Conference on Peace, day 2

Notes on the 2nd day of the peace conference (see previous post)

Jeffrey Sommers

• Laid out the factors that led to Latvia having a mass migration exodus following attempted austerity measures to address the recent financial crisis.
• An example of how economic policy makers, money holders, and banking institutions can disrupt a peaceful society.

Winson Chu

• Showed a situation with Poland being both victimized by Nazi Germany, but also having significant groups of people that were antisemitic (which many Pols don't want to admit) and those that cooperated with implementing Russian agendas.
• This has caused relations between Germany and Poland to become complicated.

Diana Chigas

• CDA reports on peace making processes summarized in two books: (missed the name of the first one), and Time to Listen.
• Many aid programs fail to analyze the conflict, therefore efforts miss the mark and strategies fail due to resistance and ignoring opportunities
• "Aid system" constraints: reductionist, needs vs capacities, templates and lists vs drivers and dynamics
• How to intervene: match international and local priorities , areas of impact and evidence takes a long time but it can be happening slowly over time (is nonlinear), linkages and convergences are critical (very important: attitudinal / skill and socio-political change, vertical linkages, coalitions, convergence of various efforts coalescing)
• Too often there are projects, not progress
• Lasting change happens when local people are seen as colleagues
• Mentioned by Sandra Braman: there us a very humorous book on issues an aid worker faced: Tropical Gangsters

Oriol Mirosa

• A quote: "There can't be peace in the world when a child suffers to get access to water."
• Definitions of violence by various scholars:
  • Galtung: violence "as the cause of the difference between the potential and the actual"
  • Zizek: subjective violence is immediate, visible; objective is in the background
  • Nixon: slow violence ha a temporal dimension with invisibility, Inequality and environmental harm
  • Foucalt: "bio-power": management if populations , life as a political object
• Municipalities in the late 19th centuries take over water provision and provide it to all because fires and disease don't sat in poor areas.
• But recently starting in 1990s new policies reversing to privatization and full cost recoup
• Two examples:
• 1. Cochabamba Bolivia - there was a water war that ended the privatization
• 2. South Africa - after apartheid, efforts take to expand access to water, constitution calls out access to water as a human right. But policies created to allocate a maximum of free water and then it costs money.
• Conclusion: new water policies are perceived as mid-paced violence. For the benefit of the population as a whole, it sacrifices some of its members.
• Documentary to watch: For love of water flow.
• Regarding the concern of scarcity in terms of population growth, it is agriculture and industry that uses the majority of water, so in that context it is unfortunate that poor people have to pay for what they use within reason.

UWM CIE Conference on Peace, Day 1

UWM's Center for International Education hosted an academic Conference on Peace. Here are my notes from the first day, organized by speaker. My favorite presenter was Andrea Bartoli.

Peter Colman

• John Gottman studied couples and developed a model for predicting divorce within 5 years from coding a conflict situation lasting at least 30 minutes.
• Main takeaway: 2-year research concluded Israeli-Palestinian mindsets are two main groups: those that are motivated by positive messages and are turned off by <...>, and those motivated by avoiding pain and are turned off by <...>
• Knowing that, organizations that engage with the population regarding peace and conflict resolution can be asked 4 questions to discern which group they are in and tailor the messaging based on the group.

Andrea Bartoli

• Every interaction between people is an opportunity for constructive or destructive dialogue
• Andrea's presentation was geared towards human spirituality and the potential for peace. So engaging such that I didn't take good notes.
• A video where he presents Catholics and peace building
• A video where he discusses the history of International Prayer for Peace

Fred Turner

• In combat...the destruction of empathy enables violence.
• Soldiers are put through a training of de-empathization
• Discussed the concept of the "democratic personality" (in contrast to the 'authoritarian personality'). Mass media was seen as mostly promoting authoritarianism, and a visual photographic exhibit, "The Family of Man" is a good example of promoting mirroring and empathetic thought.
• Fred Turner was a journalist and expected to see his reporting in truth to case change but I did not.
• My conclusion: change in public thought tends to happen slowly - across generations (although the recent reports on the quick shift of public opinion on gay marriage contrasts)

Lisa Parks

• Drone warfare in Pakistan has happened in remote regions in which no journalists can report.
• Displayed various photos of different categories to convey the imagery which have brought attention to truth about impacts of the drone.
• Sign held : Burning Pakistan: Bush gifted, Obama granted
• "Ethical Governor" - video depicting fully automated weaponized drones
• There is a Drone Caucus of about 60 members in US congress that receives multi-million dollars in funding

Cynthia Cohen

• Performing arts can help with peace building by bringing out stories from people affected by violence. "Through ritual, ceremony and poetry, justice can be performed in ways that are meaningful to the community"

Dora Apel

• Analyzed various photos from the Iraq war in what they depicted. Frames an overall theme about photographers being embedded with troops and the efforts of controlling the pictures being taken failed.