Developments in the Discourse of Conflict Resolution

In the last few decades, Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) – in the forms of arbitration, conciliation and mediation – has been increasingly adopted in trade and commerce to resolve conflicts. As this method of settling commercial disputes is commonly considered an efficient, economical and effective alternative to litigation, the language used in arbitration documents is usually deemed to differ from that of litigation texts. However, in recent years there has been a narrowing between the two practices as litigation processes and procedures have increasingly been seen to influence arbitration practices. Moreover, the advent of new computer technologies has promoted procedures to resolve disputes totally, or partly, on line. This new phenomenon is known by the acronym ‘ODR’ (Online Dispute Resolution). Drawing on documentary data, the first part of the paper investigates the extent to which the integrity of arbitration discourse is maintained, pointing out phenomena of contamination from litigation practices and exploring the motivations for such an interdiscursive process. The second part of the presentation analyses the evolution from ADR to ODR, providing examples of this computermediated practice both in Italy and the United States. In particular, the various phases of a typical procedure are analysed so as to highlight the great potentialities of this innovative tool. The new role of the mediator is also discussed, highlighting the fact that the adoption of the traditional model of non-virtual mediation in an online context can give rise to a few problems, at least given the present state of computer technology.