Assingment
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CMNS333spring19Week11AIntlConflict-5-4-2-3.ppt
Communication and Conflict
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Last Week… Social Movements
SM arise in response to outrage and humiliation – justice being sought
Issues defined and understood in a particular settings, symbols, sides
Level of engagement determines success
Strategic tools vs. luck
Full of paradoxes (leadership, level of organization, goals, online vs. physical presence)
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Today’s class…
What is International Conflict?
- Role of identity
Characteristics
Importance of third parties
Examples from abroad
Dialogue in International conflict resolution
Types
Challenges
Hope
Steps
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What is Int’l Conflict?
- Go to the Global Conflict Tracker site and find three interesting/ surprising/ distressing things…
Syria
Started as social movement protest against President Assad’s regime; escalated to full scale war between Syria government (backed by Russia, Iran, Lebanese Shia Muslims and Hezballah) and anti-government rebel groups.
Spilled over to neighboring states; international interventions began when the Islamic State came in from Iraq; shocking violence was perpetrated against Shiites, Christiana and Sunnis (American beheaded); 25,000 foreign fighters got involved
US, France, UK conducted airstrikes against Islamic regime
Russian Airstrikes began in Sept ’15; directed against rebel groups opposed to Assad
Mass exodus of Syrian civilians
Sectarian violence and/or sectarian strife is a form of communal violence inspired by sectarianism, that is, between different sects of one particular mode of ideology or religion within a nation/community. Religious segregation often plays a role in sectarian violence.
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What is Int’l Conflict?
- “Implicit or explicit emotional struggle between people of different cultural communities over perceived or actual incompatibilities based on
Cultural ideologies and values
Situational norms
Scarce resources
Socio-historical context
Stella Ting-Toomey and John G. Oetzel (2013) “Introduction to Intercultural/ International Conflict” in The Sage Handbook of Conflict Communication. Sage, Los Angeles.
** stress and strain on intercultural relationships – range of impacts (we will look at0
Prestige, power, prosperity, rivalries, resources
Complex – globalization means world is more interconnected,
E.g. Syria video
*Cultural values and ideologies – democracy and human rights
*Situational Norms – standards around lifetyles and access to consumer goods and services
*Scarce resources – food and medical supplies shut off
* Socio – historical context – fights between moderate and extremist Muslims
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Int’l Conflict and Identity
- Way in which our sense of belonging occurs– “In-group” and “othering” (us against them) on a grand scale
- Linked through a common identity through historical, legal, economic, locational factors
- Social group categories can be negotiated, accommodated and changed over time through extensive and cumulative intercultural experiences.
- Also moderated through personal experiences and relationships, immigration,
- Identities become quite complex
Stella Ting-Toomey and John G. Oetzel (2013) “Introduction to Intercultural/ International Conflict”in The Sage Handbook of Conflict Communication. Sage, Los Angeles.
Way in which our sense of belonging occurs– “In-group” and “othering” (us against them) on a grand scale
Linked through a common identity through historical, legal, economic, locational factors
Social group categories can be negotiated, accommodated and changed over time through extensive and cumulative intercultural experiences.
Also moderated through personal experiences and relationships, immigration,
Identities become quite complex –
This def’n very different than one that might suggest int’l conflict is when rules are being broken – doesn’t assume the right of any country over another
-it sees int’l conflict as socially constructed.
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What is Int’l Conflict?
- Implicit - constructed differences
- Explicit – political systems
- Emotional struggle – identity/ fear
- Cultural ideologies and values
- Situational norms – women’s rights
- Scarce resources – oil, minerals
- Socio-historical context – Middle East
Implicit - Hutu vs. Tutsi/ India and Pakistan/ moderates vs extremists/
Explicit – fight over territory - Ukraine
Emotional - Terrorism
Cultural ideology – communism vs Democracy
Stella Ting-Toomey and John G. Oetzel (2013) “Introduction to Intercultural/ International Conflict”in The Sage Handbook of Conflict Communication. Sage, Los Angeles.
Way in which our sense of belonging occurs– “In-group” and “othering” (us against them) on a grand scale
Linked through a common identity through historical, legal, economic, locational factors
Social group categories can be negotiated, accommodated and changed over time through extensive and cumulative intercultural experiences.
