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How Can You Call Her A Woman? Male Soldiers’ Views On Women In The Drc Armed Forces, Dostin Lakika, Ingrid Palmary

Peace and Conflict Studies

There has been a longstanding body of literature on women in the armed forces at least since the 1970s (Segal, 1999). This literature varies considerably in its approach, from feminist work that reflects on the forms of masculinity produced through military and militarization, to work that considers women’s role in the army and attitudes towards women in the army. Furthermore, policy efforts to increase women’s participation in the army (such as UN Security Council Resolution 1325) have explicitly called for the inclusion of women in peace and security efforts. In this paper, we contribute to this literature by assessing how …

National Resilience To Protracted Violence In Ukraine, Karina V. Korostelina

Peace and Conflict Studies

This paper concentrates on the production of power of the Ukrainian nation, that not only deals with continuous violence within the nation, but also develops national strength to address this violence. This paper aims to explore how the Ukrainian nation develops resilience to protracted violence as a form of transformative power and what factors contribute or impede this process. The paper defines resilience as a form of power that enhances the capacity of a national community to heal from trauma, effectively resists perpetrators of violence, and positively transform intergroup relations to remove communities from contexts of chronic violence and war. …

The Togolese Truth, Justice And Reconciliation Commission: Lessons For Transitional Justice Processes Elsewhere, Jeremy J. Sarkin Prof, Tetevi Davi

Peace and Conflict Studies

Certain truth and reconciliation processes around the world remain understudied. This means that valuable lessons for transitional justice processes elsewhere are not learned. This article therefore examines lessons from the Togolese Truth, Justice, and Reconciliation Commission (CVJR). It examines the historical context of violence in Togo in order to understand why the country decided to establish a truth commission and looks at how previous inquiries established the need for such a process. Other issues examined are the CVJR’s mandate, the time period provided to do its work, and the pros and cons of the choices made with respect to these …

"Our Branches Are Broken:" Using The Tree Of Life Healing Methodology With Victims Of Gukurahundi In Matebeleland, Zimbabwe, Dumisani Ngwenya

Peace and Conflict Studies

Between 1983 and 1987, an estimated 20,000 people from Matabeleland and parts of Midlands Province in Zimbabwe were killed by government forces in an operation code-named Gukurahundi. Since that time, no official apology, justice, reparations or any form of healing process has been offered by the government which was responsible for these atrocities. Many people still suffer trauma from the events of this time. The overall question that this research project sought to answer was whether a small group of survivors of Gukurahundi could heal via participation over time in a group action research project directed at their healing. …

Narratives Of Legitimacy: Political Discourse In The Early Phase Of The Troubles In Northern Ireland, Sissel Rosland

Peace and Conflict Studies

This article examines the discursive construction of legitimacy in the early phase of the Troubles in Northern Ireland. The empirical material covers the debate on internment without trial from 1971 till 1975 – a debate which involved conflicting claims of legitimacy. Some strongly defended internment as a legitimate step in the fight against the IRA, whilst others regarded it as an illegitimate measure employed by a corrupt political regime. These conflicting claims of legitimacy entailed a conceptual battle concerned with the construction and authorisation of political order. The article explores this battle along three dimensions: law, violence, and democracy.

Volume 15, Number 1 (Summer 2008), Peace And Conflict Studies

Peace and Conflict Studies

No abstract provided.

The Challenge Of Terror: A Traveling Essay, John Paul Lederach

Peace and Conflict Studies

So here I am, a week late arriving home, stuck between Colombia, Guatemala and Harrisonburg when our world changed. The images flash even in my sleep. The heart of America ripped. Though natural, the cry for revenge and the call for the unleashing of the first war of this century, prolonged or not, seems more connected to social and psychological processes of finding a way to release deep emotional anguish, a sense of powerlessness, and our collective loss than it does as a plan of action seeking to redress the injustice, promote change and prevent it from ever happening again. …

Policy-Making And Connections To Violence: A Case Study Of India, Marie Olson Lounsbery, Frederic S. Pearson

Peace and Conflict Studies

This paper explores the role of identity-based, or discriminatory, policy in facilitating the outbreak of ethnopolitical violence in India. A discriminatory policy is the merging of communal group identity with the state apparatus. It is argued that as the Indian government enacts policies beneficial or discriminatory to particular identity groups within the country, other groups feel threatened. Groups who feel disadvantaged by the policy may begin to fear for their own security and political interests motivating them to rebel. When focusing on Indian policy and ethnopolitical violence during the period 1945 to 2000, the authors find that, although there are …

Volume 10, Number 2 (Fall 2003), Peace And Conflict Studies

Peace and Conflict Studies

No abstract provided.

Rethinking Conflict Resolution: Matching Problems And Solutions, Andrea Talentino

Peace and Conflict Studies

This paper addresses international conflict resolution and the disparity between the number of attempts at resolution and the number of successes. It argues that one flaw in efforts thus far has been a lack of understanding of local actors and motivations, leading to ineffective strategies for resolution. In regions where conflict crosses borders, contributes to the trend of politics, and involves mercenary sub-state actors, traditional methods of resolution may be ineffective. Purveyors of violence have little interest in the power-sharing and consensual politics that international actors often try to promote. They also have significant and negative effects on regional stability. …

The Religion Of War And Peace: Better Understanding Of International Conflict, Armand Abecassis

Peace and Conflict Studies

PEACE: Is peace the cessation of war? The Binary Logic, The History: War is organized and collective, War is a balance of strengths. Can politics alone create a foundation of peace? Is peace only security? WAR: Is the difference the cause of violence? War is linked to living together as a social group. War: Is the hidden threat in the differences between the nations? War:”Is the midwife of societies”.The problem of terrorism: Is peace the obliteration of the differences? THE MEADING OF CONFLICTS: The conflict is permanent and necessary. Peace is not a cessation of conflict. Peace exists only with, …

Aggressivity And Violence: An Alternative Theory Of Human Nature, Mary E. Clark

Peace and Conflict Studies

Excerpt

I open by clarifying the term "aggression" which is used in many contexts besides the one I am discussing (e.g. "the aggressive treatment of disease," or "the aggression of a predatory hunter," etc.). I restrict it to "intentional acts of violence meant to hurt one another, physically or psychologically."

Ethnic Boundaries And The Margins Of The Margin, Bent D. Jφrgenson

Peace and Conflict Studies

The theme of this paper is on one of the most elementary questions in the study of ethnicity and nationalism, namely how to approach and assess ethnic boundaries'. Should we perceive them as an advantageous or a pernicious tool in politics? To answer that question, we need a reference point; advantageous or pernicious in relation to whom? I will here use those people(-s) who are so marginalized that their voices are practically silenced, and the way in which the political reconstruction, conversion, or deconstruction of ethnic boundaries is favorable or not to them; the margins of the margin. Do ethnic …

Introduction, Elise Boulding

Peace and Conflict Studies

Excerpt

The papers brought together here represent a part of the work of the IPRA (International Peace Research Association) Commission on Conflict Resolution and Peace Building that met during the 1994 Conference of the International Peace Research Association at Malta to address the issues of peace building in crisis areas. The focus here is particularly on new approaches to peace building, including United Nations reform and civil society innovation. After fifty years of UN peace building efforts, it is clear that the UN cannot function effectively without the involvement of civil society in each conflict region. How the UN, member …