Dialogues for sustainable peacebuilding : from dialogues of the deaf to consensual dialogues

Abstract

This article discusses the complexities of political dialogues, focusing on the reasons behind their failures and strategies for successful dialogue outcomes, using Zimbabwe‘s political landscape as a case study. The study‘s primary objective is to shed light on the dynamics of political dialogues by exploring three typologies of dialogues: consensual dialogues, echo dialogues, and deaf dialogues, as pivotal transformative paradigms for peacebuilding. The study employed a qualitative research methodology, utilising document and content analysis of journal articles, textbooks, newspapers, government reports, and opinion pieces. The findings reveal that for dialogues to succeed in transforming political conflicts, they must transition from being dialogically deaf to being consensually oriented. Notably, Zimbabwe‘s political dialogue efforts have failed because they have largely been deaf and echo-dialogues. Dialogues of the deaf were most common in intra-party and inter-party dialogues, whereas consensual and echo dialogues were predominantly observed in constitutional-related dialogues because of their national character. The study recommends the use of consensual dialogues with listening dialoguers as a typology of trust building and sustainable peacebuilding to resolve the current and future political and socioeconomic crises of the country.