scholarly journals Curricular Experiments for Peace in Colombia: Re-imagining Science Education in Post-conflict Societies

2021 ◽  
pp. 293-306
Author(s):  
Carolina Castano Rodriguez ◽  
Molly Quinn ◽  
Steve Alsop

AbstractThis chapter outlines a curriculum experiment in science education set within the political context of the peace negotiations in Colombia which took place in 2016. Our collaborative narrative draws from data and experiences gathered over a 10-day summer course that we co-constructed, during and in response to this peace process, seeking to re-imagine science education’s capacities to reformulate, share and experience loss, truth and reconciliation. We engage ( Escher in Relativity, 1953) multidimensional work Relativity and set our discussions in the near future, by entering the hearts and souls of those who have lived in fear and also hope for so many years.

2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 495-518
Author(s):  
Anders Engvall ◽  
Isak Svensson

Abstract There have been several attempts to find negotiated solutions to the armed conflicts in Southern Thailand. Yet, these attempts of accommodation and mediated peace negotiations were aborted without any concrete results, with the exception of a formal peace process being officially launched in 2013. What explains the readiness of the parties to the conflict to enter negotiations at this stage, but not at earlier attempts? We argue that the political context can help to explain why some negotiation attempts result in negotiations, whereas others do not. We analyze the factors behind the readiness of the two sides – the Thai state and the Patani separatist insurgency – to sit down for official peace negotiations, focusing on the presence of valid spokespersons, which is an understudied element of ‘ripeness’. This case demonstrates that the problem of finding valid spokespersons may be an obstacle for peace processes especially in religiously defined conflicts.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Dylan Page

<p>The potential role of women in conflict and post-conflict environments has been the subject of much debate in the field of peace and conflict studies. In 2000 the United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 1325, which called for a greater involvement of women and acknowledgement of gender issues in conflict and post-conflict environments, and this has led to further discussion about what this might mean and how it might be implemented. Despite this women are continually under-represented in nearly all peace processes and there is no universally agreed upon way to ensure this situation does not come about. The barriers women face range from cultural to logistical and economic, and surmounting them can be hard to achieve.  One case where women have been involved at all levels in the peace process with substantial success is the Pacific island of Bougainville, where a conflict over mining issues and secession from Papua New Guinea was waged from 1988-1997. Women were active in attempts to bring all parties to negotiations during the conflict and have also been heavily involved in the continuing reconciliation and healing processes. For cultural reasons Bougainvillean women were well placed to perform the role of peace-builders but that is not to say that they did not face challenges and barriers to their involvement. This thesis examines the involvement of women in both the immediate peace negotiations and the longer-term aspects of the peace process in Bougainville in order explain how and why they enjoyed these successes and what lessons can be learnt from this case in regards to the potential roles of women in other post-conflict environments. Four factors will be identified as key to women's involvement in the peace process: the history of Bougainville up to and including the conflict; the grassroots mobilisation and organisation of women; the traditional cultural roles of women in Bougainville; and the identification of women with motherhood and its associated traits.  These factors indicate that the involvement of women in peace processes is highly context-specific and although there are policies which can be pursued to encourage their participation the potential barriers to this are imposing.</p>


Author(s):  
Anne Marie Goetz ◽  
Rob Jenkins

This chapter focuses on the political and institutional factors behind the implementation of UN Security Council resolution 1325. It illuminates two elements of the Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) Agenda: participation and protection. It argues that despite the WPS Agenda’s efforts, women continue to remain underrepresented in peace negotiations and post-conflict political settlements. Further, by concentrating solely on protecting women from sexual violence, and neglecting an analysis of gender inequality and its contribution to conflict-propensity, the WPS Agenda perpetuates a protectionist narrative. This is due to opposition to the participation agenda from developing country member-states, a lack of accountability systems, and a lack of a powerful advocate within the UN bureaucratic system. The chapter concludes with suggestions for a recently formed working group under resolution 2242 to utilize, in order to better enable women’s participation in peace and security processes.


2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-64
Author(s):  
Roddy Brett

This article builds upon recent scholarship in critical peace studies that focuses on the role of civil society actors in formal peacemaking processes, in short, peace talks, and post-conflict peacebuilding. The article specifically explores the role of civil society actors in the Guatemalan peace process. The research addresses the possible tensions and potential complementarities in processes where civil society enjoys a mandated role in centralised, formal peace negotiations carried out between the state and armed actors in talks levied within the liberal peace framework. In the case of Guatemala, non-state actors participated to an unprecedented extent in the peace negotiations, and Guatemala has not relapsed into armed conflict. However, post-conflict Guatemala is a violent and unstable country. Consequently, the study challenges the assumption that peacemaking is necessarily more successful in those instances where provisions have been established to guarantee the participation of civil society.


