reinventing sacred governance of traditional authorities: a strategy for preempting communal...
DESCRIPTION
International Conference on Indigenous Conflict Management Strategies Kennesaw State University April 20-21, 2012Book of AbstractsNowadays, communal conflicts are more incessant and dangerous. Indeed, there is every reason to believe that the instruments of religion and identity are mostly implicated in these conflicts. However, what we are witnessing today is the outcome of many years of social production and reproduction; or more accurately, the dynamics of ascendency of capitalism over communism. People who feel estranged from the ripples of social production will always place it on the basis of dissimilarities in religion or identity. Therefore, to settle conflict means to settle skewed distribution of resources, of corruption, which abound in advanced capitalist societies. Thus, traditional ways of governance must be reinvented. Particularly, this system relies absolutely on sacred oats for good governance. In the Yoruba system, the Kings and king makers are forced to commit suicide if found wanted, while the Igbos depends on the ‘Ala’ which instantly struck the King to death and so on. For this, there is hardly room for corruption, for predisposing people to violence for survival. This study adopts qualitative method in gathering of relevant secondary data on the subject matter and analysis of the study. The study is predicated upon the Marxian theory of social production and reproduction. We argue that the Kingship institutions existing now in Nigerian communities are not constitutionally empowered to receive finance for administration of their local areas. Yet, governance through traditional authorities has the advantage of better accountability, of uniform religion and identity, for greater unification. Hence, modern forms of capitalist governance should remain, but only serve as an institution for appropriating resources toTRANSCRIPT
1
2
International Conference
on
Indigenous Conflict Management Strategies Kennesaw State University
April 20-21, 2012
Book of Abstracts
This booklet contains abstracts of papers scheduled for presentation as they were submitted by the authors. No further editing was done by the organizers of the conference. Please direct any questions or inquiries to the
authors using their contact information as provided.
3
SESSION 1
Julius A. Atanawhemera Esq Principal Partner J.A Atanawhemera & Co/Initiator & Founder
Int’l School of Conflicts Management & Diplomatic Studies 45, Nelson Mandela Street, Asokoro
FCT-Abuja-Nigeria Email: [email protected] Tel: +234(0)833 815 481, (0)809 234 9060
INDIGENOUS CONFLICT MANAGEMENT DIPLOMACY
Conflict exists in all countries and in every level of society. Conflict per se is by no means a negative force; rather it is a natural expression of social difference and of humanity’s perpetual struggle for justice and self-determination. If managed non-violently, it can be positive, a source of immense creativity and progress. The challenge, however, is to avoid the violent expression of conflict without suppressing the root causes completely. On a small scale, how do members of a community, faced with competing interests or concerns, address them without resorting to violence or a breakdown of trust? On a larger scale, in the case of nations and states, how can ethnic, economic, territorial or political rivalry between sectors of society or groups be managed so that no side resorts to violence and all agree to channel and resolve their differences more constructively? No matter how poor or oppressed a society is, or how provocative and manipulative political leaders may be, communal violence does not erupt suddenly. Inevitably, it is the manifestation of accumulated aggression and hostility. In order to prevent violence, it is necessary to address the hostile mistrust and belligerence before it reaches a point where each side believes that violence is their only recourse. The goal of prevention is to create a situation in which differences and conflicts can be addressed in a non-violent and constructive manner.
Kolawole Olaiya, Ph.D. Department of English,
Furman University Greenville, SC 29613
“‘… IN THE NAME OF THE SON: THE SON AS A SCAPEGOAT IN AFRICAN LITERATURE”
The paper will explore how Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka, and Ngugi wa Thiong’o use the male child both as scapegoat and as the site of political struggle for the cultural and spiritual health of Africa in three of their works. It will examine the importance of the male child in Achebe’s Arrow of God, Soyinka’s Death and the King’s Horsemen, and Ngugi’s The River Between, focusing on how their favored position puts them at the forefront in the struggle for the soul of Africa with the invading European imperialists. These works capture, in different ways, how the struggle between traditional religion and Christianity is embedded in the struggle between Africa and Europe; they also represent very important moments in the transitional period of different African communities to the Western concept of modernity. The articulation of the encounters between Africa and the West by Achebe, Soyinka and Ngugi represents a fictive way of grappling with particular realities of African society in a critical period of transition.
4
By paying attention to the lacuna created by ignorance, Christianity, disparate notions of duty, and the struggle for power by Ezeulu (Arrow of God), Olunde (Death and the King’s Horseman), and Waiyaki (The River Between), and the colonial masters, I plan to show how particular political, economic and cultural conditions make meaning and dialogue impossible. Finally, even though there are limitations between the similarities of the literary and the social domain, I plan to use the literary texts to comment on the strengths and limitations of “truth and reconciliation” in contemporary world politics, with particular attention to Nigeria and South Africa Truth and Reconciliation Commissions.