Also moderated through personal experiences and relationships, immigration,
Identities become quite complex –
This def’n very different than one that might suggest int’l conflict is when rules are being broken – doesn’t assume the right of any country over another
-it sees int’l conflict as socially constructed.
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What is Int’l Conflict?
- Intrastate Conflict
- Interstate Conflict
Involves sovereign states
Border dispute (Turbot)
- Transnational Conflict
Non-state groups of people/ orgs. located in different countries (Illegal drug trade)
- Combination (Syria)
Intrastate - Sunnis are the majority group, however those in power are from the Alawite community. The conflict between the principles of both religious groups have been one of the causes of the Syrian Civil War
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Who is involved?
- States – US, Canada
- Sub-national governments – Quebec
- Institutions – US Congress, miltary
- IGOs – NATO, UN
- INGOs – Greenpeace, Amnesty Int’l
- Transnational orgs – Exxon, Catholic
- Public figures – Bono, Dalai Lama
- Individual citizens -
Incredibly complex – population migration as an example
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Refugees- Eg. of complex rel’p
Conflict, natural disaster, famine, ties to other places, means to travel, awareness of better ways to live
Int’l pressure to relieve temporary host countries (camps)
Political decisions involved in accepting refugees
Wide range of agencies(UN, WHO, NGO (Unicef), business, trade, religious, media, public
Concerns around terrorism, criminality, multiple citizenship and divided loyalties, economic support, employability, disease transmission
Incredibly complex – population migration as an example
Each party has a specific perspective on migration – how to assist victims while not harming hosts
-mixture of self interest, ideology and compassion
Return to home
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What is Int’l Conflict?
- Role of Violence
Best known form of int’l conflict
16-17th century – European states were at war 65% of the time
18th century – 38%
19th century - 28%
20th century – 18% (both WW)
Wright (1964)
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The steep decline in conflicts from 1992 to 2003 was due to fewer conflicts starting anew than the number ending.
The accumulation of conflicts over the course of the Cold War resulted from more wars starting than ending. To further reduce the number of conflicts in the world today
not only must we work to resolve the on-going conflicts, but we must also try to prevent others from starting.
http://file.prio.no/publication_files/prio/Gates,%20Nygård,%20Strand,%20Urdal%20-%20Trends%20in%20Armed%20Conflict,%20Conflict%20Trends%201-2016.pdf
Peace Research Institute - Trends in Armed Conflict,1946–2014
Scott Gates University of Oslo & PRIO
Håvard Mokleiv Nygård Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO)
Håvard Strand University of Oslo & PRIO
Henrik Urdal Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO)
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http://file.prio.no/publication_files/prio/Gates,%20Nygård,%20Strand,%20Urdal%20-%20Trends%20in%20Armed%20Conflict,%20Conflict%20Trends%201-2016.pdf
Two countries account for most of the worsening trend in armed conflict in 2014. UCDP has coded four different conflicts in Ukraine, first the revolution itself and then three regional
conflicts in Donetsk, Lugansk, and Novorossiya. These four together are estimated to have claimed the lives of 4 353 people, which should be seen as a conservative estimate.
According to our best estimates, the conflict in Syria now ranks as the deadliest war since the end of the Cold War. Indeed, since 2012 abouthalf of all war casualties around the world have occurred in Syria. Equally troubling is that of the ten most violent conflicts in 2013, eight became more violent in 2014.
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http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2013/10/28/terrorist-attacks-and-deaths-hit-record-high-report-shows/
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http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2013/10/28/terrorist-attacks-and-deaths-hit-record-high-report-shows/
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Conflict and Identity
- a source of power, symbolic or real, galvanizing individuals into an “us-vs.-them” posture and creating stress, strain, and conflict in intercultural relationships”
A key component to conflict – in and out group
“Within and across societies, the innocent banner of collective in-group identity is used as a source of power, symbolic or real, galvanizing individuals into an “us-vs.-them” posture and creating stress, strain, and conflict in intercultural relationships” Young Yun Kim (Sage Handbook of Conflict Communication, 2013)
“Identity is also a dynamic, and pliable entity that can be negotiated, accommodated, and changed over time through extensive and cumulative intercultural experiences
Is there a socio-psychological component to this? Are there more “conflictual” individuals that drive conflict in their cultures?
