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similar to YOUTS. I showed speech acts perfonning various persuasive functions. This is
what happens in a negotiation situation where a participant will not always directly say
what s/he wants to say, but may use some ofthe fonns that I have mentioned
In the last part of the dissertation I specifically looked at conflict which arises
when certain needs are not met. Negotiation is a persuasive strategy employed to
resolve such conflicts. Applied correctly, negotiation would turn conflict into
constructive confrontation by transforming it and looking at fulfilling the needs of
disputants rather than meeting their interests. This should be especially so in intractable
conflict where there is little or no hope of managing the conflict. This could be
achieved by changing disputants' mind sets, enabling them to view conflict in a
positive light.
Constructive confrontation, also known as transformative mediation, differs
from traditional approaches to conflict resolution where mediative procedures are
applied in a set linear pattern until the last step of the signing of the agreement.
Transformative mediation, by contrast entails that even within the overall negotiation
framework, problems are dynamically managed as they appear. This is the principle of
flexibility that is necessary if one were to succeed in helping disputants transform
apparently intractable conflicts.
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