“How can we constructively make room for emotions in the work we do?” The theme of the seventh edition of the State of Conflict conference, “Emotional Democracy,” organized by Public Mediation, could not have come at a more opportune moment. In the context of the US elections the day before and the start of the riots in Amsterdam on November 7th, the power and presence of emotions in political and public debate were strongly emphasized.

However, democratic processes are still too often considered rational. In the meantime, emotions are omnipresent and thus influence decision-making, demonstrations, debates, and more, consciously and unconsciously. Besides political decisions, emotions play an important role in how society unites and divides: they determine boundaries, connection, and escalation within and between groups. What happens if we learn to recognize emotions as essential building blocks of participation and justice, instead of dismissing them as irrational?

This question fueled the opening of the conference by Dr. Sara Cobb, the author of Speaking of Violence: The Politics and Poetics of Narrative in Conflict Resolution and a leading voice in the world of conflict resolution and mediation. In her research, she offers a narrative lens through which we can not only analyze conflict but also transform it. Cobb views conflicts as a struggle between different stories that give meaning to a set of events and “who did what.” These stories often follow fixed patterns and suppress the emotions and pain of marginalized groups. By listening to these emotions, Cobb suggests, we can create new stories and transform conflicts.

While the opening session sparked a redefinition of conflict and the role of emotion, participants, ranging from policymakers, academics, and students to mediators and environmental managers, worked on integrating emotions into democratic processes in various workshops. For instance, in their session “Making Space for Emotions and Working with Uncertainty,” Michelle Parlevliet and Dagmar Punter explored how creative visualization and Transformative Scenarios Processes can help break through entrenched emotions and create space for dialogue.

At the same time, Justus Vermeulen, Bouchra El Morabete, and Martien Kuitenbrouwer spoke about the municipality's experiences in dealing with emotions and creating calm after explosions at residential buildings in Amsterdam; Brunilda Pali talked about the emotions that arise in her work in restorative justice and interviews with victims of the childcare benefits scandal and how these can be translated into healing relationships and creating justice; and Femke Rosser and Martijn Dekker shared what it is like to channel strong emotions effectively during protests.

In the afternoon as well, various stories and practical tools for dealing with emotions were shared: the status of the wolf in the Netherlands (Frithjof de Haan and Boris de Jong), defusing conflicts and behaviors to work toward constructive solutions (David Laws, Zeineb Al-Itejawi and Fleur Ravensbergen), citizens who are labeled as “disengaged” (Eva Wolf and Barbara Koole), and how emotions can create both barriers and opportunities for effective public engagement (Christina Klubert and Timothy Stacey).

All in all, the seventh edition of the State of Conflict, in addition to providing a deeper understanding of emotions as a constructive factor in the daily practice of democratic processes, offered plenty of food for thought and inspiration to apply these guidelines in our own work.

The full descriptions of the sessions, an aftermovie, and the report from the seventh State of Conflict Conference can be found here.

Marketing & communications consultant

Amber Visch