- Good to note that these find their roots in not just survival needs by pschychological needs as well.
- Talked about needs in a group…
Appreciation, Affiliation, Autonomy, Status, Role
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Conflict and Identity
- Identity is also a dynamic, and pliable entity that can be negotiated, accommodated, and changed over time through extensive and cumulative intercultural experiences
A key component to conflict – in and out group
“Within and across societies, the innocent banner of collective in-group identity is used as a source of power, symbolic or real, galvanizing individuals into an “us-vs.-them” posture and creating stress, strain, and conflict in intercultural relationships” Young Yun Kim (Sage Handbook of Conflict Communication, 2013)
“Identity is also a dynamic, and pliable entity that can be negotiated, accommodated, and changed over time through extensive and cumulative intercultural experiences
Is there a socio-psychological component to this? Are there more “conflictual” individuals that drive conflict in their cultures?
- Good to note that these find their roots in not just survival needs by pschychological needs as well.
- Talked about needs in a group…
Appreciation, Affiliation, Autonomy, Status, Role
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Conflict and Identity
- Identity reflected in language, behaviour, norms, beliefs, myths and values
- Psychological foundation offering the individual a “ground on which to stand” that “no one can take away”
- The driving force of individual and collective ethnic self-affirmation
Why it is so important
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Conflict and Identity
- …from objective, measureable qualities of identity (that reproduce the status quo)
- … to “critical” approaches that see identity as the process through which cultural exclusion and manipulation of identity of culturally different people is carried out
Our identities evolve through the process of communication and become more complex and beyond lines of conventional group categories
Identity as transformative – in addition to political, economic and diplomatic solutions – want to explore ways of expanding and challenging identity as a solution to international conflict
This work happens at the micro – individual level
Where we are situated – see the value of pluralism – accommodating different groups within a larger culture – accepting that there will be some negotiation and competition for resources and that inequalities must be addressed – confronting racism for example
Identity politics- refers to political positions based on the interests and perspectives of social groups with which people identify.
Identity politics includes the ways in which people's politics may be shaped by aspects of their identity through loosely correlated social organizations. Examples include social organizations based on age, social class or caste, culture, dialect, disability, education, ethnicity, language, nationality, sex, gender identity, generation, occupation, profession, race, religion, sexual orientation, settlement, urban and rural habitation, and veteran status. Not all members of any given group are involved in identity politics.
Critique is that it obscures larger issues – compromises the rights of the “wider” population….
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Examples of Identity in Int’l Conflict
- Physical appearance
- Cultural practices (clothing)
- Language
- Place of birth
- Religion
- Shared history as survivors/ victims
- Nationalism
- Symbols, practices and language preserve individual dignity, freedom and creativity
- Group identity comes from group categorization
- Association and dissociation behaviour
One set of theories that suggest how powerful identity is in international conflict
The ties that bind us together and divide us, who we are vs. them
Passionate
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What is my cultural identity?
- Select three questions to explore with someone of a different ethnicity from your own.
- What differences might be explained by your cultural identity?
- What aspects of your culture come to light when you learn about the culture of others?
Five identity needs…
In our papers we want to explore the possibility that conflict could be managed and wrongs healed by addressing these needs; by sharing the importance of group identity, and usin this to build empathy – we are not so different. We share a lot of who we are.
Redekop summarized these human identity need into 5 interrelated categories that he calls need satisfiers:
http://mepeace.org/forum/topics/661876:Topic:41931
Want to look for ways of addressing these needs in conflict resolution and recovery
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Conflict Resolution Abroad
Examples
Hawaiian Ho’oponopono (To set things right)
Tanna of the South Pacific
Cockfighting in Bali
“Hold me coat” Tory Island, Ireland
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Different cultures deal with conflict diferently.
Hawaiian Ho’oponopono - highly ranked leader from community comes and listens to grievance and feelings (sometimes there is some verbal sparing and put-downs)
- apologies and forgiveness is then required; forgiveness is asked from God and the church.
Tanna People of the South Pacific - All day meeting of the adult males; discussion is held to come to a consensus on what happened.
