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[Bahá'í World News Service <bwns@bwc.org>]

Baha'i World News Service
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How everyone can win
BELLINGHAM, WASHINGTON, United States, 10 May 2005 (BWNS) -- In Western
countries, it is taken for granted that the best way to settle
political, economic, or legal differences is by putting two or more
sides together in a contest and letting one side win.

But the adversarial system has distinct flaws. There is always a
"winner" and a "loser."

Somewhere along the line, compromises are usually made, which may not be
in the best interests of the whole. And there is always the possibility
-- and an increasing one as corruption of various forms creeps into the
system -- that money or power will win out instead of truth or justice.

What if there is a better way?

Michael Karlberg's new book, "Beyond the Culture of Contest," calls into
the question the series of assumptions on which the adversarial system
is based, asking whether they are not more products of culture than of
our underlying nature.

It also offers a hopeful new model ("mutualism") in which
non-adversarial decision-making could become the norm.

Dr. Karlberg, an assistant professor of communication at Western
Washington University, criticizes the "assumption that contests are
normal and necessary models of social organization."

In Western societies, he writes, there are three "core institutions" of
society: politics, economics, and the legal system. Each is structured
as a contest, he writes, designed to pit various parties, interests, or
litigants against each other. And all three institutions are based on
the notion of self-interest as the primary motivation.

"The political arena has been structured much like the capitalist free
market," he writes. "It is an arena within which individuals, and the
parties they construct, try to advance their particular ideals and
interests in a self-interested and competitive manner."

The norm for adversarialism goes largely unquestioned, Dr. Karlberg
adds, because it has become part of Western "culture." And that has
occurred largely because of an assumption that human beings are by
nature essentially selfish and aggressive.

The key to re-evaluating the culture of contest, then, is to re-evaluate
our conception of human nature, Dr. Karlberg writes.

"Human beings appear to have the developmental potential for both
conflict and cooperation," he writes. "Which of these potentials is more
fully realized is largely a product of our cultural environment -- as
demonstrated by the fact that different societies vary considerably in
their expressions of conflict and cooperation."

Acknowledging that there will be a considerable number of skeptics who
will remain wedded to the idea of contest, competition, and the
efficiency of self-interest, Dr. Karlberg then examines various past and
present forms of "mutualism."

In particular, he suggests that the various strands for a new kind of
cooperative global culture are emerging in such areas as the feminist
and ecological movements, modern systems and communications theories,
and alternative systems for dispute resolution.

Ultimately, however, Dr. Karlberg suggests that none of these strands
can be fully integrated without an overall change in our culture as a
whole -- which, in turn, will require a re-conception of human nature
and social structures.

What is needed, Dr. Karlberg writes, is "an alternative cultural
formation" in which mutualism replaces adversarialism.

And he suggests a "case study" for such a model in the worldwide Baha'i
community, "which has over a century of experience applying
non-adversarial models...in an integrated and mutually reinforcing
manner."

With some five million members, organized into local self-governing
councils in more than 180 countries, Dr. Karlberg writes, the worldwide
Baha'i community can be seen as a "vast social experiment that is
testing the assumptions about human nature, social organization, and
social change" that prevail in the adversarial system.

Dr. Karlberg, who is a Baha'i, notes that the Baha'i community follows a
set of teachings that emphasizes cooperation, harmony, and unity.

Its institutional structures, he writes, are built around a non-partisan
yet fully democratic electoral system that embodies non-adversarialism
as one of its highest principles. In that system there are no
nominations, no campaigning, and no underlying concept of interest
groups or constituencies.

"The Baha'i electoral system embodies neither a contest nor the pursuit
of power," he writes. "In contrast to partisan electoral systems the
process is unifying rather than divisive. Since no one seeks election,
there is no concept of 'winning.' At the same time, the electoral
process remains eminently democratic."

Consultation

Dr. Karlberg also examines the principles of "consultation," the
non-adversarial decision-making system that is used by all Baha'i
institutions.

It seeks to "transcend the adversarial posturing and partisanship" and
"patterns of negotiation and compromise" that mark traditional
adversarial decision-making.

Dr. Karlberg writes that the history of the Baha'i community is, by and
large, a history of individual self-sacrifice and dedication to
collective interests, presenting a significant challenge to the
assumption that human nature is incorrigibly selfish and aggressive.

Dr. Karlberg  writes that the nature of global interdependence requires
just such new modes of mutualism and cooperation in human endeavor.

"Because our reproductive and technological success as a species has led
to conditions of unprecedented interdependence, no social group on the
planet is any longer isolated," writes Dr. Karlberg.

"Under these new conditions, new strategies are not only becoming
possible, they have become essential. An interdependent social body
cannot coordinate its collective actions as long as its component
members are locked in adversarial relationships."

(Review by Brad Pokorny.)

"Beyond the Culture of Contest: From Adversarialism to Mutualism in an
Age of Interdependence" by Michael Karlberg. George Ronald. Oxford.
http://www.grbooks.com