Sally Gearhart and How to Deal with "Intractable Conflicts"
It seems there are conflicts among people who say there’s no way they’ll ever agree with one another.
Conflict researchers call these conflicts “intractable.” Their defining characteristics are ongoing and involve issues of values and identity. The parties view others as polar opposites and ignore or downplay any positive information about them. Peter Coleman describes the “fuel and lifeblood” of intractable conflict as “pain, misery, loss, loyalty, rage, frustration, fear, anxiety, and despair.
There are some guidelines for dealing with intractable conflicts. First step is to de-escalate anger and distrust. This is illustrated by activist Sally Gearhart profiled in the 2025 film “Sally!.” In her environmental activist days she admits to having made obscene gestures to the drivers of logging trucks loaded with redwoods in Northern California. Later, she said, she was “gentler,” by merely glaring at the drivers and mouthing obscenities. Though she acknowledged neither tactic was effective.
Still, later she recounts how she stopped judging and badgering, but instead chose to seek what she calls the “joining point” or the place they share as human beings who deal with similar struggles, such as working to feed one’s family. Recognizing those shared struggles made it possible for her to crusade without creating enemies.
In addition to identifying any goals the parties shared Sally described other steps for dealing with intractable conflicts, which included addressing peripheral issues first to establish a working relationship before working with secondary parties. She would turn her efforts on secondary partiers if she discovered they were more realistic and hoped they might exert influence on the primary parties.
Most importantly, though, is to accept the reality that no progress can be made until all parties are ready for resolution.
In the words attributed to Coco Chanel, “Timing is everything.”