The course presents concepts and theories related to the peaceful transformation of international violent conflicts, illustrating them with examples driven from global peace initiatives, European and Italian experiences in the field.
Lederach, J.P., The moral imagination. The art and soul of building peace. Oxford / New York: Oxford University Press, 2005.
Kriesberg, Louis / Dayton, Bruce. Constructive conflicts: from escalation to resolution. Rowman & Littlefield, 2012.
ADDITIONAL TEXTS: SEE DETAILED PROGRAM
All texts are available on the Moodle platform of the course (access at www.e-l.unifi.it ; course: International Conflict Transformation 2017/2018, password : conflict).
Learning Objectives
CONOSCENZE [Knowledge]:
Main models and theories of conflict analysis and transformation; role of international actors (International Organizations, Civil Society) in peace processes
COMPETENZE [skills]:
Negotiation, mediation, case study work.
Capacità acquisite al termine del corso [abilities gained at the end of the course]:
After completing this course, students will:
have a clear understanding of international conflict transformation, the key underlying ideas and theories
have an in-depth understanding of modes of intervention and current concepts related to peacekeeping, peacebuilding and reconciliation
have gained an insight in concrete examples of conflict transformation work performed both by global and Italian organizations.
Understand and be able to apply basic skills and strategies of conflict resolution and transformation
Teaching Methods
Classes will be held combining different forms of teaching and learning: lectures, group discussions on assigned readings, students presentations, experiential training and in class exercises, and videos shown in order to present actual case studies and encourage reflection and discussion. Handouts and other materials will be distributed in class by the instructor.
Further information
Attendance to the course is mandatory for SUF students, HIGHLY RECOMMENDED for UNIFI and Erasmus students.
Having good quality conversation means that you must also possess knowledge and ideas from which our discussions can be launched. Thus, every student is also expected to have completed the readings for that day. A successful course is an act of “co-creation”: it is both the lecturer's and the participants' responsibility. And, so that we may better make our points and enjoy the intellectual companionship the classroom offers us, students must bring the texts to class each time we meet.
Classroom Etiquette: Being a class offered by the University of Florence, the audience will be quite diverse, comprising students from Italy, the European Union (“Erasmus” program) and from the global South. This enriches the learning experience, but requires at times some patience and a degree of intercultural sensitivity. Please be respectful of the opinion of others, and do not be afraid of articulating your own.
Remember to turn cell phones and similar devices off during class. Please do not leave the classroom during class time –use the restrooms or visit the bar before or after class but not during. Use of laptops and tablets is allowed for the purpose of note-taking. Please refrain from using electronic devices for social media, chatting and the like in class!
3) Further recommended readings:
Bush R.A.B. / Folger J, The Promise of Mediation, s. Francisco: Jossey Bass, 2005 (2nd edition).
Berdal, M. R.. Building peace after war. Abingdon [England]; New York; London: Routledge ; For the International Institute for Strategic Studies, 2009.
Curle, Adam. To Tame the Hydra: Undermining the Culture of Violence, Charlbury (UK): John Carpenter, 1999.
Dayton, Bruce W., and Louis Kriesberg. Conflict transformation and peacebuilding: moving from violence to sustainable peace. Taylor & Francis, 2009.
Galtung J., Conflict transformation by peaceful means: The Transcend Manual. United Nation Disaster Management Training Programme, New York, 1998.
Goodhand, Jonathan, Aiding Peace? The role of NGOs in armed conflict, Bourton on Dunsmore (UK)Practical Action Publishing 2006.
Kriesberg, Louis. Constructive conflicts: from escalation to resolution. Rowman & Littlefield, 2007.
Ramsbotthom M, Woodhouse. T., Miall, Contemporary Conflict Resolution, Third revised edition .
Reychler L., Paffenoholz T., eds, Peace Building. A field guide, Lynne Rienner Publ., Boulder, London, 2001.
Richmond, O. P.. A Post-Liberal Peace: The Infrapolitics of Peacebuilding. London: Routledge, 2011.
Van Tongeren, et al. Eds., People Building Peace Successful Stories of Civil Society. Boulder / London: Lynne Rienner 2005.
Wallensteen, Peter. Understanding conflict resolution: war, peace and the global system. SAGE, 2007.
Weeks, Dudley, The eight essential steps to conflict resolution: preserving relationships at work, at home, and in the community , J.P. Tarcher/Putnam, 1994.
Other sources in the Internet
The Berghof Handbook on Conflict Transformation, http://www.berghof-handbook.net/
Brand-Jacobsen, Kai (2003). Toolkit for Peacebuilding and Conflict Transformation in Nepal, http://patrir.ro/en/toolkits-papers-reports
Transcend International – A Peace Development Environment Network, www.transcend.org.