- Doesn’t necessarily reflect the truth. It’s believed to be a journey that the participate undertake together to arrive at the same destination.
- Doesn’t solve the problem, but overcomes the conflict through discussion, pressure from others, acknowledgement of emotions.
Cock fighting in Bali - Cocks are lovingly raised; bets are made based not on the ability of the cock, or whether it will result in winning money, but through an agreed criteria
- in the village - bet on the cock belonging to members of your family
- outside the village - bet on the cock belonging to another village member
- dispute - bet on the cock of your opponent and later bet on the same person’s cock to indicate the dispute has been resolved
“Hold me coat” Role play - excitement, face saving, verbal aggression not physical
In the absence of exchange that happens when cultures include interconnectedness and opportunities for dialogue and cooperation, we lose the opportunity to resolve conflict less violent ways. Is this true?
Conflict Resolution Abroad
Deborah Tannen Managing Confrontations: Lessons from Abroad (1998)
Cultures value individualism tend to view conflict and something that should be settled in private (small-medium size conflict)
“Settle this between yourselves.”
“Don’t put me in the middle of your argument.”
“This is between the two of you.”
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One way is to understand the values of a culture and what can be built on…
One difference in how cultures deal with conflict stems from how they identify themselves as either individualistic or group oriented
-Remember this from CMNS 112 - North America values and champions the individual: autonomy, individual responsibility and individual achievement
Conflict Resolution Abroad
Cultures that recognize the group and inter-connectedness of its members have a different view:
Use of an intermediary or respected third party
Motivated to resolve conflicts efficiently
Reduces the dynamic created by cognitive dissonance
Reduces the dynamic created by the need to maintain the “idealized self” through less destructive forms of face saving.
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-Group Oriented cultures vallue the group or the collective above the individual (Asian)
- see connections between people and promoting the goals of the group as the most important thing.
- Cognitive Dissonance - rationalizing to reduce the uncomfortable feeling of looking bad by making a situation or belief fit one’s “preferred” reality.
- Ignore parts, change the story, reduce the importance of something
- Identity management - presenting an idealized self at all costs rather than acknowledging mistakes
“Culture is an essential part of conflict and conflict resolution. Cultures are like underground rivers that run through our lives and relationships, giving us messages that shape our perceptions, attributions, judgments and ideas of self and the other.”
Michelle LeBaron , http://www.beyondintractability.org/bi-essay/culture-conflict
Making the case for including culture and cultural production in our international conflict management strategies/ tool box
As a source of identity, meaning and belonging, culture can both facilitate social cohesion and justify social exclusion and xenophobia. Amartya Sen has aptly captured this paradox:
“A sense of identity can be a source not merely of pride and joy, but also of strength and confidence. And yet, identity can also kill – and kill with abandon. […] A sense of identity can make an important contribution to our relations with others. At the same time, it is important to recognize the fact that a sense of identity can firmly exclude many people as it warmly embraces others. The adversity of exclusion can be made to go hand in hand with the gifts of inclusion. Identity can be a source of richness and warmth as well as of violence and terror.”7
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Peace cannot be achieved through violence; it can only be attained through understanding.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Cultural approaches take into consideration the infinite wealth of the cultures of the world and offer a way of averting the “fear reflex” when confronted with “otherness.”
Unesco – April 2013
What might art offer the parties involved in intractable conflict?
Identity
Escape
Accomplishment
Reminder of what peace accomplishes
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Role of Art in Social Movements
Framing the issues
Attracting resources
Communicating about themselves
Fostering useful emotions
Creating powerful symbols
Communicate a coherent identity
Marking membership
Cementing commitment to the movement
Jacqueline Adams Sociological Forum Vol. 17, No. 1 (Mar., 2002), pp. 21-56
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Role of Art in Social Movements
http://www.cultureandconflict.org.uk/
Explore the role of arts and culture in this process
- Framing the issues
- Attracting resources
- Communicating about themselves
- Fostering useful emotions
- Creating powerful symbols
- Communicate a coherent identity
- Marking membership
- Cementing commitment to the movement
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Peace building functions of Art in Conflict Resolution
Space to present and promote values of peace;
Therapy; exploration and transformation of perceptions, understandings and feelings.
