Skip to Main Content

Skip Nav Destination

Article navigation

July 01 2003

Nelson Mandela: Partisan and Peacemaker

Daniel Lieberfeld

Daniel Lieberfeld

Daniel Lieberfeld is assistant professor of conflict resolution and peace studies at the Graduate Center for Social and Public Policy, Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, Penn. 15282. Among his publications is Talking with the Enemy: Negotiation and Threat Perception in South Africa and Israel/Palestine (Westport, Conn.: Praeger, 1999).

Search for other works by this author on:

Google Scholar

Author and Article Information

Daniel Lieberfeld

Daniel Lieberfeld is assistant professor of conflict resolution and peace studies at the Graduate Center for Social and Public Policy, Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, Penn. 15282. Among his publications is Talking with the Enemy: Negotiation and Threat Perception in South Africa and Israel/Palestine (Westport, Conn.: Praeger, 1999).

First Publication: July 02 2007

Online ISSN: 1571-9979

Print ISSN: 0748-4526

© 2003 Plenum Publishing Corporation

2003

Plenum Publishing Corporation

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. For a full description of the license, please visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode.

Negotiation Journal (2003) 19 (3): 229–250.

https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1571-9979.2003.tb00781.x

Abstract

To analyze Nelson Mandela's personal attributes relevant to peacemaking and negotiation, the study considers personality traits derived from biographical data rather than quantitative content analysis. Since Mandela's personality eludes ready characterization in terms of high or low levels of a given trait and also comprises traits apparently in tension, the analysis offered here highlights ostensibly opposing characteristics, and the evolution of Mandela's personal characteristics over time, with specific attention to his self‐identity, interpersonal orientation, and political outlook. It identifies distinctive aspects of Mandela's peacemaking practice, as well as aspects that may be common among accomplished peacemakers and negotiators. It concludes that Mandela's seemingly contradictory personality traits and high degree of cognitive complexity enabled him to fulfill the different roles of partisan negotiator and of mediator/peacemaker, and equipped him, more so than other revolutionaries, for the transition to post‐liberation leader.

REFERENCES

Bandura

,

A.

1997

.

Self‐efficacy: The exercise of control

. New York :

W.H. Freeman

.

Benson

,

M.

1990

.

Nelson, here's sixpence. Get me some shampoo

.

Weekly Mail

16 February 1990.

Bethel

,

N.

1986

.

An interview with Nelson Mandela

. In

Apartheid in crisis

, edited by

Mark

A. Uhlig

. New York :

Vintage

.

Boulie

,

B.

1996

.

Mediation: Principle, process, practice

. London :

Butterworth

.

Brink

,

A.

1999

.

Mandela, A tiger for our time

.

Daily Mail & Guardian 7 June 1999

. Internet: http://www.mg.co.za/mg/news/99jun1/7jun‐mandela.html.

Commonwealth Group of Eminent Persons.

1986

.

Mission to South Africa: The Commonwealth Report

. Hamondsworth , U.K. :

Penguin

.

Etheredge

,

L.

1978

.

Personality effects on American foreign policy, 1898–1968: A test of interpersonal generalization theory

.

American Political Science Review

78

:

434

–

451

.

Giroud

,

E.

2000

.

Tough role for Mandela in latest Burundi talks

.

Daily Mail & Guardian 24 February 2000

. Internet: http://www.mg.co.za/mg/news/2000feb2/24beb‐burundi.html.

Greenstein

,

F.

1967

.

The impact of personality on politics: An attempt to clear away the underbrush

.

American Political Science Review

61

:

629

–

641

.

Heaney

,

S.

2001

.

Poetry's power against intolerance

.

New York Times

, 26 August 2001.

Hermann

,

M.

1977

.

A psychological examination of political leaders

. New York :

Free Press

.

Hermann

,

M.

1987

.

Assessing the foreign policy role orientations of Sub‐Saharan African leaders

. In

Role theory and foreign policy analysis

, edited by

Stephen

G. Walker

. Durham , N.C. :

Duke University Press

.

Karis

,

T.

Forthcoming. Biographical note on Nelson Mandela

. In

From protest to challenge: A documentary history of African politics in South Africa

, edited by

Gail

Gerhart

.

Keller

,

B.

1994

.

A day in the life of Nelson Mandela: Charm, control, a bit of acid

.

New York Times

12 September 1994.

Khadiagala

,

G.

Forthcoming

.

Mediating civil wars in Eastern Africa

.

Koch

,

E.

1990

.

Mandela and the ‘Young Lions’ of 76

.

Weekly Mail

16 February 1990. Internet: http://www.mg.co.za/mg/mandela/h‐lions.htm.

Lewicki

,

R.

,

J.

Litterer

,

J.

Minton

, and

D.

