The Neutrality Trap

Racism, oppression, global warming--our world seems to be mired in complex, intractable issues with no clear way forward. But maybe we are looking for a light at the end of the wrong tunnel? We may be looking to resolve our differences and find solutions to our problems too quickly, when instead we need to deepen and intensify our conflicts and prepare for an extended effort to confront the systems that have created and perpetuated them. The message at the heart of The Neutrality Trap is that the wisest and ultimately most effective way to deal with our most profound problems is to avoid the lure of easy solutions or premature peace. We need to reach out across our differences but we also need to disrupt the forces that sustain the exploitation of people and the environment. Holding the tension between connecting and disrupting is crucial if we are to confront the social issues we face. We need to engage and talk with one another, but for real change to happen, we also need the wake-up calls of disruption and disorder. Authors Bernard Mayer and Jacqueline N. Font-Guzmán are highly acclaimed conflict specialists whose stories, experiences, and research make this book a rewarding read for anyone serious about confronting our most daunting problems. They challenge all of us to embrace the potential we have to further social progress and caution us to be aware of the danger of reflexively calling for dialogue without also recognizing the necessity for disrupting regressive systems and building social movements. Reflecting on their own experiences as mediators and activists and drawing on the lessons of historic and contemporary social movements, they present a guide for how both disruption and dialogue are essential, if at times uneasy, allies in the struggle for social progress. The Neutrality Trap helps readers to understand the deep issues of power, privilege, and identity in our contemporary societal conflicts. Those who want to be both agents of change and promoters of peace can learn how to address issues of race, gender, and colonialism. The authors ask us to reconsider our reliance on neutrality, objectivity, and professionalism and instead commit ourselves to justice, equity, and genuine connection. Readers will come away from this remarkable read with a sense of why conflict endures, how the systemic roots of oppression are perpetuated, and how we can "get into good trouble" by disrupting the status quo and becoming leaders and allies for change.