. 1999. Amacom.
Annette Simmons (Greensboro, NC) is president of Group Process Consulting, a behavioral science firm that specializes in building cooperation within organizations to enhance bottom-line results. She is the author of Territorial Games.
Sirianni, Carmen and Lewis Friedland
Civic Innovation in America: Community Empowerment, Public Policy, and the Movement for Civic Renewal. 2001.Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
This comprehensive book charts the progress of and best practices in the civic renewal movement. A must-have for those involved in deliberative democracy.
Spano, Shawn
Public Dialogue and Participatory Democracy: The Cupertino Project. 2001. Cresskill, N.J.: Hampton Press.
Stephan, Walter G. and Cookie W.
Improving Intergroup Relations. 2001. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
A comprehensive review and evaluation of various techniques for improving intergroup relations, including intergroup dialogue.
Stephan, Walter G. and Cookie W.
Intergroup Relations. 1996. Boulder, CO: Westview.
Tatum, Beverly Daniel, Ph.D.
"Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?" And Other Conversations About Race. 1997. New York, NY: Basic Books.
Taylor, Donald M. and Fathali M. Moghaddam
Theories of Intergroup Relations. 1994. Westport, CT: Praeger.
Winborne, Wayne and Renae Cohen, eds.
Intergroup Relations in the United States: Research Perspectives. 1998. The National Conference of Community and Justice.
Yankelovich, Daniel
The Magic of Dialogue. 1999. Simon and Schuster.
The author is the co-founder of Public Agenda, an organization which helps policy makers better understand the public's point of view on major policy issues while helping citizens better understand critical policy issues so they can make their own more informed and thoughtful decisions. Public Agenda's conversation process and materials present issues in a nonpartisan and stimulating way.
Articles and Reports
Bacon, Barbara Schaffer, Cheryl Yuen and Pam Korza
Animating Democracy: The Artistic Imagination as a Force in Civic Dialogue. 1999. Americans for the Arts.
This report reveals pivotal and innovating roles that the arts can play in the renewal of civic dialogue as well as challenges faced by arts and cultural organizations as they engage in this work. Download for free at www.artsusa.org/animatingdemocracy.
Becker, Carol, Laura Chasin, Richard Chasin, Margaret Herzig and Sallyann Roth
"From Stuck Debate to New Conversation on Controversial Issues: A Report from the Public Conversations Project." Journal of Feminist Family Therapy, 7 (1-2), 143-163 (1995).
This article presents the four guiding objectives of PCP's work and describes practices that support each of those objectives, drawing case examples from their introductory dialogues on abortion.
Bohm, David, Donald Factor and Peter Garrett
Dialogue: A Proposal. 1991.
This paper discusses the process of Bohm dialogue and what it offers those who choose to engage in it as a way of gaining an understanding of the human thought process. The authors outline their conception of dialogue, why they believe dialogue is valuable, and provide some practical advice on initiating this type of dialogue. Go to www.muc.de/~heuvel/dialogue/dialogue_proposal.html for the paper.
Chasin, Richard, Margaret Herzig, Sallyann Roth, and Laura Chasin
"From Diatribe to Dialogue on Divisive Public Issues: Approaches Drawn from Family Therapy." Mediation Quarterly, Volume 13, 4, 323-344. 1996. New York: Jossey-Bass.
A comprehensive overview of the Public Conversation Project's general approach, this article draws case examples from four different subprojects and it makes explicit the connections between PCP's principles and practices and ideas and methods drawn from family therapy.
Conflict Resolution Center International
Five Stages of the Public Peace Process. Conflict Resolution Center International Newsletter, January 1998, pp 20, 23.
A two-page essay outlining Harold Saunders' five stages of a public peace process which leads to reconciliation and collaboration. The stages are: deciding to engage, mapping the relationship together, probing the dynamics of the relationship together, experiencing the relationship by thinking together, and acting together. Go to www.conflictresearch.com/crinfo/crcii/five_stages_of_public_peace_.htm for the essay.
Farkas, Steve, Patrick Foley and Ann Duffett
Just Waiting to Be Asked? A Fresh Look at Attitudes on Public Engagement. 2001. Public Agenda.
This research study finds that school district leaders say they are eager for public engagement in educational decision making, but the venue they rely on most - the school board meeting - is primarily seen as a vehicle for the most vocal and disgruntled citizens. This 48-page publication is available for $10 through Public Agenda at www.publicagenda.org.
Fowler, Anne, et. al.
"Talking With The Enemy." The Boston Globe, January 28, 2001.
For six years, leaders on both sides of the abortion debate met in secret in an attempt to better understand each other through dialogue with the Public Conversations Project. Go to www.publicconversations.org for the article.