Conflict Sensitivity Consortium – Online Resources:
http://www.conflictsensitivity.org/online_resources
Conflict Research Consortium (1998), Glossary, Boulder, CO: University of Colorado, http://www.colorado.edu/conflict/peace/glossary.htm.
Helvey, R.L. (2004), On Strategic Nonviolent Conflict: Thinking about the Fundamentals, Boston: Albert Einstein Institution. www.aeinstein.org/organizations/org/OSNC.pdf
Herngren, Per (2004). Path of Resistance. The Practice of Civil Disobedience, http://ickevald.net/perherngren/english/Path_of_Resistance_Per_Herngren_2004.htm
Hunter, Daniel / George Lakey, (2004), Opening Space For Democracy; Third Party Nonviolent Intervention – Curriculum and Trainer’s Manual, Training for Change, www.trainingforchange.org.
Lederach, John Paul (2006) Defining Conflict Transformation, Restorative Justice Online, http://www.restorativejustice.org/resources/docs/lederach/
Miller, Christopher, King Mary E. (2004), A Glossary of Terms and Concepts in Peace and Conflict Studies, San José (Costa Rica): University for Peace, http://www.nonviolent-conflict.org/index.php/learning-and-resources/resources-on-nonviolent-conflict
Peace and Collaborative Development Network: http://internationalpeaceandconflict.ning.com.
Some actors engaged in peace and conflict transformation work
Christian Peacemakers Team: www.cpt.org.
European Peacebuilding Liaison Office: www.eplo.org
Nonviolent Peaceforce: www.nonviolentpeaceforce.org
Peace Brigades International Training Material for Colombia Mission: www.pbicolombia.net
Search for Common Ground: http://www.sfcg.org/
Type of Assessment
FOR PARTICIPANTS IN THE COURSE
The course will follow SUF academic calendar, with a break after the seventh week.
Students will have two short “take home” exams
The midterm exam will consist in a reflective paper, approximately 1000 words
The final exam will consist in one final paper with a length of at least 3500 words (approx. 15 double-spaced pages).
The final grade is a reflection of your performance in each of the areas above and is divided as follows:
20% Participation and personal contribution to class
25 % Midterm exam
20% Presentations in class
35% Final Paper
FOR STUDENTS TAKING THE EXAMS WITHOUT ATTENDING THE COURSE:
Students should prepare the exam studying the texts in the reading list: Lederach, The moral imagination (2005) and the list of additional texts. Articles are available in the internet, books are at UNIFI and SUF libraries.
In addition to the required reading, students can submit a written paper analyzing a conflict and / or specific strategies, concepts and tool for its peaceful transformation. The essay has to be about 12 pages, double spaced,.
Writing the paper you should:
- use what has been written in the literature to back up your argument: concepts, theories and empirical findings;
- choose a relevant title and divide the text into paragraphs, with a brief introduction and a conclusion;
- formulate a guiding question you want to answer to with your work;
- include a complete bibliography at the end. You are expected to use at least 7 different texts.
Course program
#
Date
Topic
1.
13.09.2017
Introduction to the course – themes, methods and requirements
2.
14.09
Conflict - Definitions of conflicts - conflict constellations
Kriesberg, L. Constructive Conflicts: From Escalation to Resolution, Rowman & Littlefield, Ch. 1.
“Conflict” in: Berghof Glossary on Conflict Transformation
3.
20.09
Conflict: typology and sources
Sandole, D., “Typologies”, in: Cheldelin et al. Conflict, 39-54
Rubenstein, R., “Sources”, in: Cheldelin et al., Conflict, 55-67
4.
21.09
Conflict: escalation and de-escalation
Kriesberg, L. Constructive Conflicts: From Escalation to Resolution, Rowman & Littlefield, Ch. 6, 7.
5.
27.09
Conflict resolution, conflict transformation
“Introduction to Conflict Resolution: concepts and definitions”, in Ramsbotham, O., Woodhouse, T., & Miall, H. (2011). Contemporary Conflict Resolution. Polity, p. 3-31.
“Conflict Transformation”, Berghof Glossary on Conflict Transformation, p. 22-27.
Miall, H. “Conflict transformation: A multi-dimensional task”, Berghof Handbook for Conflict Transformation, Berlin: Berghof Center for Constructive Conflict Management (2004)
6.
28.09
A closer look at contemporary armed conflicts: protracted social / ethnopolitical conflicts, “new wars”, “Long War on Terror”, “Jihadist terrorism”
“Conflict”, in: Berghof Glossary on Conflict Transformation, p. 10-16 (required reading for all.)
