Rethinking the Professionalization of Peace Mediation

This chapter comments on the changes experienced in the field of peace mediation as a result of the increased professionalisation and regulation of the field in the past decade. These processes deeply affect the practice of peace mediation, and yet it is as yet unclear whether and how professionalisation and regulation affect the outcomes of mediated negotiations. The chapter examines the ways in which the major paradigm shift from a traditional reliance on individualised, non-transferable skills to nuanced mediation expertise has changed, or not, the field of peace mediation. It argues that professionalisation has tested the field and its ability to co-operatively improve its own practices, and suggests a model for ‘sorting out’ the status quo and readjusting mediation as a form of conflict resolution.