The Harwood Group for the Kettering Foundation
Will Any Kind of Talk Do? Moving From Personal Concerns to Public Life. 1996.
Many Americans feel disengaged from public life and its discourse. Attempts are being made to re-engage people, through a variety of strategies and programs created by public leaders, newspapers, foundations, civic groups, and others. But these attempts often falter because we have lost sight of the essence of what people are looking for from talk. This report is a reminder of the complexities and curiosities of human behavior that guide people's move to engage in public life, and focuses on the crucial steps people take when connecting their private lives to the public world around them. Order at www.theharwoodinstitute.org.
Hubbard, Amy S.
"Face-To-Face at Arm's Length: Conflict Norms and Extra-Group Relations in Grassroots Dialogue Groups." Human Organization. Fall 1997, 56:3.
Hubbard, Amy S.
"Personal Change and Political Action: The Intersection of Conflict Resolution and Social Movement Mobilization in a Middle East Dialogue Group." Working Paper No. 7. George Mason University's Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution. 1992.
Isaacs, William N.
"Taking Flight: Dialogue, Collective Thinking and Organizational Learning." Organizational Dynamics. Autumn 1993, 22:2.
The Kettering Foundation
What Citizens Can Do: A Public Way to Act.
This collection of a dozen stories are about everyday people who have changed the way politics is practiced in their towns. They share a commitment to the idea that in a democracy citizens take responsibility for dealing with community problems. 51 pages. Order from Ruffolo for $7.00 by emailing or calling 1-800-600-4060.
Kuttab, Jonathan
The Pitfalls of Dialogue. Conflict Resolution Center International Newsletter, January 1998, pp 25-26.
This article, written by a Palestinian attorney with many years of dialogue experience, describes some common problems with intergroup dialogue and suggests some basic solutions. Go to www.conflictresearch.com/crinfo/crcii/pitfalls_of_dialogue.htm to view the article.
Mathews, David
For Communities to Work. Kettering Foundation.
For Communities to Work presents a broad framework intended as background for civic organizations that want to look at the state of the public in their communities. It explains how private individuals become public citizens and how publics form. The process of reinvigorating citizens in communities requires generating the political will for ?public work,? or the work of citizens with each other. 53 pages. Download at www.kettering.org or order from Ruffolo for $3.00 by emailing or calling 1-800-600-4060.
Pearce, W. Barnett and Kimberly A. Pearce
Combining passions and abilities: Toward dialogic virtuosity. 2000. Southern Communication Journal. 65: 161-175.
Pearce, W. Barnett and Kimberly A. Pearce
Extending the theory of the Coordinated Management of Meaning (CMM) through a community dialogue process. Communication Theory, 10: 405-423. 2000.
Pearce, W. Barnett and Kimberly Pearce
"Going public: Working systemically in public contexts." Published as: ?Tornando-se p?blico?: trabalhando sistemicamente em contextos publicos. Pp. 275-296 in D. Fried Schnitman & S. Littlejohn (Eds.) Novos paradigmas em media??o. Porto Alegre: Artmed. Trans. J. Haubert Rodrigues & M.A.G. Domingues. 1999.
Pearce, W. Barnett and Kimberly Pearce
Transcendent storytelling: Abilities for systemic practitioners and their clients. 1998. Human Systems, 9: 167-185.
The Public Conversations Project
Boston Prochoice and Prolife Leaders Dialogue.
Read about PCP's groundbreaking 7-year abortion dialogue involving pro-choice and pro-life leaders in the Boston area. PCP has been doing dialogue work with Prochoice and Prolife activists and others since 1989. Go to www.publicconversations.org/pcp/resources/resources.asp and click on ?Case Studies.?
Roth, Sallyann
"The Uncertain Path to Dialogue." In Relational Responsibility: Resources for Sustainable Dialogue, S. McNamee and K. Gergen, eds. Chapter 8, 93-97. 1999. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.
Snyder, R. Claire
Shutting the Public Out of Politics: Civic Republicanism, Professional Politics, and the Eclipse of Civil Society. Kettering Foundation.
In this historical overview of the role of the citizen, Snyder examines the elements of, and the causes for, the decline of active citizenship in the U.S. and the emergence of "professional policymakers." She advocates public deliberation and civic action as ways for citizens to take back their traditional roles and "force open the door" of American politics. 52 pages. Order from Ruffolo for $3.00 by emailing or calling 1-800-600-4060.
Spano, Shawn and Claire Calcagno
Adapting systemic consultation practice to public discourse: An analysis of a public conflict episode. Human Systems, 7: 17-43. 1996.
Zuniga, Ximena, Nagda Ratnesh & Sevig T.D.
Intergroup Dialogues: An Educational Model for Cultivating Engagement Across Differences. Equity & Excellence in Education, Volume 35, 1, 7-17. 2002.
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