The Interrupters is a new film from Steve James (Hoop Dreams) and Alex Kotlowitz (There Are No Children Here) about the work of CeaseFire's Violence Interrupters (previously), who work to prevent violence in Chicago with direct intervention and mediation. The film follows Ameena Matthews, the daughter of of a notorious gang leader; Eddie Bocanegra, who teaches art to children and is driven by remorse for a murder he committed when he was seventeen; and the charismatic Cobe Williams, who recently joined James and Kotlowitz for an interview with WFMT's Andrew Patner. Some of the videos contain strong language and scenes of violence.
posted by hydrophonic on Aug 10, 2011 - 10 comments

Conflict resolution: Western and Islamic Mediation approaches.
posted by semmi on Oct 6, 2002 - 6 comments

Is a 'Pax Americana' possible? And if it is possible, is it a good thing or a bad thing? It depends on who you ask. And if not the US, then who? Europe has neither the force of arms nor the political cohesiveness. China seems to be the only other contender, but it begs the question: should America even try to mediate world disputes, or intervene when (and only when) our national interests are at stake?
posted by mrmanley on Aug 14, 2002 - 28 comments

Kofi Annan mediates between muppet rivals and says that "diplomats could learn a thing or two from its characters." Muppets in politics seem to be emblematic of the current conflicts these days...
posted by readymade on Dec 14, 2001 - 10 comments

"The Web, left to its own devices, would be the exact opposite of that: It's like a giant city with no neighborhoods; it needs these kind of meta-filters, these second-level kind of things, whether it is Yahoo or Google or Slashdot, to rein in that chaos and turn it to something more organized." From the second page of an interview with the author of Emergence, Steven Johnson (also co-founder of Feed).
posted by adrianhon on Nov 28, 2001 - 10 comments