AFTER VIOLENCE: 3R, RECONSTRUCTION, RECONCILIATION ...
AFTER VIOLENCE: 3R, RECONSTRUCTION, RECONCILIATION ... AFTER VIOLENCE: 3R, RECONSTRUCTION, RECONCILIATION ...
the latter should not be underestimated. The task of the peace worker is to help democracy become a living reality by being a resource for the underprivileged. Thus, experience shows that the human rights of minorities are not fulfilled automatically. There has to be awareness, simply knowledge, of those rights. One of the peace worker's most important tools is the International Bill of Human Rights, the collection of the most important declarations and conventions. But there also has to be some mobilization to demand and realize what is rightly theirs. Again, it does not come about by itself, and generally not by grace from above. So the peace worker helps implementing the "freedom of assembly" by finding the place people can meet discuss, arrive at conclusions, make their views known. That freedom becomes very abstract if there is no place to assemble, if private space around them is closed in the name of private property and the the police show up in public space declaring any "assembly" to be against law and order. Traditionally universities and churches have offered space, but the former often on the condition that there is some academic content, and the latter on the condition that some of their religious idiom is used. The task of the peace worker is to mediate those encounters. The next task is to get into the media. The mind-sets controlling the media even in the least dictatorial societies may be so hardened that claims for livelihood, sovereignty, independence, land to plant their crops or to raise their flag do not penetrate. Words like "terrorism" protect the mind-sets. The 97
task of the peace worker is to approach the editors, explain their cause, remind them that democracy is about diversity and giving voice. And then a democratic political process unfolds. The nonviolence, extra-parliamentary approach. The basic point about violence is that it does not work; any victory will be short-lasting and self-defeating because of the visible and invisible effects. And the basic point about nonviolence is that it may work, as nonviolent revolution against oppression and exploitation ("too dominant") and as nonmilitary defense against invasion ("too loose"). But the most important point about nonviolence is to behave in a conflict so that the effects of violence, visible and invisible, will not occur. A glance at Table 9.1 informs us that this is a tall order. And a glance at what Gandhi did tells us that this is what he meant when he said "there is no way to peace, peace is the way", and that "if you take care of the means the end takes care of itself". Victory in the conventional sense of attaining the goals declared from the beginning becomes less important than improving the parties and their relation through the conflict. The conflict becomes a medium for mutual education; together they may learn how to transform conflicts upward so that they can be handled nonviolently and creatively. They come out of the conflict not only unscathed, but with higher capacity for conflict transformation capacity. And if it all works out even with something better than their original goals. We have recently seen a number of cases/89/ where former belligerents start cooperating nonviolently deeper down in society. But we have also seen how such processes threaten the 98
- Page 51 and 52: structural specificities./55/ Thus,
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- Page 55 and 56: Christian; South Africa is mixed. C
- Page 57 and 58: ereaved and those who know the bere
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- Page 61 and 62: Restructuration: the peace structur
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- Page 65 and 66: and traumas of the past, in a strug
- Page 67 and 68: know only one good German; a dead G
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- Page 71 and 72: This approach only works when the v
- Page 73 and 74: forgive you"? Definitely not. Some
- Page 75 and 76: context, landing it in the Self-God
- Page 77 and 78: victim relation is translated into
- Page 79 and 80: has a system analysis epistemology
- Page 81 and 82: [7] The historical/truth commission
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- Page 85 and 86: the video and say: "This is the tur
- Page 87 and 88: model would be a village, a town, a
- Page 89 and 90: facilitating reliving on the spot.
- Page 91 and 92: outcome, never that violence again!
- Page 93 and 94: acts in the light of extenuating ci
- Page 95 and 96: y committing crimes of war, against
- Page 97 and 98: CONFLICT = ATTITUDES/ASSUMPTIONS +
- Page 99 and 100: Table 9.1. The praxis triad: DIAGNO
- Page 101: The democracy, parliamentarian appr
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- Page 107 and 108: destroy them; a contradiction, to p
- Page 109 and 110: The best way of building nonviolenc
- Page 111 and 112: during the second half of this cent
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- Page 117 and 118: war. The working class British (US,
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the latter should not be underestimated.<br />
The task of the peace worker is to help democracy become a<br />
living reality by being a resource for the underprivileged. Thus,<br />
experience shows that the human rights of minorities are not<br />
fulfilled automatically. There has to be awareness, simply<br />
knowledge, of those rights. One of the peace worker's most<br />
important tools is the International Bill of Human Rights, the<br />
collection of the most important declarations and conventions.<br />
But there also has to be some mobilization to demand and realize<br />
what is rightly theirs. Again, it does not come about by itself,<br />
and generally not by grace from above.<br />
So the peace worker helps implementing the "freedom of<br />
assembly" by finding the place people can meet discuss, arrive at<br />
conclusions, make their views known. That freedom becomes very<br />
abstract if there is no place to assemble, if private space around<br />
them is closed in the name of private property and the the police<br />
show up in public space declaring any "assembly" to be against law<br />
and order. Traditionally universities and churches have offered<br />
space, but the former often on the condition that there is some<br />
academic content, and the latter on the condition that some of<br />
their religious idiom is used. The task of the peace worker is to<br />
mediate those encounters.<br />
The next task is to get into the media. The mind-sets<br />
controlling the media even in the least dictatorial societies may<br />
be so hardened that claims for livelihood, sovereignty,<br />
independence, land to plant their crops or to raise their flag do<br />
not penetrate. Words like "terrorism" protect the mind-sets. The<br />
97
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