“Art Camping” Syria
The Wish Stall
Emotive power; help people feel the pathos and waste of war;
Witness and resistance to war (Goya)
Opportunities for contact and collaboration; better understandings;
Women in Action Cultural Conferences
Sites for historic narratives and survivor stories; memorials and reconciliation;
Reconciliation Blankets
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Since the problems in Syria began, we felt we will need Hope to overcome this problem. Hope is as important as daily food, and day after day time shows we were right��
Issa Touma, director of Art Camping
Aleppo, December 2012
Since its inception, Art Camping has served as a forum for both citizens of Aleppo and refugees to participate in collaborative artworks. The essence of the project is as much about art production, as it is about working together and fostering dialogue, agency and resistance. Issa Touma has described the goals of Art Camping in the following way; �Art Camping is about giving a voice to the normal people who are dying in a silent way.�
Another of Art Campings projects which engaged with the city, this time in a social sense, was Nairi Dakranian �The Wish Stall (May 2012). This work responded to the governments attempts to eradicate street stalls where local goods are sold. Along with other participants, Nairi set up a street stall, where members of the public were encouraged to write their wishes and dreams on a slip of paper. Using minimal materials, this performative and interactive artwork made use of the public space. It framed itself as an act of cultural resistance by both appropriating the stall as an endangered cultural symbol, and by giving a voice to the residents of the city. A large collection of the wishes are still held at the gallery of the Le Pont Gallery.
In August 2012, Art Camping ran an art programme with Syrian refugees in the Kindy and Joul Jamal School. Here, refugee children were taught by Art Camping volunteers how to draw and trace textures (using techniques which had been used earlier in Texture of the City�), make sculptural works out of empty plastic bottles, and take photographs. Photographs of this project are readily available on Art Campings Facebook page. They offer insights into the conditions of the camps where many bright, young children face an uncertain future.
Almost two years since its initiation, Art Camping is still thriving but faces major challenges. The biggest difficulty, according to Issa Touma is not funding or censorship, but the ability to sustain communication with potential participants about events and gatherings. Regular power and internet cuts have led the organizers to contact everyone by phone in order to plan meetings. Gatherings used to take place once a week at the Le Pont Gallery, whereas currently, they take place on average once every two weeks due to difficulties in communication.
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�”It’s important because people are shocked when they see young people working among them, giving smiles. At the same time, many around us crying, hungry and have lost hope.
We saw at the copper market (copper Souk, in Arabic) a child who was protecting his head from the cold under a dirty pillow. When he saw everyone working and doing art around him, he forgot everything, watched them working and smiled.
We now face a very hard time, each one of us. Personally, we do not have clean water to drink or bread to eat … but we are still trying to find way to continue Art Camping.”
Eva Bentcheva�
http://www.cultureandconflict.org.uk/projects/art-camping-aleppo/
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Women in Action Cultural Conference
‘Women in Action’ Cultural Conference (SEE VIDEO)
Founded in 2004 by Adalet R. Garmiany, a British artist of Kurdish-Iraqi origin, ArtRole is a UK- and Iraq-based contemporary arts organisation dedicated to developing cultural exchanges within the Middle East, and between the Middle East and other regions
As one of the few arts organisations in the region, ArtRole works to promote human rights, freedom of speech and dialogue between genders and diverse communities to support the building of a modern, democratic, creative and multicultural Iraq
The first-of-its-kind �Post-War Art & Culture Festival,” produced in a former jail run by the ousted Saddam Hussein regime, incorporated artists’ projects, exhibitions, events and tours. The three-day event included UK, US and Iraqi Kurdish artists, academics, curators, politicians and students.
rought together Iraqi and international female artists, activists and academics from diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds to discuss how culture and art can strengthen the position of women in Iraqi society and their role in rebuilding the country.
Before the 1991 Gulf War Iraqi women were some of the most liberated in the Middle East. However years of war, sectarian violence, and a struggling economy took their toll on the situation of women in the country. Women and girls were disproportionately affected by the economic consequences of U.N. sanctions and lacked access to food, health care, and education. These effects were compounded by changes in the law that restricted women’s mobility and access to the formal sector, in an effort to ensure jobs for men and appease conservative religious and tribal groups.
