Solidarity in Search of Human Agency: ‘Détente from Below’ and Independent Peace Activists in the Soviet Union

While the histories of Western grassroots movements and the officially sanctioned, communist-sponsored peace movement are well known, the independent peace activists of the Soviet bloc have remained footnotes in the history of social movements. The Group for the Establishment of Trust between East and West (the Trust Group) was the largest and most prominent unofficial peace group in the late Soviet Union. Active between 1982 and 1989, its members established significant ties with foreign peace activists. This article considers the agenda, activities and membership of the Trust Group. It contrasts the persecution experienced by this independent movement with the activities of the official, state-sanctioned Soviet Peace Committee (SPC). As the article shows, the Trust Group’s agenda resonated with the concept of ‘détente from below’, as promoted by members of European Nuclear Disarmament (END), including the historian E.P. Thompson. The article traces how Western advocates of ‘détente from below’ sought to support these independent campaigners in the Soviet Union, thus highlighting important East-West dimensions in European peace activism in the 1980s.

Challenging a ‘Warist’ Society with Digital Peace Pedagogy

This article offers strategies for a peace pedagogy that is informed by combining techniques from feminist theory and peace studies with the digital humanities. Here we describe how the first-year Writing Seminar “Peace Testimonies in Literature & Art,” taught in Spring 2017 at Haverford College, collaborated with the activist organization the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) to participate in the collection and curation of oral histories projects. In this class, students conducted oral history interviews of peace activists at the 2017 AFSC symposium “Waging Peace: AFSC’s Summit for Peace and Justice” (April 20-23 in Philadelphia, PA), and then analyzed the videos of these interviews through OHMS (Oral History Metadata Synchronizer) and the video editing software Camtasia. Here we discusses how feminist, digital, and peace pedagogies can be combined to help students recover the lost histories of pacifist activism.

Changing the World from “Below”: U.S. Peace Activists and the Transnational Struggle for Peace and Détente in the 1980s

Much more so than previous works in the field of U.S. foreign relations, this article explores the relationship between the Helsinki Accords and peace activism in the United States. The article explains how well-known groups such as U.S. Helsinki Watch and lesser-known ones such as Campaign for Peace and Democracy West/East used the Helsinki Final Act when they challenged U.S. peace activists to defend the rights of imprisoned anti-nuclear activists in the Soviet bloc and to link the causes of peace and human rights. The article also demonstrates how the exchanges between U.S. human rights and anti-nuclear activists fit into transnational debates about linkages between the issues of human rights, peace, détente, and the “Helsinki process.”

Women in Postcolonial Africa

As scholars of Africa continue to challenge the place and role of Africa in world history, shedding light on women as valid historical actors in postcolonial Africa within the last three decades remains an ongoing and much-needed endeavor. African women in the past and the present have used their position as breadwinners, mothers, and community leaders to influence their social, economic, and political worlds and to assert their power. In the 21st century, they have become known especially for their success as formidable politicians and peace activists. Even in the age of cyberactivism, women in postcolonial Africa have demonstrated their ability to mobilize across ethno-linguistic lines to effect change in their societies. It is important to move beyond the male-centric perspectives on Africa by highlighting not only the diverse experiences of women in the post-independence era but to also underscore the fundamental roles they continue to play in defining and redefining the postcolonial political economies, and their place in them.

