This article shows that, according to Romans 14:19, peace-building and mutual edification are closely interrelated. This hypothesis is substantiated through an intercultural method, which explores the issues of peace from a triple perspective: a contemporary culture, an original Biblical culture and a past Church culture. These three frames basically agree that for restoring and maintaining peace, it is important to fight against its main cause, namely sin. It is equally important to cultivate things that promote (...) class='Hi'>peace and mutual edification. (shrink)

Historical analysis confirms the home-grown character of Nigeria’s conflicts and the complexity of their peaceful resolution. Religious leaders have traditionally contested political space with other actors and continue to do so. But the religiosity of popular culture is such that Nigerian religious leaders can make a substantive contribution to peace building and countering religious extremism if given the time, space and tools to do so. Elections have been critical moments in the evolution of religious tensions and conflicts owing (...) to the country’s geographical demographic and history, and the popular hope of correcting injustice that they evoke. There is a need to distinguish between genuine religious conflicts and conflicts that are essentially socio-economic or about competition for political power which become “religionised.” The evolution of the terrorist organisation, Boko Haram, can be traced back to intra-Muslim conflicts and anti-Sufi movements. But it reflects no less the underdevelopment and poverty of the Northeast and the impact of corruption on the perception of state and national government. The crude and violent narrative of Abubakar Shekau, its leader, shows a deterioration beyond that of its founder Malam Yusuf, who was able to offer financial and economic inducements over and above a rejection of most aspects of modernity and Western education. Increasingly, efforts are being made by religious leaders at both national, and local levels through formal, and grassroots networks to build better understanding and awareness between faiths to change and challenge narratives. With the appropriate support, these networks have great potential for improving communal relations and overcoming Boko Haram’s narratives of hate. (shrink)

The post-conflict societies of Bosnia and Kosovo continue to be plagued by the deleterious effects of ethno-nationalism and ethnic enclaves. Unfortunately, this mix impedes both democracy and peace building within these Balkan countries. One way to promote such building is for these enclaves to collapse, thereby allowing multiethnic societies to develop. This essay proposes that enclaves be dealt with physically by ridding them of those evocative objects that help to create and maintain enclaves. By getting physical in (...) this way, however, we find ourselves in a dilemma, caught on the horns of legality and expediency. Yet there is a promising path between the horns that involves civic design. This essay offers a physicalist theory of managing these impediments to democracy and peace building, beginning with four hypotheses, followed by an abstraction and mathematization in the form of a matrix, a dilemma arising from these hypotheses, and possible solutions. (shrink)

The purpose of this paper is to introduce corporate social responsibility case, a micro-finance program, conducted at Mindanao, Philippines, by a local Filipinocompany. The paper is a description of the Islamic micro-finance program and challenges in the area affected by conflicts.

My paper will deal with the contribution of philosophy to peace building. It provides a review of the peace concept in the works of Erasmus, a positive definition of the peace concept and an introduction of two important tools for peace building: philosophical counselling and Socratic dialogue. In line with Erasmus, I will define peace as a quality of friendship. I will distinguish an individual, social and political aspect of the peace concept (...) and argue that we should integrate these different aspects of the peace concept in order to build peace. Dialogue seems to be the connecting substance. Philosophical practice can be the tool for shaping this substance by individual counselling or Socratic group dialogue. Philosophical practice originated in the 20th century. With a social utility in mind philosophers started counselling individual persons or moderating groups again. They criticised academic philosophy as being too theoretical and too detached from everyday life and revitalized a style of philosophy, as practiced by Socrates, Seneca, Erasmus, Descartes and many others in the history of philosophy. With respect to peace building, philosophical counselling helps individuals to deal with personal themes or problems in life and the Socratic method structures dialogue so that peace can be discussed in a rational way. Both serve attitude building and provide a philosophical experience important for peace building. As morale, I like to propose a variant of a famous saying of Erasmus, “Dulcis pax expertis”, i.e., “peace is only sweet for those who know it by experience”. I think that philosophical practice can provide us with such an experience. (shrink)

