KOSMOS LIVE podcast | Mark Gerzon, Mediation in a Time of Division
KOSMOS LIVE PODCAST SERIES Preparing for Profound Change
This podcast series, Preparing for Profound Change, explores the shifting global landscape and offers strategies for coping with what lies ahead. Economic turmoil, climate chaos, political upheaval – these may seem like forces to fear, but in fact offer us deep opportunities for transformation. Balancing a sober understanding of the of the collective challenges we face, with heart-centered response, calls for deep awakening by individuals, communities and societies. Our guests share their personal practices, strategies, and insights to help us manage our strong emotions and step forward to play positive proactive roles during these troubling times.
What skills, competencies and capacities will be most valued in the new world? How can our own inner practices keep us free from anxiety as we prepare body, mind and spirit for profound change?
Episode 2 – Mark Gerzon, Mediation in a Time of Division
AVAILABLE to Kosmos Community July 15th, 2017; Public July 21st, 2017
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Mark Gerzon is a leadership expert who convenes and facilitates conversations in high conflict areas. He works to close the divide and open the dialogue between opposing parties. Mark has advised the U.S. Congress, the World Economic Forum, UNDP, and many others. For the last 30 years has served as president of the Mediators Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to incubating projects that promote mutual understanding and the common good.
“The red light went on for me in America in 1996. That’s when I saw, “Uh-oh. We’re in trouble.” And as far as I can tell, we’ve never added oil to the engine of democracy since 1996. So we have 20 years of driving this car called democracy, trying to do all sorts of stuff but never putting any oil in it. Oil is trust…oil is trust.”
…if you want to be a mediator, you have to develop integral vision, which means literally seeing the whole picture, and then the second tool is thinking systemically. And we could illustrate that with any issue that we might pick today, whether it was immigration or what’s happening around the travel ban or the economy, or we could really pick any issue at all, and we’d find that many of the stakeholders, many of the partisans, they’ve never taken the time or the trouble to develop an integral vision and to think systemically about the problem.
…America is entering a period of a new, prolonged civil war. And we’ve never had a period in our entire history where we’ve been continually at war for a generation. It has just never happened. And we’ve been at war since 2001. And according to some people, it has no signs of ending, because when you have a war on terror, it could go on for the rest of our lives and our children’s lives. That’s a very different state of mind. And it has to be challenged on the global scale.”
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LINKS
Mark Gerzon’s Articles in Kosmos
Fall|Winter 2016
Can We Harness Conflict?
http://www.kosmosjournal.org/article/can-we-harness-conflict/
January 2016 Newsletter
We Were Global Citizens Before We Were Born
http://www.kosmosjournal.org/news/we-were-global-citizens-before-we-were-born/
January 2016 Newsletter
Transpartisan | A Working Definition
http://www.kosmosjournal.org/news/transpartisan-a-working-definition/
Fall|Winter 2009
Global Citizens, Part I
http://www.kosmosjournal.org/article/global-citizens-part-i/
Fall|Winter 2009
Global Citizens, Part II
http://www.kosmosjournal.org/article/global-citizens-part-ii/
Spring|Summer 2005
Global Passports: The Mark Gerzon Story
http://www.kosmosjournal.org/article/global-passports-the-mark-gerzon-story/
Important Links
Mark’s Website and Blog
http://www.markgerzon.com/
Mediators Foundation
http://mediatorsfoundation.org/
Founded by Mark to foster leadership for a peaceful, just and sustainable world by identifying, supporting and connecting visionary leaders working in the best interests of our small planet.
Mark Gerzon’s Books
Leading Through Conflict: How Successful Leaders Transform Differences into Opportunities
http://www.markgerzon.com/leading-through-conflict/
American Citizen, Global Citizen: How Expanding Our Identities Makes Us Safer, Stronger, Wiser—And Build a Better World
http://www.markgerzon.com/american-citizen-global-citizen/
The Reunited States of America: How We Can Bridge the Partisan Divide
http://www.markgerzon.com/the-reunited-states-of-america
Mentioned in the Podcast:
An Inconvenient Truth
https://www.algore.com/library/an-inconvenient-truth-dvd
Academy-award winning documentary about the dangers of our changing climate, featuring former presidential candidate Al Gore
The Passion of the Western Mind: Understanding the Ideas That Have Shaped Our World View by Rich Tarnas
http://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/176557/passion-of-the-western-mind-by-richard-tarnas/9780345368096/
A thorough look into the history of Western philosophical concepts
Bridge Alliance
http://www.bridgealliance.us/
“A diverse coalition of more than 80 respected established organizations committed to revitalizing democratic practice in America” reaching across party lines
CREDITS