Drawing on an ethnographic study in a multicultural city of Arabs and Jews in Israel, this book examines the models and expressions of power implicated in discourse and conflict resolution practices in cross cultural contemporary community. The author explores community politics expressed in daily life as a contextual background to the analysis of conflict resolution politics, exploring perspectives of state and civic stakeholders. Through case analysis, and addressing the individual, organisational and societal levels, Dr Li-On illustrates that conflict resolution is dominated by politics, with culture, ethnicity, and identity playing a significant role; disputing groups rely on conflict resolution to achieve contesting socio-political goals. The book explores core concerns in the field, illustrating obstacles, challenges and opportunities confronting informal justice in contemporary communities. Informal Justice in Contemporary Society is motivated by the field's research-practice gap and the lack of real world impact research in cross-cultural settings. The book contributes insights towards theory refinement and conflict resolution practice by addressing practical issues confronted by mediators in the field. This innovative research path introduces a holistic approach to the study of informal justice in social context, deploying multilevel ethnographic analysis to broaden the perspectives and understanding of conflict resolution in contemporary communities. Locally, it provides insights into conflict resolution in Israel in a mixed city of Arabs and Jews. This book belongs on the reference shelf of essential reading for educators, researchers and practitioners in conflict resolution and social studies, including anthropological, community, legal and cultural fields.

The Politics of Informal Justice

Drawing on an ethnographic study in a multicultural city of Arabs and Jews in Israel, this book examines the models and expressions of power implicated in discourse and conflict resolution practices in cross cultural contemporary community. The author explores community politics expressed in daily life as a contextual background to the analysis of conflict resolution politics, exploring perspectives of state and civic stakeholders. Through case analysis, and addressing the individual, organisational and societal levels, Dr Li-On illustrates that conflict resolution is dominated by politics, with culture, ethnicity, and identity playing a significant role; disputing groups rely on conflict resolution to achieve contesting socio-political goals. The book explores core concerns in the field, illustrating obstacles, challenges and opportunities confronting informal justice in contemporary communities. Informal Justice in Contemporary Society is motivated by the field's research-practice gap and the lack of real world impact research in cross-cultural settings. The book contributes insights towards theory refinement and conflict resolution practice by addressing practical issues confronted by mediators in the field. This innovative research path introduces a holistic approach to the study of informal justice in social context, deploying multilevel ethnographic analysis to broaden the perspectives and understanding of conflict resolution in contemporary communities. Locally, it provides insights into conflict resolution in Israel in a mixed city of Arabs and Jews. This book belongs on the reference shelf of essential reading for educators, researchers and practitioners in conflict resolution and social studies, including anthropological, community, legal and cultural fields.

This title was first published in 2002: This volume explores conceptual debates and provides contemporary research in the field of informal criminal justice, including chapters on paramilitary "punishment" and post-cease-fire restorative justice schemes in Northern Ireland, post-apartheid vigilantism in South Africa, and informal crime management in England.

Informal forms of justice such as mediation have been greeted enthusiastically as progress from the punishment model of justice -- and criticised as broadening rather than narrowing the reach of the criminal justice system. Here the contributors assess the evidence and re-appraise the theory of informalism.

The 'reparational turn' in the field of law has resulted in the increased use of so-called 'informal' approaches to conflict resolution, including primarily the three mechanisms considered in this book: mediation, restorative justice and reparations. While proponents of these mechanisms have acclaimed their communicative and democratic promise, critics have charged that mediation, restorative justice and reparations all potentially serve as means for encouraging citizens to internalize and mimic the rationalities of governance. Indeed, the critics suggest that informal justice's supposed oppositional relationship to formal justice is, at base, a mutually reinforcing one, in which each system relies on the other for its effective operation, rather than the two being locked in a struggle for dominance. This book contributes to the discussion of the confluence of informal and formal justice by providing a clearer picture of the justice 'field' through the notion of the 'informal/formal justice complex.' This term, adapted from Garland and Sparks (2000), describes a cultural formation in which adversarial/punitive and conciliatory/restorative justice forms coexist in relative harmony despite their apparent contradictions. Situating this complex within the context of neoliberalism, this book identifies the points of rupture in the informal/formal justice complex to pinpoint how and where a truly alternative and 'transformative' justice (i.e. a justice that challenges and counters the hegemony of formal legal practices, opening the field of law to a broader array of actors and ideas) might be established through the tools of mediation, restorative justice and reparations.

An authoritative survey of different contexts, methodologies, and theories of applied communication The field of Applied Communication Research (ACR) has made substantial progress over the past five decades in studying communication problems, and in making contributions to help solve them. Changes in society, human relationships, climate and the environment, and digital media have presented myriad contexts in which to apply communication theory. The Handbook of Applied Communication Research addresses a wide array of contemporary communication issues, their research implications in various contexts, and the challenges and opportunities for using communication to manage problems. This innovative work brings together the diverse perspectives of a team of notable international scholars from across disciplines. The Handbook of Applied Communication Research includes discussion and analysis spread across two comprehensive volumes. Volume one introduces ACR, explores what is possible in the field, and examines theoretical perspectives, organizational communication, risk and crisis communication, and media, data, design, and technology. The second volume focuses on real-world communication topics such as health and education communication, legal, ethical, and policy issues, and volunteerism, social justice, and communication activism. Each chapter addresses a specific issue or concern, and discusses the choices faced by participants in the communication process. This important contribution to communication research: Explores how various communication contexts are best approached Addresses balancing scientific findings with social and cultural issues Discusses how and to what extent media can mitigate the effects of adverse events Features original findings from ongoing research programs and original communication models and frameworks Presents the best available research and insights on where current research and best practices should move in the future A major addition to the body of knowledge in the field, The Handbook of Applied Communication Research is an invaluable work for advanced undergraduate students, graduate students, and scholars.

The infusion of digital technology into contemporary society has had significant effects for everyday life and for everyday crimes. Digital Criminology: Crime and Justice in Digital Society is the first interdisciplinary scholarly investigation extending beyond traditional topics of cybercrime, policing and the law to consider the implications of digital society for public engagement with crime and justice movements. This book seeks to connect the disparate fields of criminology, sociology, legal studies, politics, media and cultural studies in the study of crime and justice. Drawing together intersecting conceptual frameworks, Digital Criminology examines conceptual, legal, political and cultural framings of crime, formal justice responses and informal citizen-led justice movements in our increasingly connected global and digital society. Building on case study examples from across Australia, Canada, Europe, China, the UK and the United States, Digital Criminology explores key questions including: What are the implications of an increasingly digital society for crime and justice? What effects will emergent technologies have for how we respond to crime and participate in crime debates? What will be the foundational shifts in criminological research and frameworks for understanding crime and justice in this technologically mediated context? What does it mean to be a ‘just’ digital citizen? How will digital communications and social networks enable new forms of justice and justice movements? Ultimately, the book advances the case for an emerging digital criminology: extending the practical and conceptual analyses of ‘cyber’ or ‘e’ crime beyond a focus foremost on the novelty, pathology and illegality of technology-enabled crimes, to understandings of online crime as inherently social. Twitter: @DigiCrimRMIT ‏