The reconceptualisation of conflict management

Abstract

This article argues that there has been increasing inaccuracy in defining the concept of “conflict management”. The term has been given a far narrower meaning than it deserves. Historically, it has been understood to mean the containment or suspension of a conflict. The linguistic and conceptual meanings of “management” in disciplines such as “business management” are much wider than the conventional meaning of the term in conflict studies. Conflict management covers every action taken by the parties to the conflict to handle the situation. Therefore, the definition of the term should be extended to cover a whole discipline, which includes the initiation of a conflict, its escalation, the ensuing complications, containment, resolution and transformation as sub-topics.