From going between to working together: learning from structures and attitudes in South Africa's transition

Malan, Jannie

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Title:	From going between to working together: learning from structures and attitudes in South Africa's transition
Author:	Malan, Jannie
Year:	2013
Periodical:	African Journal on Conflict Resolution (ISSN 1562-6997)
Volume:	13
Issue:	3
Pages:	21-43
Language:	English
Geographic term:	South Africa
Subjects:	anti-apartheid resistance conflict resolution research centres biographies (form)
About person:	Hendrik Willem Van der Merwe (1929-2001)
External link:	https://www.accord.org.za/ajcr-issues/%ef%bf%bcfrom-going-between-to-working-together/
Abstract:	A brief overview of the life and work of the South African pioneer of conflict resolution Hendrik W. van der Merwe (1929-2001) is presented. In the old South Africa of apartheid, H.W. van der Merwe was one of the first white Afrikaners who took the risk of crossing the boundary which in the culture of his own group was upheld as divinely ordained. On account of the radical change in his socio-political convictions, and his resulting research and teaching, he was appointed as director of the Centre for Intergroup Studies, which aimed at improving intergroup relations through applied research and educational programmes. He also took the lead in founding the South African Association for Conflict Intervention (SAACI), an association for conflict intervention. His contribution to resolving the anti-apartheid struggle and the white-black conflict was not only a structural one, but also an attitudinal one, which enabled him to bring adversaries together. Van der Merwe's approach to mediation was one of non-partisanship, empowerment of the weaker party, and an emphasis on raising the parties' confidence in each other. Bibliogr., notes, ref., sum. [ASC Leiden abstract]

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