Dr. Everard Phillips Researcher, Personal Power Unlimited
PO Box 6468, Maraval Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago
1 868 743 2131 [email protected]
CALYPSO: EFFECTING CONFLICT TRANSFORMATION THROUGH CULTURAL ART FORMS The calypso, which forms an integral part of the cultural carnival celebration of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is a syncretic popular art form that has its origin in Africa. Recording as it does some of the experience from the extensive ethnographic research that I essentially completed for the purpose of this paper, the principal objective of this presentation is to illuminate key processes that underlie a different, yet complementary approach by calypsonians, as agents of non-governmental political action. In doing so, the presentation recognises the pre-existing formal and informal modes of dispute resolution. In extending on that duality, it adds a third model that is a non-formal cultural mechanism of community conflict transformation. By adding this new set of intellectual tools, this paper enables recognition of the language of calypso as “Symbolic Action” in a process of conflict transformation. In making a significant contribution to the fields of Dispute Resolution and Legal Anthropology this presentation augments the link between methods of dispute resolution, social sciences and culture in concurrence with Clifford Geertz’s expressed view that law is a type of social abstraction that is driven by culture and imagination, and is designed to regulate social life. Geertz argued that there is a direct relationship and correspondence between law on the one hand and myth, ritual, ideology, art or classification systems focused on structures of meaning, especially on the symbols and systems of symbols through whose agency such structures are formed, communicated and imposed. The presentation
exposes aspects of those calypsos that offer commentary on socio-political and/or economic issues, recognising them as bedded in the popular practice of ritual resistance.
examines the developments in the field of dispute resolution showing how this specific sub-set of Calypsos can legitimately be situated in the field of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR).
shows how, through the medium of these Calypsos, the skillful Calypsonian, using verbal creativity, freely comments on aspects of life, exposing political scandals, while recounting gossip, as the calypsonians redress the powerful.
argues that Calypsonians, using a localised language, steeped in colloquialisms, to sing on the prevailing local, socio-political and economic ills, function as liminal-servants in an Indigenous Non-Formal Community Process of Conflict Transformation.
5
SESSION 2
Solomon A. Obaro European Peace University, stadtschlaining, Austria
Address: kirchenplatz 8 7461 Stadtschlaining, Austria Email: [email protected]
Phone: +436766048644
INVESTIGATING THE VIABILITY OF CONFLICT MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES IN AN ETHNO-RELIGIOUS NATION: POWER AND INFLUENCE IN NIGERIA
Nigeria is divided across ethnic and religious lines along its history owing to the amalgamation of Nigeria by the British colonial powers that submerged different ethno-religious groups to form a single nation. Ethnical and religious conflicts have brought about different forms of violence including civil war which has resulted in record human and material losses. This paper will focus on the sudden increase of terrorist trend in Nigeria and corresponding management strategies by the federal government, focusing on boko haram: an extremist Islamic terrorist organization and perpetuators of recent and recurrent bombings especially in the capital. the significance of the paper is to highlight the delicacy of this insurgence to the future of the nation especially regarding religious fundamentalism, and investigate the role of government in providing national security and managing the uprising of the terror surge while accessing structural problems like the efficacy of government to tackle the problem. This paper will address the following question: Is the level of governance in Nigeria a quagmire for this security bottleneck? This question addresses the role of power and influence as well as missed opportunities. It is anticipated that this research will lead to a better understanding and derive suggestion for improvement on security lapses and effective management strategies. Empirical analysis and conceptual analytical methods will be employed.
’Lai Olurode Independent National Electoral Commission
Zambezi Crescent Maitama, Abuja
CULTURAL CAPITAL, SUSTAINABLE ELECTION PRACTICES AND MITIGATION OF ELECTORAL CONFLICT: SOME REMINISCENCES
Nigeria’s electoral management practices are definitely unsustainable for reasons of costs of electioneering to candidates and what is expended by government on electoral personnel and in the procurement of electoral materials. Every stage of the electoral process is money gulping. Nigeria and its development partners have never been reluctant to throw money, huge one for that matter, at elections. Thoughts are therefore rarely entertained of how cultural resources can be mobilized to complement government’s election management practices, especially election conflict management efforts.
6
In this paper, l refer to cultural capital as those indigenous resources, both tangible and intangible, including social capital that can be mobilized to mitigate electoral conflict in the electoral process. Experts have identified 5 stages at which conflict can set in during the electoral process. The paper examines how cultural interventions in each of these stages could be helpful not only to mitigate electoral conflict but, as well save huge expenses ant time on litigation that would certainly be incurred by a resort to conventional courts. Some of the experiences and instances that would be documented derive from the personal experiences of the author. The paper derives its theoretical arsenal from the assumption that electoral superstructure must be planked on a sound cultural foundation for it to be sustainable and enduring. The role of culture in election management is indisputable, so synergy between the two is key to sustainability of election practices, especially in poor African countries.