The aims of future conferences are to: complete works started during pervious conferences; build a network of art institutions and government agencies linking Iraq with the rest of the world; expand education programmes; encourage charitable giving; and involving our group more deeply with the Iraqi public, academics, artists and curators.
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- “I think the best knowledge you have in peace is really just like a jigsaw, and there's different times when you can do different things. So some days all you can do is pick up the bodies, comfort the wounded, and try to make sure it doesn't spiral into violence. Other days you look up and you realize, God, we've got time to think about integrated education. There's what I call short term, medium, and long term, and you really need to have people working on them all. Some days you cannot work on the crisis stuff; you've got to work on the training of people to deal with the crisis stuff as opposed to actually doing the crisis stuff.”
So in a way it's taking advantage of all of the different opportunities that you get within a conflict, given that there often are times when some days are not as bad as others and some years might not be as bad as others.
Mari Fitzduff
- Professor and Director of the MA Conflict and Coexistence Programme at Brandeis University
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Intractable Conflicts
- Embedded in longstanding differences and inequalities stemming from colonialism, ethnocentrism, and human rights abuses
Apartheid, N & S Korea, Sudan
Religion, culture – nonnegotiable forces
- Involved issues of identity, meaning, justice, power (Coleman, 2003)
May not be possible to change positions
Goal to stop spiral of violence and consequences
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complex
Intractable Conflicts
- More common in settings that are built around separateness (Boulding, 2000):
powerful over powerless
gender and cultural oppression,
physical violence
constant competition for resources
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Think about the conflicts you explored in the last assignment. Where do these conditions come from?
Poverty; hopelessness; absence of more positive alternatives; vulnerability to conflict based influences (political, religious, nationalistic)
Those that have historically lost natural resources (Central and South America) people resources (slavery in Africa, North America-indiginous) or have a had precious resources diverted to wars (Britain, Middle East) or ineffective government systems (Russia, China) are more vulnerable to conflict
Creating conditions for peace
- Peaceful resolution needs setting that encourage:
strong economic safety net
education that includes conflict resolution
laws of human rights
protection from discrimination
community, religious, and corporate institutions that actively promote cooperation
Shared experience, stories, cultural meaning….
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In contrast, we see conditions that support and maintain peace in parts of the world that have strong base of people and natural resources (colonializers in many cases)
- They don’t need to fight over scarce resources because, while they aren’t necessarily distributed equitably, people have needs met (worry about other issues)
- They have political systems built on democratic ideals; tradition of collaborative problem solving
So how do we get from intractable conflict to “peace”?
(Peace is less of a real thing (like war) but a set of ideals that function guide behaviour - values to work toward and manage conflict, which is necessary)
Role of dialogue in international conflict
The role of the bystanders critical.
Establishes a 3rd space between parties in a conflict
A chance to go to the balcony; look at the situation with fresh eyes and calmness.
A chance to develop a “collective intelligence” where a new set of meanings is created
Eg. TED - Third Side Negotiation approach to Israel Palestine conflict.
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William Ury - Getting to Yes - talks about his work in the Middle East and how he identified a third side to help deescalate the violence.
Common symbolic father to all in that region is Abraham - stood for kindness, hospitality, unity of people - Walks across the region to encourage dialogue, and acts of peace vs. terrorism.
Conflict Resolution Abroad
Larger scale cultural difference in how conflict is addressed?
- cultural differences may explain difference in types and levels of empathy
- Experience may lead to habituation – the more exposed we are to injustice the less we empathize (N. America Indigenous Peoples)
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One way is to understand the values of a culture and what can be built on…
One difference in how cultures deal with conflict stems from how they identify themselves as either individualistic or group oriented
-Remember this from CMNS 112 - North America values and champions the individual: autonomy, individual responsibility and individual achievement
Role of dialogue in international conflict
Rituals create situations and relationships in which individuals and the group can disagree about an issue while maintaining strong connections with one another;
Dialogue also accomplishes this goal as a way to understand and navigate differences and disagreement;
Emphasizes listening and inquiry with the aim of fostering mutual respect and understanding.
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Dialogue is completed connected with the group and community.
