Die Kunst des Konflikts

Klaus Eidenschink demonstrates in this book how conflict art can succeed. To achieve this, we must understand that conflicts are independent social processes that have an indelible social function and exert a tremendous influence on the individuals involved. Conflicts bring about change by dissolving existing orders and establishing new ones. People, groups, and organizations must possess the competence to initiate as well as to resolve conflicts.

Klaus Eidenschink dispels the illusion of being able to "solve" conflicts. He presents social conflicts in the tradition of modern system theory as self-sustaining processes. Their self-stabilization is illustrated through nine guiding distinctions. Contradictory communication and its dynamics are depicted and justified within the three dimensions of meaning according to Niklas Luhmann. From this, Eidenschink consistently derives the communicative skills that individuals need to regulate conflicts. This regulatory competence requires a self and external perception that can be meaningfully reflected upon and further developed using the guiding distinctions.