Author(s):  
Nikita S. Ishchenko

2021 is the year of the American and their allies troops withdrawal from Afghanistan after a 20-year stay. They are leaving the country under the Taliban control which was established impetuously and met with almost no serious resistance. It has happened all but a year after the launching of the inter-Afghan negotiations in Doha between Kabul and Taliban teams opened on September 12, 2020 which became a milestone in attaining the political settlement.  Taliban perceives itself as a victor over both foreign contingent and the Ashraf Ghani’s regime which has come to the end immediately in the wake of NATO troops pullout. This fact is a point of concern for many Afghans and representatives of the international community that the new masters of the country will create a government system without taking into account interests of the other parts of the Afghan conflict. At the same time many experts agree that international community and the majority of Afghans can only recognize the legitimacy of Taliban if it refuses to monopolize power.  If the Taliban leaders admit this approach, then in the near future they will have to negotiate with opponents in order to create an inclusive government, focusing on the political and diplomatic aspects of their activities. Over the past few years, Taliban has gained experience in such work, promoting itself at the international arena as a political force willing to achieve a peaceful solution.  In this article we will look at the participation of Taliban political wing in the peace process since the start of the Doha negotiations and at the very first stage of their de facto power in Afghanistan in order to characterize Taliban representatives as negotiators and diplomats.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Dylan Page

<p>The potential role of women in conflict and post-conflict environments has been the subject of much debate in the field of peace and conflict studies. In 2000 the United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 1325, which called for a greater involvement of women and acknowledgement of gender issues in conflict and post-conflict environments, and this has led to further discussion about what this might mean and how it might be implemented. Despite this women are continually under-represented in nearly all peace processes and there is no universally agreed upon way to ensure this situation does not come about. The barriers women face range from cultural to logistical and economic, and surmounting them can be hard to achieve.  One case where women have been involved at all levels in the peace process with substantial success is the Pacific island of Bougainville, where a conflict over mining issues and secession from Papua New Guinea was waged from 1988-1997. Women were active in attempts to bring all parties to negotiations during the conflict and have also been heavily involved in the continuing reconciliation and healing processes. For cultural reasons Bougainvillean women were well placed to perform the role of peace-builders but that is not to say that they did not face challenges and barriers to their involvement. This thesis examines the involvement of women in both the immediate peace negotiations and the longer-term aspects of the peace process in Bougainville in order explain how and why they enjoyed these successes and what lessons can be learnt from this case in regards to the potential roles of women in other post-conflict environments. Four factors will be identified as key to women's involvement in the peace process: the history of Bougainville up to and including the conflict; the grassroots mobilisation and organisation of women; the traditional cultural roles of women in Bougainville; and the identification of women with motherhood and its associated traits.  These factors indicate that the involvement of women in peace processes is highly context-specific and although there are policies which can be pursued to encourage their participation the potential barriers to this are imposing.</p>


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 272-297 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isa Mendes

This article discusses the issue of inclusion in peace negotiations, in particular the Colombian peace process with the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionárias de Colombia, with special emphasis to a perceived tension between “direct” and “indirect” inclusive initiatives. It argues that, as currently discussed by the Peace and Conflict literature, inclusion tends to be seen as neutral and benign, which leaves little room for critical discussions about the political contention behind peace negotiations deemed “inclusive.” It thus proposes to discuss inclusion through the theoretical lens of political representation and apply such reflections to the specific case of the Colombian victims’ delegations that travelled to Havana in 2014 in order to take part in the table’s discussions on the victims and transitional justice topic. Ultimately, I will argue there was simultaneous utilisation and rejection of the language of representation.


2020 ◽  
pp. 1-5
Author(s):  
Proscovia Svärd

Truth and Reconciliation Commissions (TRCs) are established to document violations of human rights and international humanitarian law in post-conflict societies. The intent is to excavate the truth to avoid political speculations and create an understanding of the nature of the conflict. The documentation hence results in a common narrative which aims to facilitate reconciliation to avoid regression to conflict. TRCs therefore do a tremendous job and create compound documentation that includes written statements, interviews, live public testimonies of witnesses and they also publish final reports based on the accumulated materials. At the end of their mission, TRCs recommend the optimal use of their documentation since it is of paramount importance to the reconciliation process. Despite this ambition, the TRCs’ documentation is often politicized and out of reach for the victims and the post-conflict societies at large. The TRCs’ documentation is instead poorly diffused into the post conflict societies and their findings are not effectively disseminated and used.


2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-57
Author(s):  
Lolav M. Hassan Alhamid