-it involves not just the opposing parties, but others…
Types of dialogue in international conflict (Broome, 2013)
Starts with sustained contact
Rational/Problem solving approaches - workshops
Psychodynamic approaches - learn about each other (art)
Dialogue based approaches - seek out different views
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Types of dialogue in international conflict (Broome, 2013)
Transformative approaches - search for values through the creation of infrastructures for peace (peace processes)
Involves all levels of society in a variety of meetings and exercises.
Addresses unequal status of groups and promoting values of equality
Personal and sustained interaction
Interdependence through cooperatives activities
Focus on peace, justice, truth and mercy
http://www.colorado.edu/conflict/transform/
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Practitioner scholar
Basic values that we share - start with those who seek this out?
Challenges to dialogue in International conflict resolution
Inequities too great - sides can’t move past preconceptions and dialogue threatens privilege and position
Desire to change things not there - Win - Lose position taken
Context changes - new resources, sources of power
Pressure from skeptical or antagonistic outsiders to maintain conflict
Challenge of sharing the gains made to affect the larger population (attitudes, emotions, behaviours may not transfer)
Needs profound changes at the system level (political, economic, educational, legal, societal systems)
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Hope for conflict resolution
Psychological, physical and structural violence is abhorrent to us.
Many meaning systems and values in every society that support peaceful values
Family
Love and attachment
Kindness
Joy
Religion and values promote values of peace and cooperation
Education and knowledge support values of peace
Resolving conflict is economically advantageous
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Challenges are daunting but managing conflict is possible because people tire of the economic and psychological toll of war and conflict
-psychological, physical and structural violence is abhorent to us - work to reducing these
-As much as religion is used as a “cover and motivated for the evil hearted, it is used to promote the values of cooperation and peace
- This starts by cultivating these values at an individual level, between each other and in groups
- Requires the ability to recognize the psychological and social dynamics tha both help and hinder putting these values into practice
CMNS Solutions to Int’l Conflict?
- Build an identity less exclusively tie to their cultural group and unequal power connected with it (Children of Abraham)
- Encourage a secure identity orientation that accomodates empathyand one’s own persoal integrity (self-trust vs. defensiveness)
- Address identity inclusivity/exclusivity
-instead of us and them create the “we” – what we hold in common
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Neurobiological Approach to Int’l Conflict
- Resolution and maintenance of peace requires empathy towards opposing parties
- Why is it that “otherwise-reasonable people could not bring themselves to consider the opposing side’s perspective, and as a result could not muster compassion for their suffering.”
- Emile Bruneau at the Brain and Cognitive Sciences Department at M.I.T
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- Bruneau developed a theory to explain this paradox:
When considering an enemy, the mind generates an “empathy gap.” It mutes the empathy signal, and that muting prevents us from putting ourselves in the perceived enemy’s shoes. (video)
He reasoned that something somewhere in their lives had overridden their implicit biases and moved them to behave with greater empathy toward the minority group.
. The goal was to help NGOs and school administrators design more successful integration programs — programs that didn’t trigger political backlash or waves of white flight.
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International Briefing Paper
- Very brief statement about the nature of the dispute (history, cause, positions)
- You are recommending a peace initiative; something that acknowledges cultural characteristics and addresses basic mediation techniques
- May be an art or cultural production or something else instead…
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Culture and Conflict
- http://www.cultureandconflict.org.uk
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Culture and Conflict
- http://www.powerofculture.nl/en/specials/culture-and-conflict/Introduction
‘Women in Action’ Cultural Conference Video
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Stages of international conflict…
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One of many models of how international conflict evolves
- Conflicts do not actually follow a linear pattern. fits and starts, alternatively experiencing progress and setbacks toward resolution.
- The lack of linear progress helps to give the conflict a sense of intractability. (hard to control or influence)
- Escalation may resume after temporary stalemate or negotiation.
- Escalation and de-escalation may alternate.
- Negotiations may take place in the absence of a stalemate.
However, these models are still useful, because most conflicts pass through similar stages at least once in their history.
Explore the role of arts and culture in this process
Objectives
Framing the issues
Attracting resources
Communicating about themselves
Fostering useful emotions
Creating powerful symbols
Communicate a coherent identity
Marking membership
Cementing commitment to the movement
Three legally binding international treaties reinforce the idea of heritage as a reservoir of identity and meaning:
- 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict;
- the 1970 UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property; and the
- 1972 World Heritage Convention.
