Putting down the light sabers: Mitchell Hamline brings dispute resolution to Star Wars in new book

Those are the droids you’re looking for… to try to resolve things amicably.

More dialogue, less ‘pew pew pew’

Luke Skywalker’s galaxy may be far, far away but “Force”-ful lessons for settling differences in this world abound in “Star Wars and Conflict Resolution: There Are Alternatives to Fighting.”

The book is the latest publication from Mitchell Hamline’s nationally ranked Dispute Resolution Institute and its publishing arm, DRI Press. It soared close to the top of the best-selling conflict resolution titles on Amazon when it launched in December, according to Professor Sharon Press, who directs the institute and oversees the press.

“For those of us in the field who really want people to understand what we do and to learn more about the concepts of positive conflict resolution, it’s an amazing, fun, and accessible way to get these ideas in front of people,” said Press.

The book, a collection of contributing articles from legal and other expert minds across the galaxy, examines sources of conflict and strategies for resolving conflict through Star Wars case studies and characters, from Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader to Wookiees and Ewoks. Instead of debating whether Han Solo shot first, perhaps the better question is whether that conflict in the cantina over debts could have been avoided altogether.

The book “Star Wars and Conflict Resolution” is published by the DRI Press at Mitchell Hamline School of Law.

Chapter titles include “Lightsabers and Fighting Styles;” “Tricking the Jedi Mind: Unconscious Bias in Conflict;” and “Are Emotions the Path to the Dark Side?”

Producing the anthology, Press said, was a dream of co-editors Noam Ebner and Jen Reynolds. Ebner teaches negotiation and conflict resolution at Creighton University’s Heider College of Business. Reynolds is professor, associate dean for academic affairs, and faculty director of the Appropriate Dispute Resolution Center at the University of Oregon School of Law.

DRI Press primarily serves a highly specialized legal and academic community. But with a tie-in to a content franchise that has a legion of die-hard fans, the Star Wars book has greater commercial potential than usual, according to Press.

“We didn’t set out to sell unpopular books, of course, but we also never set out to sell popular books,” she said. “Our focus is the field, and we typically publish books on topics of interest to conflict resolution theorists and practitioners.

“DRI Press is a place where people can publish and find important, ground-breaking work in conflict resolution that might otherwise not be published.”

The Star Wars book continues to sell well and is reasonably priced around 15 dollars, as requested by the editors. “No other publisher is going to be willing to do things at that margin,” said Press.

Reynolds, who also wrote the chapter “On Not Using (the) Force: Resolving Conflict with Mediation,” said the book combines her love and Ebner’s for Star Wars and their “desire to teach people how to more productively manage their conflicts.”

Discussing conflict in a Star Wars context can make watching the movies more interesting. “Before you know it, you’re having a conversation about models and methods and strategies and conflict styles and conflict dynamics,” Reynolds said. “You can then turn those same skills back into your own life.”

Take, for example, the scene noted earlier where Han Solo shoots Greedo, a bounty hunter. In their chapter titled “Han Shot First: The Ethics of First Strike,” contributors Deborah Cai and Emily Cai explore where earthly laws and considerations might fall.

Professor Sharon Press is director of the Dispute Resolution Institute at Mitchell Hamline.

From Han’s point of view, a deadly attack may have seemed imminent and, therefore, his reaction was necessary. But from Greedo’s point of view, he may have assumed that Han would come quietly in a public place like the cantina and no vio­lence would be required.

The authors also note there are differences in how laws look at military first strikes by nation-states versus first strikes in a personal dispute among individuals.

And just like the movie franchise, a sequel to this book–nicknamed “Episode II”–is in the works.

Founded in 1991, Mitchell Hamline’s Dispute Resolution Institute is ranked fifth this year among dispute resolution law programs, according to U.S. News & World Report. DRI Press published its first books in 2009 under the leadership of Professor James Coben, who directed the institute from 2000 to 2009.

Many law schools have dispute resolution programs, Press said, and more likely are on the way because of the Next-Gen bar exam being developed and its “focus on skills, specifically on negotiation and client counseling skills, which is what we do.

“Having a publishing press is a differentiator and part of what gives us that national reputation.”

Todd Nelson is a freelance writer in the Twin Cities.

Further readingStar Wars and Conflict Resolution bookOther publications available from DRI PressNegotiating is part of everyday life: Here’s how to do it and get results (Minneapolis Star Tribune)