Melissa Gang American University
4400 Massachusetts Avenue NW Washington, DC 20016
Phone number: 617-875-4682 Email: [email protected]
CULTURE, CONFLICT RESOLUTION AND THE LEGACY OF COLONIALISM
The impacts of colonialism on local cultures go far beyond changes in infrastructure, government and geography. In addition to eroding indigenous power structures, the structural violence inflicted during colonization left native populations suffering from lasting self-doubt and rejection of their traditional practices. Among these rejected traditions are informal processes of resolving conflict. Conflict resolution methods in different cultures often vary greatly in underlying values and perceptions. Western judicial systems reflect individualistic, highly uncertainty avoidant, low-context tendencies, while indigenous conflict resolution methods reflect collectivistic, minimally uncertainty avoidant, high-context tendencies. Research into the current state of formal courts and informal justice forums in present-day rural Cameroon and Vanuatu provides case study-based evidence arguing that the transition from restorative justice to retributive justice catalyzed by colonialism has effectively crippled both systems of justice. Due to impacted value systems, neither the restorative, social harmony focus of traditional processes, nor the retributive, compensatory justice focus of the formal judicial system make the available forums wholly appropriate or adequate resources.
7
SESSION 3
Fabiola Córdova National Endowment for Democracy
5206 Ventnor Rd, Bethesda, MD 20816 (202) 378-9563 [email protected]
WEAVING INDIGENOUS AND INTERNATIONAL MEANS OF PREVENTING AND RESOLVING CONFLICTS IN
INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES IN LATIN AMERICA This paper explores the practical experiences of various Andean indigenous communities in defending their rights to land and territory, to prior consultation before large-scale extractive projects, and to participation in the formulation of public policies. In several Latin American countries, indigenous and “Western” means of preventing and resolving social and environmental conflicts coexist, often colliding but sometimes enabling and reinforcing each other. Still underutilized but increasingly an effective way to raise visibility, the international legal framework provides a new alternative to protect indigenous rights and indigenous means of conflict resolution. The Inter-American System has offered important jurisprudence for countries across the hemisphere, offering progressive interpretations of international treaties and conventions, such as OTI Resolution 169. International and indigenous pressure has resulted in the passage of recent laws guaranteeing the right to prior consultation, which offer new protections, but also exemplify the challenges of reconciling traditional and “Western” visions of development. This paper also explores the democratic dimension, and how indigenous and “Western” methods of conflict resolution can strengthen or weaken democratic stability and consolidation. While there is no one-size-fits-all approach to addressing Latin American social conflicts, first-hand experience and the critical analysis of previous efforts should inform future decision-making by governments and indigenous communities. Methodology: The information presented in this paper is the result of direct observation and limited participation in social and environmental conflicts in Latin America. The author manages democracy projects in collaboration with various indigenous organizations in the region. Many of these organizations have first-hard experience with indigenous, “Western” and international methods of conflict mediation. The purpose of paper is not to provide a roadmap for solving social conflicts, but rather offer a practical and critical assessment of the methods used, and to inform future decision-making.
Dave Eaton Assistant Professor, Grand Valley State University
1 Campus Drive, Allendale MI 49401 Phone: 616-331-2339 Email: [email protected]
FORM OR FUNCTION? INDIGENOUS CONFLICT RESOLUTION, NGOs AND THE POKOT
Based on over one and half years of extended fieldwork, this paper will argue that Western NGOs in Western Kenya and the Karamoja region of Uganda have appropriated many of the forms of indigenous conflict resolution into their operations. However, the NGOs focus on mimicking “traditional” instruments used in these peace ceremonies has led them to neglect the most important function of
8
indigenous conflict resolution strategies; namely to reduce violence during times of exceptional stress. This has led to a great deal of frustration among the Pokot over how peace meetings are often organized at inappropriate moments, and some informants even indicate that these meetings may stoke tensions rather than reduce them. In conclusion, this paper will argue that indigenous conflict resolution strategies could play a very useful role in contemporary efforts to resolve conflicts between the Pokot and their neighbors in situations where both parties involved ask for external assistance. Otherwise, the holding of peace meetings simply for their own sake, despite an admirable attention to detail, is unlikely to accomplish anything of worth, and may even place some of the people involved in danger. Key words: Pokot; Kenya; Conflict Resolution; NGOs; Uganda; Cattle Raids; Karamoja
Dr. Willie Aziegbe Eselebor IFRA Senior Research Fellow
Society for Peace Studies and Practice 42, Kenneth Dike Way, Bodija, Ibadan, Nigeria
Email: [email protected] Phone: +2348037188512
THE CHALLENGE OF CONFLICT TRANSFORMATION: AMNESTY IN THE NIGER DELTA REGION OF NIGERIA IN RETROSPECT
This paper is an attempt to analyze the concept of African solutions to the challenges of conflict transformation against established Western models. In retrospect, the possibility of the Niger Delta amnesty program evolving and leading to sustainable peace is interrogated. No doubt the 2009 amnesty program in Nigeria, is an admixture of UN model of making peace, but domesticated to tackle the problems of militancy and youth restiveness. Theoretically, disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) are instruments designed to separate belligerents and keep the peace, but cannot transform conflicts effectively. The Nigerian government induced insurgents to surrender weapons and renounce militancy through monetary rewards. Furthermore, they were debriefed and encamped for the purpose of training and capacity building. In deconstructing the amnesty program, questions to ask are: Can actors’ transformation succeed without peacebuilding? Do the programs have the capacity to tackle contentious issues of poverty, neglect, environmental degradation, human rights abuses and infrastructural decay? Can the monetary compensations lead to sustainable peace? These questions raises serious doubts about African traditional approach to conflict management premised on win/win situation in contrast to the present Governments’ win/lose approach to stabilization, since the victims of insurgency may never get justice. Document survey, narrative of victims and secondary sources were relied upon for this study. The peace in the Niger Delta is suspect and temporary, thereby prompting the need for a systemic analysis of the root causes, with a deterministic effort to address the connected issues of sustainable peace, security and development in the region.