Conclusion

‘Military neutrality’ and ‘political neutrality’ are not the same. The Irish authorities did not allow the state’s non-aligned status to prevent them joining the crusade in the West against communism. They had a Cold War agenda. In the 1950s, leading officials such as Colonel Dan Bryan in G2, the Irish army intelligence directorate, believed that Ireland should assist the NATO powers in their global struggle. So, too, did Peter Berry, the Department of Justice secretary in Dublin. They supplied detailed information on the tiny communist organisation to the ‘hypersensitive’ Americans, for example, and provided intelligence on ‘peace’ activists to the British. Details on suspect activists ended up in the files of the Church’s ‘vigilance’ committee – a clear breach of the separation of Church and State. As functionaries in what Berry termed the ‘communist international’, Michael O’Riordan in Dublin and Desmond Greaves in London were seen to be taking directions from the British communist party, the CPGB. The communists had their own Cold War agenda to follow, with ‘world peace’ Moscow’s priority. But this issue did not capture the imagination of the working class, as a frustrated Roy Johnston discovered. Nevertheless, orders were orders for Ireland’s ‘fifth column’. Some communist-led organisations, however, were believed to have recruitment potential. Could the CPGB-directed Connolly Association, and its equivalent in New York – both ‘dangerous’ in Bryan’s view – convert Irish exiles by highlighting issues related to Northern Ireland? Was there any possibility that communists could succeed in infiltrating the Irish republican movement?...

Mobilization for peace: Analyzing religious peace activism

Under what conditions do religious groups engage in peace activism? Religious groups engage in peace activism if the associated costs are low and they compete with either conflict party over the interpretation of their religious content concerning war and peace. Peace activism is a promising action as peace activists maintain their positive self-evaluation. I introduce a novel dataset of peace activism for 511 religious groups in 128 countries from 1990 to 2008. Conditional fixed effects and logistic models support my hypotheses. The findings highlight the role of rational considerations in the decision to conduct peace activities by representatives of religious groups.

Narratives of Donor Accountability in Support to Peace Processes: The Case of the Joint Peace Fund in Myanmar

There is a growing scholarly focus on the accountability of Northern donors in their work in recipient countries. Yet scholarly work on donor accountability has given limited attention to the complex challenges of accountability when donors are engaged in supporting peace processes. Further, literature on donor accountability often focuses on examination of accountability mechanisms and relationships, whilst the way accountability is understood amongst practitioners has received less attention. Using the example of donor support to peace processes in Myanmar, this article examines the way that accountability is narrated within donor agencies and amongst international and local networks of peace activists and analysts. When attached to simplified stories, accountability takes a variety of meanings and serves to position donors in different ways. Examination of these narratives, and their divergence, reveals that policy negotiation about accountability mechanisms is influenced by political assumptions about the legitimacy of donor agency engagement in peace processes.

The Role of Civil Society Organizations in Creating Conflict Resolution through Multicultural Education

Dermolo as one of the villages in Kembang, Jepara, was ever hit by a conflict under a religious background. This friction involved Islamic and Christian groups. The dispute between the two groups increasingly culminated and seemed to have no end without the presence of the Nation. When the Regional Government of Jepara encountered a deadlock in breaking down this social conflict, the presence of a civil society organization was absolutely necessary. Lakpesdam NU Jepara since 2014 up to now has been trying to extinguish the fire of conflict in Dermolo which was initially triggered by disputes over the use of a worship place. Through a qualitative descriptive approach by utilizing the theory of conflict resolution and multicultural education, this paper finally succeeds in mapping the four multicultural education patterns used by Lakpesdam NU. Those are economic empowerment, religious approaches, empowering women, and empowering village cadres. The result of this academic discourse at the same time provides an alternative methodological offer that can be replicated by the stakeholders of the policy makers, for example the Regional Government and the relevant Regional Apparatus Organization. It can be used as a prototype for civil society organizations and peace activists in settling disputes wrapped in religious sentiment. This kind of inclusive pattern is considered quite successful as a conflict resolution strategy. Lakpesdam NU Jepara is the only institution that has the sympathy of the residents and the Dermolo Government, because it has contributed positively in restoring social harmony between Christian and Islam groups

Conclusion

One of the major consequences of the polarization within Israeli society is the deep fracture between the majority of Israelis and the various peace movements. The general public no longer has faith in its pacifists and appreciates human rights organizations even less. The peace camp is perceived as dangerous, ineffective, and at risk of corroding the Zionist narrative of the right to the land of Israel, which insists that there is only one victim in the conflict. Conversely, peace activists no longer expect support from their fellow citizens or their political leaders. Most now seek backing from abroad. This is a major change, which has nevertheless largely gone unnoticed.