“jig saw” discussion in class:
One text chosen among the following:
1. Allansson, M., Melander, E., & Themnér, L. (2017). Organized violence, 1989–2016. Journal of Peace Research, 54(4), 574–587.
2. Kaldor, M. (2013). In Defence of New Wars. Stability: International Journal of Security and Development, 2(1), 4. doi:10.5334/sta.at
3. International Crisis Group (2016). Exploring disorder. Al Qaida and the Islamic State. Brussels: ICG
7.
04.10
A look at the future: climate change, resource depletion, conflicts
Ehrlich, P. R., & Ehrlich, A. H. (2013). Can a collapse of global civilization be avoided? Proc. R. Soc. B, 280(1754), 20122845.
Bardi, Ugo, World Mineral resources and the Limits to Economic Growth, 2014
8.
0510
Guest lecture: Lisa Clark
Banning nuclear Weapons: the role of global
civil society
Potter, W. C. (2017). Disarmament Diplomacy and the Nuclear Ban Treaty. Survival, 59(4), 75–108.
9.
11.10
Conflict transformation skills: active listening
Rogers, C. R., Farson, R. E., (1957). Active listening. Industrial Relations Center of The University of Chicago.
10.
12.10
Negotiation theory and practice
Patton, B. (2005). Negotiation. In M. L. Moffitt & R. C. Bordone (Eds.), The handbook of dispute resolution (pp. 279–303).
11.
Monday 16.10, 17.00 – 20.00
Symposium – Education for Sustainable Peace
Students will participate in the opening session of the Georg Arnhold Symposium on Education for Sustainable Peace, organized in collaboration with the UNICEF Innocenti Research Center
18.10
NO CLASS
12.
19.10
Guest Lecturer: Eleonora Mura, Arigatou International Foundation
Peacebuilding and education
Bush, K. D., & Saltarelli, D. (2000). The two faces of education in ethnic conflict. Firenze: UNICEF - Innocenti Research Centre.
13.
25.10
Negotiation exercise
14.
26.10
Conflict transformation skills: Mediation and problem solving
Fisher, R. (2001). Methods of third-party intervention. The Berghof Handbook for Conflict Transformation. Berlin: Berghof Research Center for Constructive Conflict Management.
15.
27.10
Guest lecturer
Mario Giro, Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs, Italy
01.11
No class (Italian holiday)
02.11
No class
16.
08.11
International Mediation – concepts and cases
Reading:
Kriesberg, L., & Dayton, B. W. (2012). Constructive conflicts: from escalation to resolution (4th ed). Ch. 9 – Mediation. Lanham, Md: Rowman & Littlefield 2012.
Fisas, V. (2016). Yearbook on Peace Processes 2016. Barcelona: School for a Culture of Peace - Icaria Editorial – Introduction + 3 cases of your choice
17.
09.11
Introducing the moral imagination
Lederach, ch. 1 , 2, 3, 4
18.
15.11
“Track two” diplomacy – the role of civil society
Jones, P. L. (2015). Ch. 1 What is Track Two Diplomacy?, in: Track two diplomacy in theory and practice. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, p. 7-31.
19.
16.11
“Track three” and unarmed peacekeeping
Schweitzer, C., & Carrière, R. (2010). Civilian peacekeeping a barely tapped resource. Belm-Vehrte: Sozio-Publ.
DEADLINE to hand in first written assignment
20.
22.11
The context of transformation – Peace constituencies
Lederach, ch. 8, 9
“Peace Constituencies”, The Berghof Glossary on Conflict Transformation
21.
23.11
Guest lecturer: Luisa Del Turco, Centro Studi Difesa Civile
Gender and conflict transformation – UN SC Resolution 1324 and beyond
Harders, C. (2011). Gender relations, violence and conflict transformation. Advancing conflict transformation: The Berghof handbook II. Opladen: Barbara Budrich Publishers.
22.
29.11
Peace accords: realities and challenges Lederach, ch. 5
Fisas, V., 2015 Yearbook of Peace Processes, Barcelona: Icaria. www.escolapau.uab.cat (pag 5-20 AND three cases of your choice)
23.
30.11
Nonviolence and conflict transformation
Dudouet, V. (2008). Nonviolent resistance and conflict transformation in power asymmetries. Berghof Handbook for Conflict Transformation. Berlin: Berghof Research Center for Constructive Conflict Management.
24.
06.12
The challenges of dealing with the past and transitional justice
Reading TbA
25.
07.12
The challenge of lasting peace and reconciliation
Lederach Ch. 12,13,14
11.12
Deadline to hand in term paper (for students taking the exam on 12.12)
All other students: please hand in final paper 4 days before your chosen exame date. Exame dates for January and February 2018 will be announced before December