Avideh K. Mayville American University, 4400 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC
[email protected], (W) 202-478-1034, (C) 703-509-0909
TRANSFORMING A CULTURE OF VIOLENCE INTO A CULTURE OF PEACE: PASHTUNWALI AS THE BASIS FOR PEACE AND STABILITY IN AFGHANISTAN AND PAKISTAN
The Pashtun population that straddles the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan has endured centuries of conflict, which has affected politics and governance in both countries to this day. This paper suggests a
9
framework for enduring conflict resolution drawing on mechanisms known to influence dispute resolution indigenous to the regions where there is Pashtun conflict. Specifically, amid complex tribal relations, the Pashtuns abide by a strict cultural code of Pashtunwali, which is based on cultural themes of independence, egalitarianism, and honor. According to the literature, these themes are apparent in both Pashtun and rival ethnic tribal methods of dispute resolution that promote respect for individual and tribal autonomy. Utilizing these commonalities in dispute resolution mechanisms, and by drawing on the common cultural themes, mutual respect among rivals can be promoted. This, in turn, can create positive tribal interactions to support the establishment of a culture of peace to combat the cycles of violence in Pashtun conflicts in both Afghanistan and Pakistan.
10
SESSION 4
Ali Gohar Just peace initiatives
772 Hassan Street, Old Bara Road University Town, Peshawar Pakistan
Phone; +92-91-5703786; [email protected], [email protected],www.justpeaceint.org
JIRGA AN INDIGENOUS INSTITUTION FOR PEACE BUILDING IN THE PUKHTOON BELT OF PAKISTAN
Divine law is the most important above all if taken it in the real sense to prevent community members from committing the crimes. If divine law is not practice then the two laws come to challenge, or overlap each other’s existence. Jirga is one of those indigenous systems still play decisive roles. What is Jirga? Jirga is best summarized as a strategic exchange between two or more people to address an issue through verbal communication. The exchange may or may not result in an agreement on the issue, but the process itself leads the parties, including the interveners, to maintain a certain level of formal communication, thus ensuring peace. To a common person, Jirga is a body comprised of local, elderly, and influential men in Pukhtoon communities who undertake dispute resolution, primarily through the process of arbitration. Compared to the judicial system of the present day governments, Jirga ensures a fast and cheap justice to the people. Indigenous to Pukhtoon tribal communities, Jirga is alive even in the areas now influenced by an Anglo-Saxon legal system and is used for interpersonal dispute resolution. In the tribal areas, Jirga is the only vehicle through which the political administration dispenses justice.
Mehari Taddele Maru and Emebet Getachew Abate ACPP, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
THE FUTURE SOMALIA AND THE PLACE OF CLAN SYSTEM: PEACE FROM PIECES
Unlike in the 1960s, Somalia today has no strong central authority; with the exception of clan laws and religious courts which serve as an indigenous form of dealing with disputes. In many parts of Somalia, the Sharia courts filled the power vacuum that was created by the collapse of central authority in 1991. This article argues that the distressing situation in Somalia offers opportunity to introduce new approach to build peace and security in Somalia from the pockets lands where there is law and order. Peace and stability could be enhanced by allowing customary law and Islamic courts to operate within the framework of the Transitional Federal Charter (TFC). For the international community, such approach would mean to support Somaliland, Puntland, Galmudug and other pockets of law and order. This would create another track for peace making in Somalia. Moreover, clan courts should be used to bring law and order by harmonizing a legal system which is cobbled together from five different sources of law in Somalia which include customary, socialist, continental and common legal system. Establishing an efficient and effective legal system is one vital measure that could significantly contribute to peacebuilding and development in Somalia.
