Charlie Irvine

I wrote this piece for Strathclyde Mediation Clinic after a series of conversations with new and learner mediators. Some surprised me with their passivity in the face of parties' lack of knowledge…

'Because you're distant, forgive me for being a little bit bossy' (Paddy O'Connell, BBC Radio 4's Broadcasting House) After plying their trade for a while mediators (and broadcasters) develop a…

"Racially discriminatory behavior may be reduced more effectively when racial issues are made salient rather than ignored or obscured." (1) This week I've been thinking about white privilege. Ok, my…

'He who would do good to another must do it in Minute Particulars' (William Blake, Jerusalem) The coronavirus pandemic deals its cards very unevenly. Some individuals get it lightly, if at all, and…

(This blog is adapted from a longer version published by Prof John Lande as part of Theories of Change for the Dispute Resolution Movement: Actionable Ideas to Revitalize Our Movement. The Theory of…

Twice today I've found myself responding to mediator reflections in these terms: the money's not about the money. Both cases involved financial negotiation, even haggling, but that's deceptive. The…

O wad some Power the giftie gie us To see oursels as ithers see us! It wad frae mony a blunder free us, An' foolish notion. Robert Burns Those of us at the 'Br' end of the Brexit negotiation find it…

(I first wrote about mediation's values 12 years ago at the tail end of a Masters in Conflict Resolution and Mediation Studies.(1) Two years of study had convinced me that it is our values, rather…

   To paraphrase a worldwide cliché, you wait decades for a Mediation Act and two come along at once. On this typically dreich Scottish summer afternoon I find myself in the surprising position of…