Conference article

The aim of this paper is to analyze to what extent social mediation can be regarded as a productive means of solving disputes between migrant communities bearing in mind the often structural roots of these conflicts. The analysis of social mediation and its relevance is further carried out in the explicit light of the concepts of inclusion and exclusion. What this paper is intended to show is that it is in the housing neighborhoods that the primary experience of inclusion can take place. No political right is enough if the people are deprived of their right to live in peace in their local communities. Being accepted as a full worthy agent in the local level can give migrants a sense of belonging and empower them also on other levels of the society. Also; as social mediation involves a direct encounter of the two parties the underlying differences can be taken into account yet making way for a shared understanding of the past conflict and of how to prevent them in the future.

Social mediation; restorative justice; migrants; conflict resolution; inclusion; exclusion; neighbourhoods