11
Ibrahem Elsawy and Samy S. Gerges Kennesaw State University
FACILITATORS AND OBSTACLES OF INTERCULTURAL DIALOGUE AND CONFLICT RESOLUTION BETWEEN
THE AMERICANS AND EGYPTIANS
The growing non-governmental organizations have managed to create an international civil society movement. This movement plays an important role in achieving domestic and intermodal consensus about goals, ethics, and values shaping the world through a process of promoting solidarity in face-to-face dialogues between citizens from the same culture or different cultures (Shipley& Mason, 2005). Intercultural dialogue engages actors from a wide range of cultures and backgrounds from Egypt to the US, from practitioners to academicians. In the meantime, many intellectuals, such as Huntington (2003), refer to the negative side of globalization and modernity by showing its disadvantages to the changes the world is seeing. Dialogue initiatives challenge globalization’s disadvantages, through bringing new hope for a form of global governance whereby people can discuss common values through global dialogue, reflecting their different global communities and identities (Shipley& Mason, 2005). This paper focuses on the facilitators and obstacles for intercultural dialogue, between Egypt and the U.S. from cultural perspectives. It will explore key factors in the American and Egyptian contexts including cultural differences, linguistic barriers, different world order or disorder, search for roots, stance from the other, and dialogue style differences. Despite the general framework, it is important to be recognized that in some cases whether these factors are obstacles or facilitators of dialogue vary by participants and time (Plotnicov, 1990). The paper will also focus on dialogue system settings and their influence as facilitators or obstacles for intercultural dialogue. This research will be approached with a theoretical foundation incorporating various communication theories including Hofstede’s cultural dimensions, Ting-Toomey’s Face Negotiation argument, and Trompenaars and Charles Hampden-Turner’s cultural orientation, then applied to the case of Egyptian American dialogue. This study is a result of the study project of intercultural dialogue between two civil society organizations. The research will take HANDS’s and CEOSS’s Egyptian American dialogue as a case study for understanding cultural similarities and differences between the US and Arab world.
12
SESSION 5
B.O.G. Nwanolue, FRHD, Ph.D. Department of Political Science
Anambra State University, Nigeria Phone: 08037106648
E-mail: [email protected]
and
H. N. Nwanolue Faculty of Management Sciences
Anambra State University, Nigeria Phone: 08035055556
E-mail: [email protected]
THE POST-COLONIAL STATE AND RE-INVIGORATION OF INDIGENOUS CONFLICT MANAGEMENT MECHANISM IN NIGERIA: AN INTERCULTURAL APPROACH
The production, distribution and exchange of goods and services are some of the central pillars that germinate conflicts in the contemporary post – colonial state of Nigeria. About seventy - five percent (75%) of Nigerian population feel completely alienated and preponderantly cheated by the powers that be, especially, in the distribution of National resources, in a most disequilibrumous manner. Again, more than fifty-five percent (55%) of communities in Nigeria suffer territorial subjugation that often culminate in inter and intra communal conflicts, resulting in lost of lives and destruction of properties. The application of western conflict management strategies to the utter resolution of some of these complex conflicts has profoundly left much socio-political and legal lacuna in the over-all intellectual integrity of the country. Hence, the overriding need to re-invigorate the inter-cultural indigenous conflict management mechanism as a propelling force of resolution and settlement in the present – day Nigerian setting would leave much to be desired. Therefore, the paper discusses the indigenous conflict mechanism in Nigeria, from the point of view of the three major cultural tribes in the country: namely; Hausa, Yoruba and Igbo. Accordingly, we have adopted the post –colonial state theory as our frame work of analysis for this work. The research design for this paper was based on ex-post facto analysis. Further, data for this work were generated from primary and secondary sources of recorded human documents. In the final analysis, it was found that indigenous conflict management mechanism have and will still go a long way in resolving conflicts of all kinds in Nigeria and beyond, especially if given the necessary logistical support to operate. Hence, the United Nations should encourage member-nations to advance some kinds of conflict resolutions principally championed by traditional institutions, through traditional rulers and other native potentates, particularly in Nigeria, where constant occurrence of conflict has brought about morbid insecurity.
13
Omolade Olomola LL.B (Hons) BL; LL.M [email protected]; [email protected] +234-8037176520
[email protected] Dept of Private & Business Law, Faculty of Law, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria.
TRADITIONAL FAMILY DISPUTES SETTLEMENT AND JUDICIAL INCURSION- REVISITING THE PAINS OF
THE NIGERIAN CHILD.
In Nigeria there are two basic types of marriages that can be conducted and which are recognized in law. Perhaps a third one that is gradually gaining momentum which is Islamic marriage (this was usually categorized as part of customary marriage because of its incidences). Owing to the colonial history of Nigeria, there are received laws which are still in operation and thus the evolution of Statutory Marriage. Marriages can also be conducted in accordance with customs of the people involved (customary marriage). Disputes however are parts of human lives and so it is inevitable. Though marriage is categorized as a contract but it is a specialized one because it involves individuals and not just physical objects. Traditionally, when there is matrimonial dispute, the first point of call is the family where the matter is usually amicably settled. Nowadays, the case is however different as parties prefer to go to court for settlement which in actual fact distorts the traditional sanctity of marriage. The crux of this article is hinged on the Yoruba proverb that states that “A kii ti kootu de ka tun sore” which literally means that when parties go to court for dispute settlement, they end up becoming serious enemies. When disputes are settled in court, judgment is given which is always final (winner takes all) not minding the subsequent effects on the children of the union. The English Court system is somewhat alien to the culture of Africans. This article will thus analyze the advantages of traditional arbitration in family disputes as against the English method and also the desirability of African mode of dispute settlement.
Olusegun O. Onakoya Esq., LL.B (HONS) BL; LL.M
Department of Private & Business Law Faculty of Law, University of Ibadan
Ibadan, Nigeria [email protected]; [email protected] +234-8037058893
LAND OWNERSHIP IN NIGERIA: LAND USE ACT VERSUS CUSTOMARY/TRADITIONAL LAND TENURE
SYSTEM The issue of land ownership is a universal concept with its attendant socio-legal and economic implications. Land ownership has been variously defined as the total sum of rights accruing to an individual, group of people, the community or government on a piece or parcel of land. However, in the practical sense, this definition has not really capture the age-long intrigues and disputes arising from issues bothering on ownership of land which sometimes do result in inter-tribal warfare and violent clashes among individuals and different ethnic groups. Population in Nigeria keeps growing at a geometric rate while land is fixed hence there is usually bitter struggle between government and the people on one hand and groups against groups on the other hand; to control or claim ownership of fixed and scarce land. The issue is made more complex giving the description of land which is gaped in the Latin maxim “quic quid plantatur solo solo cedit” which means he who owns the land owns everything beneath it, on the surface and the air.
14
Historically, the concept of state ownership of land is alien to the Nigerian legal system before the introduction of common law and consequently the enactment of the Land Use Act 1978. This paper will focus on the raging conflict on the issue of land ownership in Nigeria after the enactment of Land Use Act. The aforesaid includes various methods by which citizens attempt to circumvent the provisions of the Land Use Act.
Omoiya Yusuf Saad, Ph.D. Department of History and International Studies,
University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Nigeria. GSM +2348037211350
E-mail: [email protected]
INTERCULTURAL DYNAMICS OF INDIGENEOUS CONFLICT MANAGEMENT STYLES: A STUDY OF FRONTIER COMMUNITY OF ILORIN IN NIGERIA
By geographical location, Ilorin community, sometimes referred to as an emirate, when appraised with its 19th Century political influence, is a melting pot of two major Nigerian linguistic groups. Hausa and Yoruba. Historically, Ilorin was one of the provinces of the Oyo Empire, which at a time, controlled over 70% of the Yoruba speaking areas now both in Nigeria and in the Republic of Benin. Up till the present, the common language spoken in Ilorin is Yoruba but with a full blend of other languages such as Hausa, Fufude, Nupe, Kanuri and Baruba among other minor linguistic groups. A study of indigenous conflict management styles in this area, will certainly require a multidisciplinary methods. Both historical and social science approaches are going to be dominant. While linguistics elements will also be employed to evaluate the cultural evolution from the respective cultures that are now part of Ilorin Community. The fact that Ilorin community has existed for more than a century, it has evolved a new cultural setting that is unique. For being an hybrid of many cultural origins that has not totally lost their respective original contents. It is through these cultural dynamics that indigenous conflict management styles will be discussed.
15
SESSION 6
Panel Title
AFFECTIVE ECONOMIES: INDIGENOUS CONFLICT OVER NATURAL RESOURCES IN CONTEMPORARY INDIA
Scholars who study indigenous conflicts over natural resources, for economic development in India, pursue one of the following lines of inquiry: either they highlight the events of indigenous resistance against corporate capitalism or they overwhelmingly focus on the shifts in indigenous people’s choices of livelihoods and work opportunities. This panel extends current debates on rural and urban change and indigenous resource use by analyzing indigenous people’s engagements with power structures rather than simply focusing on the constraints experienced by indigenous communities. By bringing together insights from political economy, critical political ecology, cultural studies and anthropology, the panel foregrounds how indigenous people’s identities and desires are deeply tied to conceptions of work and ecology and the ways in which such conceptions are being reworked by the imperatives of economic development and global finance. This panel addresses the central issue in international conflict management, that of better understanding indigenous conflict resolution in terms of conflicted interests, identities, desires and emotions vis-à-vis natural resources. This is what we call affective economies of struggle that undergirds “indigenous disputes.” The panel thus takes a critical look at this conflicted positionalities of people. Papers in this panel engage with a variety of cross-cultural contexts to consider affective dimensions of development and the imageries of hopes and aspirations that development engenders and which lead to conflict. While political economic approaches emphasize structural shifts in global and local economies, we use ethnography to demonstrate the complex ways people’s everyday practices shape and are shaped by interventions that favor the market and corporate capital.