During the period of military-backed government, South Korea faced various political and economic challenges: poverty and inequality in society; human rights abuses by military governments; and confrontation with the communist North. This article examines Psalm 85: 10 in the light of the political context of South Korea and the way minjung theologians and artists understood and utilized the passage for their struggle with the governments and mega-companies. The article argues that the fight for justice for the poor and oppressed is (...) what has brought a sustainable peace in South Korea, and that although justice seeking and peace-building should be implemented simultaneously as the Scripture implies, if one has to prioritize between the two, justice-seeking has to take precedence. (shrink)

This paper examines the way that women’s relationship to peace is constructed in international institutions and international law. It identifies a set of claims about women and peace that are typically made and considers these in light of women’s experience in the conflicts in Bougainville, East Timor and the Solomon Islands.

Increasingly, the private sector is playing a greater role in supporting peace building efforts in conflict and post-conflict areas by providing critical expertise, know-how, and capital. However, reports of the corrupt practices of both governments and businesses have plagued international peace building efforts, deepening the distrust of stricken communities. Businesses are perceived as being selfish and indifferent to the impact their operations may have on the social and political development of local communities. Additionally, the corruption of (...) local governments has been cited as interfering with the creation of stability in conflict areas. Within this framework, multinational Public-Private Partnerships can exert two forms of influence: they can either exacerbate these problems, or they can become part of the solution. Without a relationship of trust among local businesses, government, and the private sector, peace building efforts will at best be mixed, and could possibly perpetuate violence in fragile states. Public and private interests are better served when Public-Private Partnerships are based upon collaboration and assist in establishing principles of good governance in conflict areas. This in turn can help build trust and regain the credibility of both sectors among local communities, which are essential in making Public— Private Partnerships more effective. (shrink)

Peace building in our societies should be central to Christian theology. In a postcommunist culture as is the case of Romania, part of the task of Christian theology is to construct the proper trajectories to peace building by looking back at the time when the Church was trapped in dictatorial clutches. Referring to the Pentecostal Church in Romania, we will see that the best way of bringing to light the possible contributions towards peace building (...) is by making use of the category of “imaginary”. This category helps us both to uncover the decisive identity markers of a given spirituality and to find those much-needed contributions towards peace building. (shrink)

This article discusses women and peace-building in Solomon Islands and the effect of law, theory and practical circumstances on their role. It looks at the place of Solomon Islands women in society historically, with particular reference to war and peace. It then analyses their current status from a legal perspective, looking at the existing Constitution, the proposed Federal Constitution, and relevant aspects of international law. It questions whether gender equity provisions are sufficient to promote participation at a (...) practical level. The article also disputes the effectiveness of various international, regional, and local initiatives, designed to enhance the status of women. The article discusses the application of some of the theories relating to women and peace-building to the circumstances of Solomon Islands. It concludes by looking to the future and discussing means of consolidating women’s position, and increasing their involvement in leadership and decision-making. (shrink)

This paper will discuss the peace building efforts of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) and the Government of the Philippines (GRP) and argue that these efforts follow the proceduralist conception of Habermas’ deliberative democracy. Habermas, like Kant, contends that peace has a “chronological and ontological priority over violence.”1 The paper will problematize the gap between legality and legitimacy as highlighted by Habermas and relate how such a gap triggered conflicts the same as that of (...) the GRP and the NDFP. I will then propose a communicative process of critique and intervention from civil liberty groups, especially the Church sector, as an avenue to possibly remedy the gaps and its effects. Finally, I will outline possible problems arising from this model of deliberative democracy. (shrink)

In 1994 the IRA and Loyalist paramilitary groups declared ceasefires, leading to a more relaxed attitude and cross-community contacts in Northern Ireland. The result was the establishment of a new type of church-based reconciliation group, the Church Fora, intended to improve community relations and promote peace and reconciliation within local areas. This article focuses on the ways in which Church Fora have expanded the methods of such work since 1994. It will assess their effectiveness in promoting peace and (...) reconciliation and developing community relations in Northern Ireland by placing them within the broader framework of church-based reconciliation work. Finally, by assessing how successful Church Fora have been in achieving their aims and objectives, I examine the lessons that could be learned for church-based reconciliation work being carried out within Northern Ireland. (shrink)

