Overview

In Living with Conflict: A Challenge to a Peace Church, Susan Robson explores the discomforts and denials that can arise when an organization committed to doing good suspects that it is not living up to its declared aims. This case study of Quakers in the United Kingdom closely examines the challenge of living constructively despite ever-present internal conflicts. Drawing on ideas from contemporary organizational theory, Robson’s study points the way forward for Quakers and other value-based groups. Living with Conflict compares the evolution of the Quaker peace testimony to the experience of other peaceful churches, in both their relationships to the wider world and how they handle congregational conflict. It analyzes conflicts in small church congregations, looking at triggers and responses, past and present, describing the consequences of challenging community narratives and creating counter-narratives. Students of peace and conflict studies, organizational studies, and the sociology of religion will find this study thought-provoking. Living with Conflict is also for anyone who has ever joined an organization they thought was welcoming and safe, working together for the common good, only to see it unravel into a flurry of acrimonious e-mails, slammed doors, tears, legal proceedings, even tragedy.

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"Susan Robson focused a lifetime of curiosity about how people live together when she restarted academic study after retirement. With years of experience in complex health and welfare organizations, she defines herself now as a “researcher intervenor."" Among Quakers in Britain she has been active in both public peace witness and more private conflicts in meetings. The exploration continues at www.livingwithconflict.net for all to join in."

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