Authored by Julie Hawke as part of the Accord by Conciliation Resources.
Technology holds particular promise as a means to reach the goal of inclusion in mediation and peace processes. Digital tools are able to address concrete barriers that otherwise hinder participation, such as geographic distance, language needs, limited access to information, low literacy, and siloed networks. Minimising these barriers, while also addressing political obstacles or objections, peacemakers can use technology to create inclusive processes that offer more equitable access and paths of participation to marginalised or otherwise excluded groups.
Yet digital tools also come with barriers of their own, creating new forms of harm and exclusion or threatening centralised or representative systems of power. It is therefore important to approach the use of technology with a critical lens, acknowledging and addressing such barriers in order to maximise technology’s strategic potential. This article explores the goal of inclusion through digital means, outlining the practice, promise, and latent perils of employing technology to further inclusion in dialogue and mediation processes.