Despite some efforts by the government, corporate bodies, civil society, national universities commission etc to reduce situations of conflict in Nigeria, peace is still elusive to her and consequently to sustainable development. This paper thus aims at an in-dept description of NGOs, conflict and peace building and proffering a way forward to reduce conflict situations through NGOs. Content analysis, was adopted, using the secondary sources of collecting data from books, journals and articles. NGOs are an aspect of (...) civil society, without government representation, embarking in conflict reduction, welfare scheme, empowerment and employment. Among the recommendations are: government recognition and support of NGOs; NGOs increased and effective performance and government/NGOs partnership in peace and conflict issues. (shrink)

This paper examines the role of community interventions in post-conflict settings. The focus is on peacebuilding through the shaping of collective memories, achieved through the transformation of social ties. By addressing community interventions, this paper opens the black box between interventions by formal institutions (such as peace treaties, trials, or truth commissions) and outcomes. It is based on a study of one specific cross-community initiative in Belfast, Northern Ireland, which – in 2012 – employed a Transitional Justice Grassroots Toolkit. (...) Document analysis is complemented by interviews with participants and organizers to reveal the role of pedagogical practices, mediated by cohort effects, in facilitating cultural transformation through group interactions. This paper suggests how community interventions can change collective memories, cultural trauma, and related identities of the conflict, away from their polarized and polarizing forms, and it explores implications for future peace and social justice. (shrink)

Contributed articles presented at the Colombo Conference on "Building Spirituality and Culture of Peace Beyond Globalization" held on Aug. 13-16, 2003; with reference to Asia and Africa.

Globalization cannot be stopped nor denied. Sometimes it may have not only a positive impact but also a negative one, as rivalry among nations may ensue. Economic and political rivalry leads to break up of the conducive environment of political security. Unresolved territorial claims and boundary disputes may become triggering factors. Superpowers’ interference may had to the conflict. The purpose of this article is to explain the possibilities of building up trust in peaceful and democratic One Asia Community by (...) systematically and effectively introducing educational programs to enhance awareness of cultural differences, teach conflict resolution techniques, and promote an ideal of ethical responsibility and unselfishness. (shrink)

Our goals in this article are to summarize the existing literature on the role business can play in creating sustainable peace and to discuss important avenues for extending this research. As part of our discussion, we review the ethical arguments and related research made to date, including the rationale and motivation for businesses to engage in conflict resolution and peace building, and discuss how scholars are extending research in this area. We also focus on specific ways companies (...) can actively engage in conflict reduction including promoting economic development, the rule of law, and principles of external valuation, contributing to a sense of community, and engaging in track-two diplomacy and conflict sensitive practices. We conclude by developing a set of future research questions and considerations. (shrink)

The contributors analyse the key roles in constructing peaceful international couple relationships and their foreign-policy outcomes, at a time of acute trust deficit in international affairs. They show that to establish prospects of conflict transformation and sustainable international policy cooperation, the most positive long-term impact derives from sub-state intermediary levels and middle-class elites promoting integration through incremental identity-change, rather than from diplomatic engagement between rivals (despite the relevance of leaders embedded in institutional frameworks for facilitating rapprochement). A differentiation approach is (...) applied throughout the volume, revealing the various mechanisms at work, moving from the rationalist to the sociological, from intergovernmental strategic bargaining to societal integration and the construction of new identities below the state-level. (shrink)

Popkin analyzes the role of international actors, notably the United States and the United Nations, and the contributions and limitations of international assistance in efforts to establish accountability and reform the justice system in El Salvador. The author discusses the essential role of civil society in attempts to establish accountability and an effective justice system for all, and looks at the reasons for and the consequences of the limited role played by Salvadorean civil society. She also addresses the challenges facing (...) democratic reform efforts in the context of a postwar crime wave. _Peace Without Justice_ grew out of Margaret Popkin’s extensive experience working as a human rights advocate in El Salvador during the armed conflict and interviews with a variety of Salvadorans and others involved in justice reform and in negotiating and implementing the peace accords. (shrink)

