Synopses & Reviews
A Groundbreaking Book
"The Barretts historical perspective demonstrates vividly that the ADR movement stems from roots that are deep and long-standing. The book is an informative treatise that highlights ADRs diverse precursors, as well as its dramatic recent expansion and future promise."
Charles Pou, Jr., Charles Pou Dispute Resolution Services, Washington, D.C.; former director, Dispute Resolution Program, Administrative Conference of the U.S.
"This books important messagethat dispute resolutions proponents need to pay more attention to the fields surprisingly long and checkered historyis illustrated by a trove of wide-ranging and lively stories."
Chris Honeyman, mediator, arbitrator, and founder, Convenor Conflict Resolution, Madison, Wisconsin
"Barrett provides a fascinating account of the history of dispute resolution. From ancient Greece to the twenty-first century, sustainable solutions to conflicting interests have seldom resulted from raw exercise of power."
John Stepp, former FMCS mediator and former assistant secretary of labor, Washington, D.C.
"For senior practitioners as well as those new to the ADR community, Barretts book makes an important contribution to an understanding of where this dynamic field has been and what lies ahead for it."
Wallace Warfield, associate professor, George Mason University, Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution, and former president of SPIDR, Fairfax, Virginia
"Anyone who cares about alternative dispute resolution and its historical roots must read Jerry Barretts excellent book. Here is someone who was there, almost at the creation, and who has seen how this field has grown, expanded, and changed and who has made great contributions to this field."
Eileen Hoffman, mediator, trainer, adjunct professor of ADR, George Washington University Law School, and former SPIDR president, Washington, D.C.
"Finally, a history of our growing profession! Anyone who negotiates, mediates, arbitrates, or leads collaborative or consensus-building efforts will learn from this fascinating history of one of the oldest professional activitiesorganizing dialogue and making peace."
Juliana E. Birkhoff, senior mediator, RESOLVE, Washington, D.C.
Review
“The Barretts’ historical perspective demonstrates vividly that the ‘ADR movement’ stems from roots that are deep and long-standing. The book is an informative treatise that highlights ADR’s diverse precursors, as well as its dramatic recent expansion and future promise.”
--Charles Pou, Jr., Charles Pou Dispute Resolution Services, Washington, D.C.; former director, Dispute Resolution Program, Administrative Conference of the U.S.
“This book’s important message--that dispute resolution’s proponents need to pay more attention to the field’s surprisingly long and checkered history--is illustrated by a trove of wide-ranging and lively stories.”
--Chris Honeyman, mediator, arbitrator, and founder, Convenor Conflict Resolution, Madison, Wisconsin
“Barrett provides a fascinating account of the history of dispute resolution. From ancient Greece to the twenty-first century, sustainable solutions to conflicting interests have seldom resulted from raw exercise of power.”
--John Stepp, former FMCS mediator and former assistant secretary of labor, Washington, D.C.
“For senior practitioners as well as those new to the ADR community, Barrett’s book makes an important contribution to an understanding of where this dynamic field has been and what lies ahead for it.”
--Wallace Warfield, associate professor, George Mason University, Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution and former president of SPIDR, Fairfax, Virginia
“Anyone who cares about alternative dispute resolution and its historical roots must read Jerry Barrett’s excellent book. Here is someone who was there, almost at the creation, and who has seen how this field has grown, expanded, and changed and who has made great contributions to this field.”
--Eileen Hoffman, mediator, trainer, adjunct professor of ADR, George Washington University Law School and former SPIDR president, Washington, D.C.
“Finally, a history of our growing profession! Anyone who negotiates, mediates, arbitrates, or leads collaborative or consensus-building efforts will learn from this fascinating history of one of the oldest professional activities--organizing dialogue and making peace.”
--Juliana E. Birkhoff, senior mediator, RESOLVE, Washington, D.C.
Synopsis
A History of Alternative Dispute Resolution offers a comprehensive review of the various types of peaceful practices for resolving conflicts. Written by Jerome Barrett—a longtime practitioner, innovator, and leading historian in the field of ADR—and his son Joseph Barrett, this volume traces the evolution of the ADR process and offers an overview of the precursors to ADR, including negotiation, arbitration, and mediation. The authors explore the colorful beginnings of ADR using illustrative examples from prehistoric Shaman through the European Law Merchant. In addition, the book offers the historical context for the use of ADR in the arenas of diplomacy and business.
Synopsis
Although the use of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) has increased dramatically in the past forty years, various forms of conflict resolution have been used successfully for centuries by people around the globefrom ancient Greeks to the Kalahari Bushmen.
A History of Alternative Dispute Resolution offers a comprehensive review of the various types of peaceful practices for resolving conflicts. Written by Jerome Barretta longtime practitioner, innovator, and leading historian in the field of ADRand his son Joseph Barrett of the Wall Street Journal, this volume traces the evolution of the ADR process and offers an overview of the precursors to ADR, including negotiation, arbitration, and mediation. The authors explore the colorful beginnings of ADR using illustrative examples from prehistoric Shaman through the European Law Merchant. In addition, the book offers the historical context for the use of ADR in the arenas of diplomacy and business.
While exploring dispute resolution in other cultures, the book also offers an insightful examination of ADR in the United States. The authors discuss ADR in the context of Americas Civil War and clearly illustrate both the limits and the promise of ADR. The book discusses the early struggles among the railroad workers and coal miners that first opened the possibility of ADR use and the passage of the Railroad Labor Act and the National Labor Relations Act, which guaranteed the rights of workers and provided for conflict resolution processes. It also explores the expansion of ADR to other disputes, including the civil rights movement and the cultural revolution of the 1960s, and on to the flowering of ADR in the past two decades in our communities, businesses, schools, and government agencies.
A History of Alternative Dispute Resolution clearly demonstrates that ADR has been successful in the past and can be our hope for the future.
About the Author
Jerome T. Barrett–historian, writer, arbitrator, trainer, and mediator–writes a history column for ACResolution quarterly magazine and has served as historian of SPIDR and FMCS.
Joseph P. Barrett is a senior special writer for Page One at the Wall Street Journal.
Table of Contents
Foreword (William J. Usery).
Preface.
List of Acronyms.
ADR Timeline.
1. The Roots of ADR: The Deciding Stone to the European Law Merchant.
2. Diplomatic ADR: Akhenaton to Woodrow Wilson.
3. ADR Comes to America: The Precolonial Period to the Ten-Hour Day.
4. The Civil War: The Limits and the Promise of ADR.
5. Commercial and Business ADR: The Phoenicians to the American Arbitration Association.
6. Employee and Union Struggles: Reconstruction to the Coal Wars.
7. Trains and a World War: Pulling ADR into the Twentieth Century.
8. Labor-Management ADR, 1920–1945: Bust and Boom.
9. After the War: Taft-Hartley to the Steel Trilogy.
10. Branching Out: ADR in the 1960s.
11. New Rights and New Forms: ADR in the 1970s.
12. Outside the Federal Realm: New Groups Pick Up the ADR Torch.
13. Crisis and Rebirth: Labor-Management ADR in the 1980s.
14. The Era of Win-Win: Nonlabor ADR Becomes a Force of Its Own.
15. The Great Expansion: ADR in the 1990s.
16. ADR and the Twenty-First Century: Threats and Hopes.
Bibliography.
About the Authors.
Index.