Of Babies and Bathwater: Innovation and Continuity in Negotiation Pedagogy

Abstract

The authors admit a strong preference for preservation of the baby. They present a cogent argument that contrary to the imagery sometimes used in the Rethinking Negotiation Teaching (RNT) project, there has been no sharp 1.0 to 2.0 divide, no sudden shift in our collective thinking about what our field contains or should teach. Rather, they point out, the teachings of the field have evolved steadily and gradually over several decades, with at least the better courses regularly incorporating aspects of the new research. The whole “Negotiation 2.0” concept, they argue, thus runs the risk of undermining that continuity, and implying instead that some of the core concepts that have proven to be widely applicable around the field and around the world are now to be distrusted. The authors also object cogently to a second potential consequence of this imagery: that the hard-won learning of many generations in older societies about how people should deal with each other is now to be distrusted, seen as out of fashion, and even replaced entirely by a set of imported concepts that may be largely unsuited to the culture importing them.

Keywords: negotiation, conflict, negotiation styles, negotiation pedagogy, negotiation teaching