Recent studies of peacebuilding highlight the importance of attending to people’s local experiences of conflict and cooperation. This trend, however, raises the fundamental questions of how the local is and should be constituted and what the relationship is between institutions and individual actors of peace at the local level of politics. I turn to Hannah Arendt’s thoughts to address these issues. Arendt’s thinking provides a distinctive form of realism that calls for stable institutions but never depletes the spirit of (...) resistance. Peacebuilding guided by this insight seeks to enable parties in conflict to voice their competing opinions by acting agonistically in public and to help them align their disruptive yet creative voices with a desire to establish and sustain common institutions. Thus, Arendt’s thinking not only offers a way to increase sensitivity to local differences but also to provide direction to the politics of resistance. In the end, it offers a balanced insight into peacebuilding and local agency beyond the contemporary liberal and critical approaches to peace. (shrink)

Notoriously, state-building is a key enterprise in regard of addressing the international conflicts throughout the globe. The consolidation of peace associated to it is intimately connected with the institutionalization of liberal ideas in structuring realms such as the political, the economical and the social spheres. Departing from Foucauldian concepts such as dispositif, government, discipline and biopolitics, this paper aims to critically analyze the post-conflict state-building practice. In a first moment, the paper delineates how peace was operationalized (...) during the Cold War and post-Cold War periods. In a second moment, it will present the Foucauldian conceptual tools that enables the (re)problematization of the state-building practice as a post-conflict normalizing dispositif, rather than merely a conflict-resolution tool. (shrink)

Review of Laura J. Shepherd's anthology, Building Peace: Feminist Perspectives.

This book develops a notion of differences and "otherness" beyond hegemonic and hierarchical thinking as represented by the legacies of Western philosophical and political thinking. In doing so, it relates to the 20th Century phenomenological discourse, especially to Georg Simmel, Alfred Schütz, Emmanual Lévinas, and Jacques Derrida, and drafts our understanding of difference as a genuine human experience of a social and political world that is in motion and transformative, rather than static and predictable. On this basis of temporalized ontology (...) and its normative consequences, differences are drafted as a positive social and political force and as powerful capacities of transformation and change. In practical terms, this understanding is most important for our theorizing and acting upon peace, peace-building, and conflict solution. Differences appear now not as obstacle to peace and reconciliation, but as lively and constructive articulation of "otherness" and as a positive power of transformation, emancipation, and change.This book will be of interest to students of international relations, philosophy, and political theory. (shrink)

In his Complaint of Peace, the great sixteenth-century humanist Erasmus allows "Peace" to talk. Peace speaks as a plaintiff, protesting her shabby treatment at the hands of humankind and our ever-ready inclination to launch wars. Against this lure of warfare, Erasmus pits the higher task of peace-building, which can only succeed through the cultivation of justice and respect for all human life. First articulated in 1517, the complaint of peace has echoed through subsequent centuries (...) and down to our age--an age convulsed by world wars, holocausts, and ethnic cleansings. Distinguished political scientist Fred Dallmayr traces this complaint from the writings of Erasmus through the evolution of the "law of nations" to recent and contemporary co-plaintiffs in the West. He also highlights the role of non-Western thinkers and teachings in giving voice to "Peace." In addition to Erasmus, Dallmayr engages major thinkers such as Francisco de Vitoria, Hugo Grotius, Immanuel Kant, Hannah Arendt, Martin Heidegger, Mahatma Ghandi, the Dalai Lama, John Rawls, and Martha Nussbaum. This timely book urgently pleads for greater attentiveness to peace's complaint as an antidote to the prevailing culture of violence and the escalating danger of nuclear catastrophe. Dallmayr offers not only a compelling historical narrative, but powerful ethical and religious arguments vindicating the primacy of peace over violence and war. (shrink)

This book documents recent and historical events in the theoretically-based practice of peace development. Its diverse collection of essays describes different aspects of applied philosophy in peace action, commonly involving the contributors' continual engagement in the field, while offering support and optimal responses to conflict and violence.

