Finding deliberative niches: a systemic approach to deliberation for conflict resolution
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Finding deliberative niches: a systemic approach to deliberation for conflict resolution Françoise Montambeault1 · Magdalena Dembinska1 · Martin Papillon1
© Springer Nature Limited 2019
Abstract The systemic turn in deliberative democracy theory seeks to connect specific deliberative exercises to the broader social and political context and processes of decision-making. However, it still lacks empirical foundations to capture the complexity of real-life deliberative processes. This is especially true in contexts where deliberation—at least in its pure idealized form—seems hardly possible, like in the case of deeply divided societies. Building on a systemic approach to deliberation, while addressing some of its critiques, this paper focuses on the preconditions that facilitate the emergence of more or less formal deliberative moments in deeply divided societies. We explore this question inductively through the study of a conflict over fisheries between settlers and Indigenous communities in Canada (Burnt Church/ Esgenoopetitj). We argue that in order for a deliberative niche to emerge, shifts in the equilibrium between the actors involved have to happen, either because of external pressures or because, as the case studied here suggests, because of endogenous transformations to the ecology of the conflict. Keywords Deliberative democracy · Systemic turn · Ecologies of conflict · Divided societies · Indigenous settlers conflict · Canada
Introduction The early literature on deliberative democracy focused on the normative value of deliberation and/or on micro-level empirical instances of deliberative commissions, forums, or institutions. The systemic turn in deliberative democracy * Françoise Montambeault [email protected] Magdalena Dembinska [email protected] Martin Papillon [email protected] 1
Political Science, Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada Vol.:(0123456789)
F. Montambeault et al.
theory advocated by Mansbridge et al. (Parkinson and Mansbridge 2013) seeks to connect specific deliberative experiments to the broader social and political context and processes of decision-making. However, as Avritzer and others recently emphasized in a symposium on the systemic turn (2016), deliberative system theory still lacks empirical foundations to capture the complexity of deliberative processes and how they interact with the broader political system. This is especially true in contexts where deliberation—at least in its pure idealized form— seems hardly possible. The case of deeply divided societies, where a long history of identity-based conflicts produces seemingly irreconcilable positions and interests, comes to mind. In theory, deliberative processes are particularly well suited to deal with ethnic group and identity-based conflicts (Gutmann and Thompson 1996). Under the right circumstances, where the various groups involved have a genuine opportunity to ‘hear the other side’, deliberation can transform individual subjectivities and modify perception of
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