Panelists and Paper Titles
Dr. Mona Bhan, Assistant Professor of Anthropology and affiliate faculty of Conflict Studies, Depauw University, Indiana, USA “Visible margins: State, identity, and development among Boat People in Kashmir (India)” Dr. Debarati Sen, Assistant Professor of Anthropology and PhD in Conflict Management, Kennesaw State Univeristy, Atlanta, Georgia, USA “From Illegal to Organic”: Strategic Essentialisms of Space and Politics of Sustainability in Darjeeling, India” Dr. Sarasij Majumder, Assistant Professor of Anthropology and Asian Studies, Kennesaw State University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA “Resistant Peasants vs. the Aspiring Chasi: Rurality and Political Protest in Neoliberal India” Discussant: Dr. Jesse Benjamin, Associate Professor of Sociology and African and African Diaspora Studies, Kennesaw State University
16
SESSION 7
Panel Title
INDIGENOUS CONFLICT MANAGEMENT AMONG INDIGENOUS GROUPS/NATIONS IN “WESTERN” SOCIETIES
Resolving conflict within and across cultures calls on disputants to draw on individual and collective knowledge and to reflect on the ways in which knowledge is managed within their specific social or cultural context. Comparing these attributes across an interface between cultures highlights what are often significantly differing perspectives on the ways in which conflict is engaged and resolved. These include: who participates and how; what constitutes expert legitimacy; appropriate process design; what’s at stake; and, the nature and content of meaningful resolution. In many cases this tension between differing worldviews falls in favour of conflict management and resolution models which are largely predicated on western traditions. The proposed panel will present ideas which underpin the proposition that there is unrealized value resident in indigenous systems of conflict resolution which is suppressed or lost by virtue of the dominating effect of western modes of conflict management. This is most evident where characteristics central to indigenous systems and practices are undervalued and/or underutilized in navigating the uncertain ground between inconsistent perspectives on conflict resolution. Further, where indigenous norms and practices are effectively lost to communities because of colonial effects or cultural degradation, there is also a loss of possible entry points towards objectives related to cultural regeneration and social capital development. Finally, if cultural or political reconciliation between two or more competing worldviews is seen as an endgame product, then the character and content of that reconciliation benefits from accessing value in the relationships wherever it is to be found. The panel draws on experience and research gained in the context of west coast and northern Canadian Indigenous people and Indigenous people occupying the region along the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Implications for alternative dispute resolution, social cohesion, post-conflict stabilization and reconstruction and cultural regeneration are interwoven through the panel discussion.
Panelists and Paper Titles Jessica Dickson M.A., University of Victoria, 452 East 11th Ave, Vancouver, BC V5T 0B3 “Addressing Disputes between First Nations: An Exploration of the Indigenous Legal Lodge” Tara Ney PhD., University of Victoria, School of Public Administration, PO Box 1700 STN CSC, Victoria BC V8P 5C2 “Exploring Strategies to Revive Traditional Decision-Making in the Context of Child Protection in Northern British Columbia” Paul Paterson M.A., Royal Roads University, #304 – 33 Water Street, Vancouver, BC, V6B 1R4 “The Tribes of FATA: Finding Common Ground in Uncommon Places”
17
SESSION 8
Dr. Polly O. Walker Assistant Professor
Peace and Conflict Studies Juniata College, Huntingdon, PA 16652
Phone: 814 506 8354 Email: [email protected].
DECOLONIZING CONFLICT RESOLUTION
This paper explores the ways in which the discipline of conflict resolution perpetuates epistemic violence, the suppression and silencing of Indigenous ways of conceptualising and experiencing the world. Western problem solving models of conflict resolution are often promoted as appropriate for all cultures, including Indigenous peoples. This aspect of westernization involves issues of both power and difference: currently the West has the power, and often has the inclination to, institutionalize and implement Western conflict management frameworks have assumed hegemony in the fields of conflict resolution and mediation. Nevertheless, there are a growing number of Indigenous and Western scholars who are critical of Westernization and are raising challenges to the domination of Western approaches. Many of these scholars raise issues regarding differences in the worldviews that underlie Western and Indigenous conflict management – worldviews which are in many ways starkly different one from another. This paper suggests ways in which conflict management is being decolonized through re-centering and re-vitalizing Indigenous approaches to conflict management.
