Hizkias Assefa,Paul Wahrhaftig
In 1985, police bombed the Philadelphia community occupied by members of the black counterculture group MOVE (short for â€œThe Movementâ€).Â  What began fifteen years earlier as a neighborhood squabble provoked by conflicting lifestyles ended in the destruction of sixty-one homes and the death of eleven residents - five of them children.Â  Some 250 people were left homeless.,Was this tragedy the only solution to the conflict?Â  Were John Africa and his morally and ecologically idealistic followers â€œtoo crazyâ€ to negotiate with?Â ,The authors interviewed MOVE members and their neighbors, third-party intervenors, and representatives of the Philadelpia administration in the 1970s, and draw on their own knowledge of the field of dispute resolution.Â  More than simply describing a terrible event, they examine the dynamics of conflict, analyzing attempts at third-party mediation and the possibility of resolution without violence.Â  Their analytical approach provides insight into other major conflicts, such as the problems of perception and misperception in U.S. - Iranian relations.,In an age when terrorism and hostage-taking are regular features on the six oâ€™clock news, their questioning of traditional views on negotiation with â€œirrationalâ€ adversaries is especially important.
Nonfiction,History,Politics
The MOVE Crisis in Philadelphia: Extremist Groups and Conflict Resolution