John Paul Lederach's work in the field of conciliation and mediation is internationally recognized. As founding Director of the Conflict Transformation Program and Institute of Peacebuilding at Eastern Mennonite University, he has provided consultation and direct mediation in a range of situations from the Miskito/Sandinista conflict in Nicaragua to Somalia, Northern Ireland, the Basque Country, and the Philippines. His influential 1997 book Building Peace has become a classic in the discipline. This new book represents his thinking and learning (...) over the past several years. He explores the evolution of his understanding of peacebuilding by reflecting on his own experiences in the field. Peacebuilding, in his view, is both a learned skill and an art. Finding this art, he says, requires a worldview shift. Conflict professionals must envision their work as a creative act - an exercise of what Lederach terms the "moral imagination.". (shrink)

Recent research has focused on business as a mediating institution that can influence society while engaging in the traditional profit-making and value generation functions. This work includes Professors Fort's and Schipani's arguments about how business may be able to play a role in promoting more peaceful societies, and other research addressing how businesses might serve a role in reducing violence in society and the workplace. Although there is a significant body of scholarship on the role of business in reducing violence (...) in society, there is little research on concrete steps for businesses to take to achieve this goal. This article attempts to begin to fill that void. As identified by Fort and Schipani, business may promote more peaceful societies by encouraging a sense of community. We argue that one way to reach that goal is for business to provide what we denote as complementary alternative benefits (CABs), to its workforce. In this article, we advocate for businesses to offer CABs which focus on sustaining the health, reducing the stress, and improving the camaraderie of its workforce. We argue that business can use these benefits to promote a healthy, less-stressed, and collegial workforce that is less prone to resolve conflicts by violence. Further, we examine the role business plays in promoting more peaceful societies and how employer-initiated stress reduction programs are consistent with both business ethics and peace-building principles. Finally, using case studies we demonstrate how CABs may also reduce costs related to absenteeism and turnover, and thus improve the bottom line. (shrink)

Proceedings of the International Workshop "Islamic Peace Ethics: Legitimate and Illegitimate Violence in Contemporary Islamic Thought", organized 15-17 October 2015 by the Institute for Theology and Peace (ithf), Hamburg. More than 20 researchers from different countries including Indonesia, Pakistan, Iran, Germany, UK, USA, and Belgium discussed the peace and war in contemporary Islamic thought from different disciplines such as theology, philosophy, religious studies, cultural studies, and political sciences.

The essays look at the role of the military in the Cold War and after, and review the prospects for war and peace in the next century."--BOOK JACKET.

To build cultures of peace, one must often lay aside the "expert" label and become a student in the world who is willing to learn from other cultures in pursuit of peace. To set up an intercultural dialogue on this topic, the Committee for the Psychological Study of Peace, in conjunction with the University for Peace and the Institute for Psychological Research of the University of Costa Rica, sponsored the 6th International Symposium on the Contribution of (...) Psychology to Peace. This special issue extends the dialogue which began at the Symposium. Aiming to help define the role and contributions of psychologists in building cultures of peace, the articles in this issue address: *topics relating to human rights; *how psychologists can contribute to democratization; *how psychology has much to say on the causes and dynamics of intolerance and the processes of building tolerance in the context of intergroup relations; *how psychology can contribute to understanding and fostering nonviolence; *how cultures of peace will not be possible without a concerted effort to bring about global environmental security and that our failure to restore environmental health is fundamentally a psychological problem; and *psychologically informed policies for the promotion of cultures of peace, including the importance of gender equity. (shrink)

What is peace? -- Inner peacefulness -- Peacefulness in relationships -- Making peace with the enemies -- Building peace with others and in the communities -- Peaceful economy -- Peaceful socio-political systems -- Peace in international relations -- Nurturing peacefulness in education.

