Principles

ECM is the applied method of the transrational peace philosophy based on three principles: Correspondence, Resonance and Homeostasis.

See also suggested readings for principles.

Correspondence

Correspondence is the first principle of ECM and refers to the quality of ‘as above, so below; as within, so without.’ As one of the most popular mystic lessons found in Western and Eastern philosophies, correspondence serves the peace worker in the orientation of the conflict through their levels, layers and themes, which are as useful as contour lines, color and symbols are for the map geographer. 

In a practical sense, correspondence invites introspection from social activity. It calls the peace worker to timely deal with his/her own shadows, contradictions and needs and so saves him/herself a great amount of stress and violence for oneself and one’s surroundings. The old Greek aphorism of ‘know thyself; then thou shalt know the Universe’ summarizes well the principle of correspondence when looking at the intrapersonal layers of the conflict worker.

At the same time, correspondence ought to be considered and observed also between inside and outside; in other words, between the intrapersonal and interpersonal layers, which for analytical purposes serve the conflict worker to expand his/her awareness towards the relationships between the different layers, themes and levels at play in any conflict situation.

As an example, let us take the first two corresponding layers: behind the visible surface of the conflict episode, the intrapersonal sexual layer as well as the interpersonal family layer are hidden and connected to each other. The behavior of an actor in a concrete conflict is determined by his/her imprint and anchor in the family, as well as by his/her sexual energies and experiences. The sexual and the family layers are not bound to each other in a linear relationship, but in a dynamic causal manner, in a way that the family imprint influences the sexual biography just as the sexual performance influences the family composition.

In a similar vein, it might seem evident that there is correspondence between the inner socio-emotional need of each person for belonging and the outer acceptance in a concrete community. For instance, traumatic experiences of exclusion that have disturbed the trust in one’s own sense of belonging can produce behavior that can create new reactions of rejection in particular communities which, simultaneously, might feed frustration.

There is also correspondence between the mental orientation of a person and his/her social embedding. Society, among other constructed systems that go beyond and are conceived by the person, shapes the communication styles and norms, as well as the sensations, thoughts, speech and action of each of its members. These communicative expressions are, at the same time, expressions of the consciousness, contact boundaries and communication of its members’ sensations, thoughts, speech and actions.

While conflicts have a physical expression in the episode, they feed from all the intra and inter-personal layers of each particular context. In a particular conflict episode, concrete themes acquire more relevance than others and thus pull certain layers to become more visible, yet all intra and inter-personal layers are of value and always play a role. 

In short, the principle of correspondence serves as a reminder that in any conflict episode the inter-personal layers need to be considered as well as the intra-personal layers.