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EASP – European Association of Social Psychology

New Publications by Members

11.08.2017, by Sibylle Classen in publication

Alon, I., & Bar-Tal, D. (Eds.) (2017). The role of trust in conflict resolution: The Israeli-Palestinian case and beyond. Cham, Switzerland: Springer

Built on the premise that trust is one of the most important factors in intergroup relations, conflict management and resolution at large, this volume explores trust and its mechanisms and operations especially in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Significantly, this volume focuses not only on the nature of trust and distrust in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but it also explores how it is possible to build and increase trust on both sides in the conflict, a necessity in order to advance the stalled peace process.

As trust is a concept that is interdisciplinary by nature, so are this volume’s contributors: sociologists, philosophers, sociologists, social psychologists, political scientists, as well as experts in the Middle East, Islam, Judaism and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict bring together real multidisciplinary perspectives that complement each other and then provide a comprehensive picture about the nature of trust and distrust and its ramification and implications for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Divided into five thematic parts, the volume begins with by examining the theoretical basis of trust research from multiple perspectives. Then, it presents chapters on trust, distrust, and trust-building in other conflicts around the world. The third part is a unique feature of this volume as it takes a contextual approach: it emphasizes the importance of particular cultural and religious considerations on both sides of the conflict. The thrust of the book is examined in the next section. Part IV discusses and analyses various aspects of trust, and specifically distrust, in the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Significantly, the chapters of this part take the perspectives of the participants in the conflict: Israeli Jews, Palestinians and Israeli Arabs.
Finally, the volume concludes by providing an integrative conceptual perspective based on the principles of social and political psychology. An important goal of this volume is to not only explore trust and distrust in an intractable conflict, but also to provide practical multi-disciplinary outlooks and implications to advance trust building in two conflict ridden societies—Israeli and Palestinian, and other societies around the world.

Contents
Introduction
Ilai Alon and Daniel Bar-Tal--Trust and Distrust: Introduction
Part I – Theoretical Aspects: Trust in Conflict Resolution
Joseph Agassi-- The Philosophy of Trust.
Piotr Sztompka--Two Theoretical Approaches to Trust - Their Implications for the Resolution of Intergroup Conflict.
Ramzi Suleiman--Effects of Expectations, Unfairness, and Prior Injustice on Trust Honoring. A Behavioral Game-Theoretic Approach.

Part II - The Comparative Aspect: Achievement of Trust in Other Conflicts.
Mary Fitzduf-- Lessons Learned on Trust Building in Northern Ireland.
Dinka Corkalo Biruski--Determinants of Post-Conflict Trust: The Role of Ethnic Identity, Personal and Collective Victimization and Intergroup Emotions.

Part III – The Cultural-Religious Aspect: Trust in Islam and Judaism
Ilai Alon--Some Comments of Language as a Barrier for Trust in Arabic-Speaking Islam.
Ishay Rosen-Zvi--Usual Suspects: On Trust, Doubt and Ethnicity in the Mishnah.

Part IV – Distrust in the Israeli–Palestinian Conflict
Israeli Jewish-Palestinian Perspective
Asher Susser--Historical Narratives and the Issue of Trust.
Amal Jamal--Trust, Ethics and Intentionality in Conflict Transformation and Reconciliation
Israeli Jewish Perspective
Galia Golan--Trust as a Factor in Israeli Peace Negotiations.
Ephraim Yuchtman-Yaar--The Problems of Trust in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict.
Daniel Bar-Tal, Amiram Raviv, Paz Shapira and Dennis Kahn--Lay Psychology of Trust/Distrust and Beyond in the Context of an Intractable Conflict: The Case of Israeli Jews.
Yehudit Auerbuch--Lack of Trust as a Barrier to Reconciliation in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Attitudes of Israeli (Jewish) Elite Members Toward Reconciliation with the Palestinians.
Palestinian Perspective
Yohanan Tzoreff--The Perception of Trust among Palestinians.
Walid Salem--Trust and Confidence Building in the Israeli Palestinian Peace Negotiations.
Israeli Jewish and Israeli Arab Perspective
Sammy Smooha--Distrust and Discord on the Israeli-Arab Conflict between Arabs and Jews in Israel.

Conclusion
Daniel Bar-Tal and Ilai Alon-- Socio-Psychological Approach to Trust (or Distrust): Concluding Comments