Introduction: Another Way to Settle Disputes: The Practice of Mediation.

Part One: The Professionals.

1. Frances Butler: Questions that Lead to Answers in Child Custody Mediation (Kenneth Kressel).

2. Patrick Davis: "To Bring Out the Best... To Undo a Little Pain" in Special Education Mediation (Susan Silbey).

3. Howard Bellman: Using "Bundles of Input" to Negotiate An Environmental Dispute (Christine Harrington).

4. William Hopgood: "Conditioning" Parties in Labor Grievances (Deborah M. Kolb).

5. Patrick Phear: Control, Commitment, and Minor Miracles in Family and Divorce Mediation (Austin Sarat).

Part Two: Builders of the Field.

6. Albie M. Davis: Community Mediation as Community Organizing (Sally Engle Merry).

7. Eric Green: Finding Alternatives to Litigation in Business Disputes (Lavinia Hall).

8. Lawrence Susskind: Activist Mediation and Public Disputes (John Forester).

Part Three: Extending the Reach of Mediation.

9. Juju Atkinson: Blurring the Distinction Between Mediation and Adjudication (William O'Barr).

10. Jimmy Carter: The Power of Moral Suasion in International Mediation (Eileen Babbitt).

11. Linda Colburn: On-the-Spot Mediation in a Public Housing Project (Neal Milner).

12. Joseph Elder: Quiet Peacemaking in a Civil War (Thomas Princen).

Conclusion: The Realities of Making Talk Work.