Mediation in a feuding society: an anthropological approach to the process of sasmos in contemporary Crete
On the Greek island of Crete, a customary practice for mitigating hostility or conflict between two men continues to the present time. It survives mainly in local agricultural and pastoral communities and is called sasmos. The corresponding verb is siazo which means ‘pulling to taut (e.g., a wire or...
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| Format: | Journal article |
| Language: | English |
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Oxford University Anthropological Society
2024
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| _version_ | 1824459063644127232 |
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| author | Chereji, C Tsantiropoulos, A |
| author_facet | Chereji, C Tsantiropoulos, A |
| author_sort | Chereji, C |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | On the Greek island of Crete, a customary practice for mitigating hostility or conflict between two men continues to the present time. It survives mainly in local agricultural and pastoral communities and is called sasmos. The corresponding verb is siazo which means ‘pulling to taut (e.g., a wire or a string) which has been wrapped’. We adopt Herzfeld’s English translation of the term sasmos as ‘reconciliation’ (Herzfeld 1985: 72, 82-83, 285n). The men who intervene between the two opponents as ‘neutral third parties’ are termed mesites, ‘mediators’, or siahtes or siastades, two words having an identical meaning, very close to that of a ‘constructor, repairer’ of a social relation which has been disrupted. The mediators are always men, as are the parties in conflict, and the motivation for mediation is rooted in the ‘moral duty for the communal good’ as the locals claim, which means the prevention of the escalation of interpersonal hostility into an open conflict – crime and its revenge (vendetta) (Herzfeld 1985; Tsantiropoulos 2004, 2008, 2019). In this paper, we will first attempt a conceptual clarification of the three main components of mediation. The first are the sources of conflict and the types of conflict the mediators are involved in; the second is the social profile of the mediator, which provides the background for his views to be heard by the conflicting parties; and the third is the structure of mediation as a conflict resolution mechanism. |
| first_indexed | 2025-02-19T04:35:50Z |
| format | Journal article |
| id | oxford-uuid:198d2386-ebb7-44c1-afc8-ac52b6da77d5 |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-02-19T04:35:50Z |
| publishDate | 2024 |
| publisher | Oxford University Anthropological Society |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:198d2386-ebb7-44c1-afc8-ac52b6da77d52025-01-31T15:31:16ZMediation in a feuding society: an anthropological approach to the process of sasmos in contemporary CreteJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:198d2386-ebb7-44c1-afc8-ac52b6da77d5EnglishBulkUploadJASO_2024Oxford University Anthropological Society2024Chereji, CTsantiropoulos, AOn the Greek island of Crete, a customary practice for mitigating hostility or conflict between two men continues to the present time. It survives mainly in local agricultural and pastoral communities and is called sasmos. The corresponding verb is siazo which means ‘pulling to taut (e.g., a wire or a string) which has been wrapped’. We adopt Herzfeld’s English translation of the term sasmos as ‘reconciliation’ (Herzfeld 1985: 72, 82-83, 285n). The men who intervene between the two opponents as ‘neutral third parties’ are termed mesites, ‘mediators’, or siahtes or siastades, two words having an identical meaning, very close to that of a ‘constructor, repairer’ of a social relation which has been disrupted. The mediators are always men, as are the parties in conflict, and the motivation for mediation is rooted in the ‘moral duty for the communal good’ as the locals claim, which means the prevention of the escalation of interpersonal hostility into an open conflict – crime and its revenge (vendetta) (Herzfeld 1985; Tsantiropoulos 2004, 2008, 2019). In this paper, we will first attempt a conceptual clarification of the three main components of mediation. The first are the sources of conflict and the types of conflict the mediators are involved in; the second is the social profile of the mediator, which provides the background for his views to be heard by the conflicting parties; and the third is the structure of mediation as a conflict resolution mechanism. |
| spellingShingle | Chereji, C Tsantiropoulos, A Mediation in a feuding society: an anthropological approach to the process of sasmos in contemporary Crete |
| title | Mediation in a feuding society: an anthropological approach to the process of sasmos in contemporary Crete |
| title_full | Mediation in a feuding society: an anthropological approach to the process of sasmos in contemporary Crete |
| title_fullStr | Mediation in a feuding society: an anthropological approach to the process of sasmos in contemporary Crete |
| title_full_unstemmed | Mediation in a feuding society: an anthropological approach to the process of sasmos in contemporary Crete |
| title_short | Mediation in a feuding society: an anthropological approach to the process of sasmos in contemporary Crete |
| title_sort | mediation in a feuding society an anthropological approach to the process of sasmos in contemporary crete |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT cherejic mediationinafeudingsocietyananthropologicalapproachtotheprocessofsasmosincontemporarycrete AT tsantiropoulosa mediationinafeudingsocietyananthropologicalapproachtotheprocessofsasmosincontemporarycrete |