Definitions & Descriptions of Key Course Concepts:

“Youth”“Participation”“Conflict”“Peacebuilding”

Youth Participation & Peacebuilding 2009

Defining Key Concepts

What are some of the key words that come to mind when you see or hear the words “Youth”, “Participation”, “Conflict”, and “Peacebuilding”?

Please write your own definitions or descriptions for each word on separate “sticky” pieces of paper.

Defining “Youth”

How did we as a class define this key course concept?

What are similarities and differences in the meanings we assigned?

“Experts” Defining “Youth”:

Beyond Age Categories, 15-24 (UN)

• “Youth is less an age range than a life phase marking the movement from childhood into adulthood.” (Sommers 2007)

• “(The category is) created in everyday practice at the intersection of the global and the local” (Shepler 2005)

• “Youth figure centrally in debates and transition in membership, belonging & the hybridization of identities” (Durham 2000)

• “Young people personify a given society's deepest anxieties and hopes about its own transformation” (Maira & Soep 2005)

• “Young people – whether depicted by chronological age or socially constructed roles – incarnate unique combinations of social vulnerabilities and transformative potential within their

communities.” (Hamilton 2007)

Web of Youth Transitions: “When a cohort is caught in its web, life is

defined by uncomfortable, uneven transitions”

Defining “Participation”

How did we as a class define this key course concept?

What are similarities and differences in the meanings we assigned?

“Experts” Defining “Participation”

• “Processes of information sharing, consultation, decision-making, implementation, and resource control with, of, and by,

beneficiaries” (Hart et al. 2004) • “Approaches and methods to enable local people to share, enhance

and analyze their knowledge of life and conditions, and to plan, act, monitor and evaluate.” (Chambers 1997)

• “Empowerment… implies an increase in the relative power and ability of disadvantaged groups in their respective socio-political environment.” (Lambourne 2004)

• “Participation strengthens civil society & the economy by empowering individuals, communities, and organisations to negotiate with institutions and bureaucracies.” (OECD 1998)

• “Human beings thrive when they connect with civil society in a positive, meaningful, and fulfilling way.” (AED 2005)

Ladder of Youth Participation

(Adapted from Hart 1997)

Reflections on Youth Roles in Social & Political Change

“Organizations that are successful in involving young people in meaningful ways are able to translate this attitude into policies & programs that incorporate youth as partners in community building.” (International Youth Foundation 2002)

“The young generation is traditionally seen as one of the most dynamic mediums of social change.” (Glinski 1998)

“Young people are key ‘engines’ of socio-political change, if not its primary ‘engineers’. When effectively mobilized – by ideational leaders & power brokers in government, civil society, and/or

militant networks – youth provide necessary energy & mass power to get the wheels turning for divergent ‘vehicles’ of social & political change.” (Hamilton 2007)

Defining “Conflict”

How did we as a class define this key course concept?

What are similarities and differences in the meanings we assigned?

“Experts” Defining “Conflict”

• “A disagreement through which the parties involved perceive a threat to their needs, interests or concerns.” (Mayer 1990)

• “A struggle over values and claims to scarce status, power and resources” (Coser, 1956)

•“Thinking in terms of a continuum… helps us appreciate, for example, that many wars are long periods of (uneasy) peace interrupted by occasional eruptions of violence.” (Richards 2005)

•“A natural phenomenon that creates potential for constructive growth.” (Lederach 2003)

•“If channeled improperly, conflict has the potential to intensify and erupt into violence.” (UN 2003)

Conflict Analysis: 3 P’s (People, Problem & Process)

People: Who are the Actors

in Conflict?

Process: How is the

Conflict Progressing?

Problem: What are Issues at Conflict?(Lederach 1995)

Categories of Conflict & Actors

Intra-Personal Conflict WITHIN 1 Person

Inter-Personal Conflict BETWEEN 2+ People

Intra-Group Conflict WITHIN Group

Inter-Group Conflict BETWEEN Groups

Relationships in Conflict:Parties & Stakeholders

(Caritas 2002)

Dimensions of Conflict

Personal

Relational

Structural

Cultural(Lederach et

al. 2005)

Conflict is Like a Tree

Trunk: Core Issues

Roots: Root Causes

Leaves and Branches: Effects of Conflict

(Caritas 2002)

Conflict is Like a Fire:5 Stages of Conflict

(Caritas 2002)

#1 :Gathering Materials (Potential Conflict)

#2: Fire Begins Burning (Confrontation)

#3

#3: Bonfire (Crisis)

#4: Coals (Further Potential Conflict)

#5: Fire Out (Regeneration)

Conflict Escalation (Stair Steps)

Tactics: Persuasion to Threats

Scope: Small to Large

Issues: Specific to General

Actors: Few to Many

Goal: Doing Well to Winning

(Pruitt & Rubin 1986)

Defining “Peacebuilding”

How did we as a class define this key course concept?

What are similarities and differences in the meanings we assigned?

“Experts” Defining “Peacebuilding”

• “Building of constituencies for peace (and) the fostering of trust, good will, reciprocity, and mutuality among youth from different ethnic or religious groups.” (Academy for Educational Development 2005)

• “Conflict transformation is to envision & respond to the ebb & flow of social conflict as life-giving opportunities for creating constructive

change processes that reduce violence, increase justice in direct interaction & social structures, and respond to real-life problems in human relationships.” (Lederach 2003)

• “Process of engaging with & transforming the relationships, interests, discourses and, if necessary, the very constitution of society that supports the continuation of violent conflict.” (Miall 2004)

• “Mutually supporting (but also sometimes antagonistic) challenges of violence prevention & societal reconstruction.” (McEvoy-Levy 2001)

Dimensions of Peacebuilding

Personal Relational

Structural Cultural(Lederach et

al. 2005)

Transforming Conflict:5 Stages of Peacebuilding

(Caritas 2002)

#1 :Transforming Materials & Preventing Fire

#2 :Limiting What Ignites & Preventing Flames

#3: Limiting Damage

#4: Cooling the Coals

#5: Regeneration

Conflict De-Escalation (Stair Steps)

Tactics: Threats to Persuasion

Scope: Large to

Small

Issues: General to Specific

Actors: Many to

Few

Goal: Winning to Doing Well

(Pruitt & Rubin 1986)

Level of Peacebuilding Response

(Adapted from Lederach 1997)

Time Frame for Peacebuilding

(Adapted from Lederach 1997)

(Caritas 2002, Adapted from Lederach 1997)

Integrated Framework for Peacebuilding

“Peacebuilding Triangle”: Targeted Actors

(Adapted from Lederach 1997)

Exploring Peace Paradigms: How Can We Achieve Peace?

Peace Through Power of Force (Threat of Armed Coercion)

Peace Through Power of Development (Economic Opportunity)

Peace Through Power of Law (Institutional Protections)

Peace Through Power of Interaction (Conflict Resolution)

Peace Through Power of Will (Nonviolent Resistance)

Peace Through Power of Transformation (Education / Spirituality)

(Adapted from the Gandhi Marg 2002)