Making Sense of Intractable Multiparty Conflict: A Study of Framing in Four Environmental Disputes

Abstract

Intractable multiparty conflict is omnipresent in social life, but how do individuals in this type of dispute make sense of their situation and therefore enact it in a particular way? The current study investigated this question by examining how disputants from different stakeholder groups framed conflict situations in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, and Texas that revolved around environmental issues. Qualitative and quantitative analyses of interview transcripts and archival data suggested that, based on their framing similarities, disputants could be grouped together in four clusters, each implying a different framing repertoire. In turn, the analyses indicated that the repertoire differences between these clusters fueled the intractability of each dispute.

Keywords:

• Conflict
• Intractability
• Sensemaking
• Framing

This research project was funded by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation (#100431; #401588) and the National Science Foundation (#108705).

This research project was funded by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation (#100431; #401588) and the National Science Foundation (#108705).

Acknowledgements

We kindly thank Marshall Scott Poole for his advice on the statistical analyses used in this study, the members of the Consortium on the Framing of Intractable Environmental Conflict for sharing their ideas, Karen Lee Ashcraft, François Cooren, James Taylor, and Elizabeth Van Every for commenting on earlier drafts of this article (one of which was a top-four paper in the Organizational Communication Division at the 2005 meeting of the International Communication Association in New York), and Mike Allen and three anonymous reviewers for offering helpful suggestions.

Notes

This research project was funded by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation (#100431; #401588) and the National Science Foundation (#108705).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Boris H. J. M. Brummans

Boris H. J. M. Brummans (PhD, Texas A&M University) is an Assistant Professor in the Département de Communication, University de Montréal, Canada

Linda L. Putnam

Linda L. Putnam (PhD, University of Minnesota) is a Professor in the Department of Communication, University of California, Santa Barbara

Barbara Gray

Barbara Gray (PhD, Case Western Reserve University) is a Professor in the Management and Organization Department, The Pennsylvania State University

Ralph Hanke

Ralph Hanke (PhD, The Pennsylvania State University) is an Assistant Professor in the Management Department, Bowling Green State University

Roy J. Lewicki

Roy J. Lewicki (PhD, Columbia University) is the Irving Abramowitz Memorial Professor at The Ohio State University

Carolyn Wiethoff

Carolyn Wiethoff (PhD, The Ohio State University) is a Clinical Associate Professor of Management in the Kelley School of Business, Indiana University, Bloomington