Decolonizing Mediation

A call to action and hands-on guide, empowering communities to reclaim mediation as a liberatory practice and bridging activism and scholarship with tools for real-world transformation.

Decolonizing Mediation is an interdisciplinary and community-centered analysis of how the United States justice system has co-opted community-based mediation over the past 60 years. Originally born out of the Civil Rights era as a community tool for equity and dialogue, community mediation has been increasingly absorbed into the formal judicial system through resource dependency, shifting the focus from grassroots empowerment to institutional efficiency. Drawing on decolonization theory, structural violence, and conflict prevention, this book reveals how systems of power and knowledge shape the mediation field. It combines rich historical analysis with original qualitative data from 30+ mediation professionals across 16 U.S. states. A practical companion workbook, included as an appendix or separate workbook/guide and designed for use by mediation service providers, community mediation centers, and community leaders, offers tools to re-envision and regenerate community mediation. This work is timely, accessible, and deeply informed by practitioner-scholar experience. It is written to serve academics, graduate students, nonprofit professionals, policymakers, and community peacemakers.