Beyond Peaceful Coexistence: The Emergence of Space, Time and Quantum brings together leading academics in mathematics and physics to address going beyond the 'peaceful coexistence' of space-time descriptions (local and continuous ones) and quantum events (discrete and non-commutative ones). Formidable challenges waiting beyond the Standard Model require a new semantic consistency within the theories in order to build new ways of understanding, working and relating to them. The original A. Shimony meaning of the peaceful coexistence (the collapse postulate and non-locality) (...) appear to be just the tip of the iceberg in relation to more serious fundamental issues across physics as a whole. Chapters in this book present perspectives on emergent, discrete, geometrodynamic and topological approaches, as well as a new interpretative spectrum of quantum theories after Copenhagen, discrete time theories, time-less approaches and 'super-fluid' pictures of space-time. As well as stimulating further research among established theoretical physicists, the book can also be used in courses on the philosophy and mathematics of theoretical physics. (shrink)

This volume examines the many ways in which violence, domination, and oppression manifest themselves. This examination opens the way to creative suggestions for overcoming injustice. The authors in this volume also describe the features of a just community and inspire readers to implement peaceful transformation.

Civil war and peace-building -- Curriculum for conflict transformation -- Conflict transformation and northern Uganda -- The search for truth -- Reconciliation -- Inclusive citizenship -- Cambodia, Rwanda, Northern Ireland -- Conclusion.

Resumen En este artículo se propone una reflexión sobre los requerimientos -éticos y teóricos- para la factible superación de situaciones violentas. Situaciones en las que la realidad se impone de manera indefectible y agresiva, bajo las que difícilmente se pueden generar espacios de justicia, dado que en ellos prevalece la desigualdad y marginación social. La persistencia de injusticias constituye el caldo de cultivo para la violencia. El caso específico de este tipo de circunstancias es la matanza de 43 estudiantes de (...) la Escuela Normal Rural en Ayotzinapa el 26 de noviembre de 2014. En estos contextos, para formular alternativas en que la paz sea un horizonte viable, se parte de la reflexión sobre la injusticia real, principalmente, desde la teoría de Luis Villoro. A partir del reconocimiento de esta condición se posibilita la imaginación colectiva de alternativas en pro de la superación de la violencia y el alcance de la paz.This article proposes to reconsider the feasibility of overcoming violent situations. Situations in which reality imposes itself in an indefectible and aggressive manner and in which it is hard to generate spaces of justice, since in them, social inequality and marginalization prevail. The persistence of injustice is the breeding ground for violence. An explicit case of such conditions was the massacre of 43 students of the Rural Teachers' College in Ayotzinapa on November 26, 2014. Under these circumstances, and, in order to formulate alternatives where peace becomes a viable horizon, this paper assumes the perspective about real injustice developed by Luis Villoro. Based on the recognition of this condition, the collective imagination of alternatives for overcoming violence and achieving peace becomes possible. (shrink)

Today we live in a world where the majority of wars are no longer interstate, a development that over the last few decades has often left the international community, in particular the United Nations as it was originally conceived, ill equipped to respond. The nimble action required for contemporary conflict resolution and peacebuilding now primarily lies in the hands of local actors and states, sometimes supported by international actors. But it is not always clear who these local actors are or (...) what they need in order to achieve sustainable peace. As part of the roundtable “World Peace (And How We Can Achieve It),” this essay looks in more detail at what we mean by “local” in conflict-affected contexts and asks how local is local enough when resolving conflicts and building peace. It identifies tensions and concerns such as the need for the international community to have a well-defined and easily identified “local agenda” when, in reality, there are often several competing local agendas. The essay presents the Everyday Peace Indicators project as a vehicle that can be used to help communicate these local needs to international actors, and argues for the importance of understanding people's perceived realities in addition to, if not more than, their actual realities when trying to understand peace and conflict trends. In order to do this, we need to more effectively problematize peacebuilding for positive conflict disruption. (shrink)