Saunders

1994

.

Negotiation

. 2nd Ed. Burr Ridge , Ill :

Irwin

.

Lieberfeld

,

D.

1999a

.

Talking with the enemy: Negotiation and threat perception in South Africa and Israel/Palestine

. Westport , Conn. :

Praeger

.

Lieberfeld

,

D.

1999b

.

Conflict “Ripeness” revisited: The South African and Israeli/Palestinian cases

.

Negotiation Journal

15

(

1

):

63

–

82

.

Lieberfeld

,

D.

2000

.

Getting to the negotiating table in South Africa: Domestic and international dynamics

.

Politikon: South African Journal of Political Studies

27

.

Lieberfeld

,

D.

2002

.

Evaluating the contributions of unofficial diplomacy to conflict termination in South Africa, 1984–1990

,

Journal of Peace Research

39

:

355

–

72

.

Mandela

,

N.

1964

.

Statement from the dock at the opening of the defence case in the Rivonia Trial, Pretoria Supreme Court, 20 April 1964

. Internet: http://www.anc.org.za/ancdocs/history/rivonia.html.

Mandela

,

N.

1994

.

Long walk to freedom: The autobiography of Nelson Mandela

. Boston :

Little, Brown

.

Mastors

,

E.

2001

.

Gerry Adams and the Northern Ireland [UK] peace process: A research note

.

Political Psychology

21

:

839

–

846

.

Meredith

,

M.

1999

.

Nelson Mandela: A biography

. New York :

St. Martin's

.

O'Connor

,

K.

and

J.

Arnold

2002

.

Walking away from the table: How negotiator self‐efficacy affects decision making

.

Paper presented at the annual meeting of the International Association for Conflict Management, Salt Lake City

.

Oettingen

,

G.

1995

.

Cross‐cultural perspectives on self‐efficacy

. In

Self‐efficacy in changing societies

, edited by

Albert

Bandura

. Cambridge :

Cambridge University Press

.

Ottoway

,

D.

1993

.

Chained together: Mandela, de Klerk, and the struggle to remake South Africa

. New York :

Times Books

.

Raiffa

,

H.

1982

.

The art and science of negotiation

. Cambridge , Mass. :

Harvard University Press

.

Rao

,

A.

and

S.

Schmidt

1998

.

A behavioral perspective on negotiating international alliances

.

Journal of International Business Studies

29

:

665

–

694

.

Rasler

,

K.

,

W.

Thompson

, and

K.

Chester

1980

.

Foreign policy makers, personality attributes, and interviews: A note on reliability problems

.

International Studies Quarterly

24

(March):

47

–

66

.

Rotter

,

J. B.

1980

.

Interpersonal trust, trustworthiness, and gullibility

.

American Psychologist

.

35

:

1

–

7

.

Rustow

,

D.

1970

.

The study of leadership

. In

Philosophers and kings: Studies in leadership

, edited by

Dankwart

Rustow

. New York :

George Braziller

.

Sampson

,

A.

1999

.

Mandela: The authorized biography

. New York :

Knopf

.

Simonton

,

D.

1990

.

Personality and politics

. In

Handbook of personality: Theory and research

, edited by

Lawrence

Pervin

. New York :

Guilford Press

.

Sparks

,

A.

1995

.

Tomorrow is another country: The inside story of South Africa's road to change

. New York :

Hill and Wang

.

Suedfeld

,

P.

and

A. D.

Rank

1976

.

Revolutionary leaders: Long‐term success as a function of changes in conceptual complexity

.

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

34

:

169

–

178

.

Suttner

,

I.

1997

.

Cutting through the mountain: Interviews with South African Jewish activists

. London :

Viking

.

Tambo

,

O. R.

1965

.

Nelson Mandela, 1965

. In

No easy walk to freedom: Articles, speeches, and trial addresses

, edited by

Ruth

First

. New York :

Basic Books

.

Villa‐Vicencio

,

C.

1996

.

The spirit of freedom: South African leaders on religion and politics

. Berkeley :

University of California Press

.

Waldmeir

,

P.

1998

.

Anatomy of a miracle: The end of apartheid and the birth of the new South Africa

. New Brunswick , N.J. :

Rutgers University Press

.

Winter

,

D.

1980

.

An exploratory study of the motives of Southern African political leaders measured at a distance

.

Political Psychology

2

:

75

–

85

.

Winter

,

D.

,

M.

Hermann

,

W.

Weintraub

, and

S.

Walker

1991

.

The personalities of Bush and Gorbachev measured at a distance: Procedures, portraits, and policy

.

Political Psychology

12

:

215

–

245

.

This content is only available as a PDF.

© 2003 Plenum Publishing Corporation

2003

Plenum Publishing Corporation

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. For a full description of the license, please visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode.