Organizational Adaptation and Survival in a Hostile and Unfavorable Environment: Peacebuilding Organizations in Israel and Palestine

Research Note: Integrative Ties as an Approach to Managing Organizational Conflict

“…Whether an organization becomes engulfed in confl ict or fails rests not only on the quality of the strategies used to manage the confl icts but also on whether the integrative ties are strong enough to withstand disagreements. Gamson and Modigliani's (1963) theory on integrative ties was published fi fty years ago and has received very little attention in the confl ict management and resolution literature (except Gawerc 2006Gawerc , 2012Gawerc , 2013. Having highlighted studies that provide evidence for their theory, this research note urges consideration of this complementary approach to understanding confl ict and confl ict management for a more comprehensive and holistic understanding of the ways in which organizations can mitigate and manage confl ict.…”

“…Indeed, I studied twelve organizations, and the actions they took to strengthen these ties varied. Th e following actions were critical: communicating honestly and openly, discussing expectations, showing a true commitment to change the situation, recognizing the needs of one's partners, being aware of the power relations between the groups, and making decisions jointly (see Gawerc 2012Gawerc , 2013.…”

Constructing a Collective Identity Across Conflict Lines: Joint Israeli-Palestinian Peace Movement Organizations*

“…While it is more challenging to conduct these educational events in Palestine (due to the Palestinian taboo against any normalizing of relations between Palestinians and Israelis until the occupation ends, and the unfortunate reality that these events are often characterized in Palestinian society as normalization), these lectures do, in fact, occur in Palestine, with the goal of recruiting more Palestinians to join the movement (Mi'Ari 1999;Gawerc 2012Gawerc , 2013. In these meetings, the Palestinians in the organization seek to convey to their society their belief that this joint work is a critical component of the larger nonviolent struggle to end the military occupation, as it encourages Israelis to withdraw their support from the military occupation of the Palestinian territories.…”

“…Israelis an ultimatum: asking that the organization become joint and the Israelis start to work more equally, or they would leave the organization (Gawerc 2012). Throughout its lifetime, however, the organization has been engaged in lectures in schools and community centers, and members have occasionally been brought together for different projects and events, often involving storytelling.…”

“…This endeavor means reaching a shared definition of who "we" are, including a mutual understanding of goals, strategies, and the environment in which they operate (Hunt and Benford 2004;Melucci 1995). This is especially challenging for movement organizations that work across deep rifts and power asymmetries (Breines 1982(Breines , 2006Bystydzienski and Schacht 2001b;Flesher-Fominaya 2010b;Gawerc 2012;Kurtz 2002). Movement organizations in the U.S. and elsewhere have long faced these challenges in terms of race, class, and gender (Breines 2006;Kurtz 2002;Meier and Rudwick 1975;Piatelli 2009) and these issues are becoming more relevant with groups increasingly organizing transnationally (Kay 2010;Nepstad 2001;Smith 2007).…”