Has there been research on what interventions are effective at facilitating dialogue between social groups in conflict?
I remember an article about how during the last Israel-Gaza flare-up, Israelis and Palestinians were using the audio chatroom app Clubhouse to share their experiences and perspectives. This was portrayed as a phenomenon that increased dialogue and empathy between the two groups. But how effective was it? Could it generalize to other ethnic/religious conflicts around the world?
Joshua Greene recently came to Israel to explore extending their work aiming at bridging the Republican-Democrat divide in the US to the Israel-Palestine conflict. A 2020 video here.
There’s psychological research finding that both “extended contact” interventions and interventions that “encourage participants to rethink group boundaries or to prioritize common identities shared with specific outgroups” can reduce prejudice, so I can imagine the Clubhouse stuff working (and being cheap + scalable).
Content warning: Israel/Palestine
Has there been research on what interventions are effective at facilitating dialogue between social groups in conflict?
I remember an article about how during the last Israel-Gaza flare-up, Israelis and Palestinians were using the audio chatroom app Clubhouse to share their experiences and perspectives. This was portrayed as a phenomenon that increased dialogue and empathy between the two groups. But how effective was it? Could it generalize to other ethnic/religious conflicts around the world?
Although focused on civil conflicts, Lauren Gilbert’s shallow explores some possible interventions in this space, including:
Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration (DDR) Programs
Community-Driven Development
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Cash Transfers and/or Job Training
Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR)
Contact Interventions and Mass Media
Investigative Journalism
Mediation and Diplomacy
Copenhagen Consensus has some older work on what might be cost-effective to preventing armed conflicts, like this paper.
Joshua Greene recently came to Israel to explore extending their work aiming at bridging the Republican-Democrat divide in the US to the Israel-Palestine conflict. A 2020 video here.
There’s psychological research finding that both “extended contact” interventions and interventions that “encourage participants to rethink group boundaries or to prioritize common identities shared with specific outgroups” can reduce prejudice, so I can imagine the Clubhouse stuff working (and being cheap + scalable).
https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/re6FsKPgbFgZ5QeJj/effective-strategies-for-changing-public-opinion-a#Prejudice_reduction_strategies