Heritage is not targeted by chance: by destroying bridges, temples, mosques, churches and shrines, and manuscripts and libraries, the attackers aim to break both the connections to the past and the projections into the future of the attacked communities. This is one of the reasons why UNESCO has called for “seeing cultural heritage as an international security issue.”13
National Museum of Iraq after devastating looting took place there during the war in 2003. An estimated 15,000 items were stolen and the collection was in disarray. Former director general of Iraqi museums, Donny George Youkhanna, says ”Every single item that was lost is a great loss for humanity.” He told Smithsonian magazine, ”It is the only museum in the world where you can trace the earliest development of human culture—technology, agriculture, art, language and writing—in just one place.”
The very first line of defense for collections and monuments and historic places is the people that work there every day. Those are the people who are going to do an emergency plan, do a risk assessment, figure out what will we do if this collection is at risk, or if there is a disaster.
During World War II, a lot of collections were hidden away. They were moved to underground storage locations and this was all throughout Europe. In Italy for instance, they built a brick wall around the statue of David. They completed de-installed the Louvre. . .It was protected, first of all, by the cultural heritage professionals who cared for those things every day and a lot of people risked their lives to hide these things from the Nazis, especially the sort of “degenerate” art that were trying to destroy. When they decided, just prior to the invasion of Italy, that they would institute these Monuments, Fine Arts and Archives teams in the middle of the war, some of the other allied countries did this as well. They made maps to try and let the allied bombers know where some of these important places were.
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Read more: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/qa-how-to-save-the-arts-in-times-of-war-5506188/#zTjrK9Xsw67K55QR.99
Give the gift of Smithsonian magazine for only $12! http://bit.ly/1cGUiGv
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Read more: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/qa-how-to-save-the-arts-in-times-of-war-5506188/#zTjrK9Xsw67K55QR.99
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At the same time, cultural heritage plays a key role in reconciliation. In post-conflict situations, cultural heritage often becomes a strong symbol and tool for the rebuilding of communities, helping them actively to break the cycle of violence. The rebuilding of the Old Mostar Bridge, as well as the reconstruction of the Old Town of Warsaw, and the inscription of these two properties on the World Heritage List are symbolic creative acts of reconciliation and a way to come to terms with collective trauma.
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First Nations destruction of cultural artifacts – Secrets of the Dance
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Benefits of Cultural Diplomacy
- Source of identity formation and inclusion
- reframing the terms of the conflict and transforming exclusive and adversarial positions into opportunities for articulation and reinvention.
- building confidence and tolerance among multicultural communities and in providing a common space for dialogue
- Reconnect with identity regain a sense of normality, enjoying art and beginning to heal the scars of wars.
- Fosters appreciation of cultural diversity and “humanizes” the other
http://www.unesco.org/new/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIA/HQ/CLT/images/PeaceReconciliationENG.pdf
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Hope for conflict resolution
Steps to building Cultures of Peace
Intentional cultivation of these values at an individual level, between each other, in groups and between cultures;
Education to build critical thinking skills to question oppositional, agonistic thinking;
Build and practice self reflection and contemplative skills to combat oppositional, agonistic thinking at the individual level;
Take the “third side” in conflicts to offer objective alternatives.
Working toward economic, social, cultural equality to reduce the need for large scale conflict over resources.
Anything else?
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- Reminders of the values we hold – family, kindness, aesthetics, beauty,
- Who we are as seen through artistic expression and artifacts
- Our history
- What is wrong with our world in conflict
Discussion…
- In preparation for the briefing paper, explore the role culture plays in your international conflict by reviewing one of the Culture and Conflict websites.
- What artistic or cultural production might offer a different path to reconciling the source of conflict in your case?
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Course objectives
- Identify characteristics of interpersonal, group and intercultural/ international conflict;
- Understand the complex nature of conflict management and the work that lies ahead;
- Identify the interdisciplinary contributions to conflict within communication studies, their philosophical roots, and the tools they offer to manage conflict;
- Learn skills that will make us better at dealing with conflict at all three levels- practical applications of theory and problem solving.
- Understand the importance of self reflection in understanding and successfully managing conflict at all three levels
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How did we do?