This article explores the processes of finding a voice, learning to speak, and breaking silence around gender violence for a Kurdish woman endeavouring to resist oppression and destroy forced negative images and identities. It examines the ways in which she struggles to break imposed silences through resisting gender discrimination and telling stories of violence and exploitation, as represented in the Kurdish novelistic discourse in Bahdinan. Studying Sabri Silevani’s Mariama: Kiçe-Jinek ji Zemanek Di (Mariama: A Woman from Another Time, 2007), the article examines the various forms and layers of violence imposed on Kurdish women by the tribal and patriarchal norms and the social and political structures within the post-conflict Kurdish society in Iraqi Kurdistan. The three-fold typological model of violence developed by the political scientist Johan Galtung is adopted in the article to explore the ways in which the personal characteristics of individuals and the political, economic, and cultural structures of society are viewed as factors affecting the generation of gendered aggression. Most importantly, for the purpose of this article, is the significant utilisation of the association of Galtung’s typology with feminist studies of violence in the exploration of Kurdish women’s attempt to resist marginalisation and their struggle for recognition. Moreover, Rita Felski’s description and study of modern writing by women as a medium through which female political identities and collective consciousness are constructed and represented are adopted to discuss the structural and thematic properties of the text.ABSTRACT IN KURMANJITemsîla şideta cinsî ya piştî şerî di gotara edebî ya kurdên Iraqê de li herêma BehdînanEv meqale berê xwe dide merheleyên peydakirina dengî, fêrbûna axiftinê û daşikandina bêdengiya li dor şideta cinsî li cem jineke kurd a hewl dide li hember zextan ber xwe bide û wêne û huwiyetên menfî yên dasepandî ji nav bibe. Meqale lê hûr dibe ka çawa jin têdikoşe ku bi rêya berxwedana li hember cudakariya cinsî û bi gotina hikayêtên şidet û bikaranînê, wek ku di gotara romana kurdî ya li Behdînan tê temsîlkirin, bêdengiyên dasepandî bişikîne. Ev meqale li ser romana Sebrî Silêvanî ya bi navê Meryema: Kiçe Jinek Ji Zemanek Dî (2007) hûr dibe û dikeve dû destnîşankirina wan awa û tebeqeyên cihêreng ên şideta li ser jina kurd yên bi destê dab û nerîtên eşîrî û babsalarî û herwiha bi destê dezgehên civakî û siyasî yên di nav civaka kurd a li Kurdistana Iraqê ya piştî şerî têne dasepandin. Di meqelayê de modêla tîpolojîk û sê-tebeqeyî ya şidetê, ku Johan Galtungê zanyarê siyasetê dahînaye, hatiye bikaranîn ji bo veçirandina awayên ku taybetiyên şexsî yên ferdan û binyadên civakê yên siyasî, aborî û çandî wek fakterên kartêker ên peydabûna êrîşkariya cinsî têne dîtin. Ji bo armancên vê gotarê, ev tîpolojiya Galtung ligel xebatên fêmînîst ên li ser şidetê têne bikaranîn da ku hewla jinên kurd a berxwedana li hember perawêzxistinê û venasînê berçavtir bibe. Herwiha, pênase û lêkolîna Rita Felski ya li ser nivîsînên hevçerx ên jinan wek amrazek ji bo avakirin û temsîlkirina huwiyetên siyasî û şiûra cemawerî hatine bikaranîn ji bo vedîtina xasyetên metnê yên binyadî û têmayî.ABSTRACT IN SORANIWênekirdinî tundûtîjîy cenderî le gutarî novêlîstîkî kurdîy 'Êraq le BadînanEm meqaleye degerrêt be dway ew prosaney dozînewey deng, fêrbûnî peyivîn û şkandinî ew bêdengîye ke ballî be ser tundûtîjî cenderî da kêşawe, le xebatî ew jine kurde da ke deyewêt rûberrûwî stemkarî bibêtewe û wêne û şunase nerênîye be zor dasepênrawekan têk bişkênêt. Ew rêgayane be taqî dekatewe ke ew jine le xebatî da be kariyan dehênêt bo şkandinî bêdengiye be zor beserî da sepêndrawe le rêgay rûberrûbûnewey ciyakarî cenderî û gêrranewey dastangelî tundûtîjî û pawankirdin, herweku le gutarî novêlîstîkî da be kar hênrawin le nawçey Badînan. Le rêgay xwêndinewey "Meryeme Kiçejinek Ji Zemanek Dî" nûsraw le layen Sebrî Slêvanîyewe, em meqaleye ew şêwaz û rehendaney tundûtîjî be taqî dekatewe ke le rêga bawe hozgerayî û bawsalarîyekan û bunyade siyasiyekanî komellgay kurdî dway şerr le Kurdistanî 'Êraq da xirawnete ser jinanî kurdewe. Lem meqaleye da modêlî sê çînî taypolojîy tundûtîjî bekarhênrawe ke le layen zanay siyasî Johan Galtungewe dirust kirawe, be mebestî dozînewey ew rêgayaney ke pêyan karakterîstîke kesiyekanî takekan û bunyade siyasî û abûrî kelepurîyekanî komellga weku fakterî karîger nîşan drawin be ser qehrî cenderîyewe. Giringtirîn layenî mebestî em meqaleye nîşandanî ew sudbexşîye giringeye ke peywendîdarkrdinî taypolojî Galtung legell lêkollînewey fêmînîstî le gerran da be dway hewllî jinanî kurd bo rûberrûbenewe le hember perawêzxistin û xebatyan bo ewey ke danyan pêda binirêt. Herweha wesf û lêkollînewey Rîta Felski le nusînî hawçerxî jinan weku geyenerêk ke le rêgayiyewe şunasgelî siyasî û agayîy giştîy mê bunyad denirêt û nîşan dedirêt, be mebestî giftûgokirdin le ser layene bunyadî û tewerîyekanî deq, be kar hênrawe.


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