Brandon D. Lundy, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Anthropology
Department of Geography & Anthropology Kennesaw State University
1000 Chastain Road Kennesaw, GA 30144-5591
Tel: (678) 797-2893 Fax: (770) 499-3423 [email protected]
THE GUISE OF THE DJILA DI TERA BRANKU: INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT LEVERAGING AND FISHING (CON)TRACTS IN GUINEA-BISSAU, WEST AFRICA
ABSTRACT: The multi-stranded economic matrix of global fisheries ensnares the livelihoods of local fisherpersons and entangles those charged with protecting aquatic resources in a web of financial contributions, partnership agreements, and promises of poverty reduction and growth. Neoliberal policies of the 1980s are partially responsible for overfishing, lack of investment in domestic production, and lack of oversight, regulation, and environmental protection in Guinea-Bissau’s fishing sector. This paper untangles the “development agenda” of the fishing industry in Guinea-Bissau as an example of negative localized impacts of globalization in order to illustrate the need for alternative fishery policies that promote national economic expansion and local livelihood strategies. Based on ethnography research conducted in several local fishing communities in southern Guinea-Bissau, this paper describes the local impacts of these neo-colonial enclave arrangements in which foreign employees and equipment are exporting fish to their home countries to be processed and sold. These types of operations have little positive impact on local economies although they are often touted as beneficial toward local development. These arrangements also directly influence the structure of society, including interethnic relations.
18
By Willibroad Dze-Ngwa (PhD)
Department of History University of Yaoundé I Cameroon
Currently Fulbright Scholar-In-Residence Department of Political Sciences and Public Affairs
Savannah State University, Georgia Tel:(912) 484 61 57 Email: [email protected]/[email protected]
INDIGENOUS CONFLICT MANAGEMENT APPROACHES AS ALTERNATIVES FOR CHECKING THE MBORORO/NATIVE CONFLICTS IN THE MENCHUM DIVISION OF NORTH WEST CAMEROON
Ethnic and land-related conflicts have been very recurrent in the North West Region of Cameroon. The persistent conflicts between the indigenous peoples and the Mbororo migrant populations of Menchum Division caused by the longstanding farmer-grazer conflicts, economic and socio-cultural differences, and the recent search for ethnic citizenship by the Mbororo’en in Menchum, remains very worrisome. Being a migratory population, who had wandered with their cattle and settled in the area, both the Mbororo and the various ethnic groups considered the former a “stranger population” who had to pay royalties to the latter. These rivalries resulted to conflicts, sometimes very bloody. Despite relentless efforts by government at promoting peaceful coexistence among Cameroonians in general, government-appointed officers have continued to use recycled modern conflict management approaches in the conflict with no foreseeable lasting peace. There has therefore been an uneasy atmosphere between the cleavages, especially with the raping of young farm-going girls by Mbororo herders in the study area, as recent as November 2011. Paradoxically, conflict managers rush in with imported and too-late solutions to manage conflicts without any consideration of traditional approaches to conflict management. The dangers have remained the recurrent vicious cycle of rivalry, mutual distrust, social tension, hatred, covert and overt conflicts? Our paper seeks to highlight the persistent dynamism in the conflicts between the indigenous ethnic cleavages and the Mbororo of Menchum; discuss the limitations of modern approaches in handling the conflicts and then, suggest alternative indigenous approaches to conflict management based on local realities. Our paper will largely employ the qualitative, but with some quantitative analyses.
19
SESSION 9
Fatima Ahmed University of Waterloo Waterloo, ON, Canada
ROLE OF NI-VAN WOMEN IN RESOLVING
INTER-PERSONAL AND INTER-GROUP CONFLICT AND IN MAINTAINING A CULTURE OF PEACE
The aim of the field research was to examine the roles of Ni-Van women as peacemakers and peacekeepers, with special focus on their role in resolving inter-personal and intrastate conflict. This paper presentation aims to explore the traditional understanding of peace within custom of Vanuatu. “In order for peace to exist, there should be kava, pig and mats. If you can’t do a ceremony with these, than there is no peace.” (Direct quote from field respondent.) The research has been useful in proving that traditional and localized peace-making methods are still trusted by the general population. Additionally, the indispensability of women in traditional peacemaking was proven by the presence of items like the special leaf, which could only be held by women.
Makda T. Maru Kennesaw State University [email protected]
NEGOTIATING FOR LIFE: LIBERIAN WOMEN’S NEGOTIATING SKILLS
In 2003, the Women Peace Building Network (WIPNET) led Liberia out of violent conflict by employing an effective non- violent resistance. A scrutiny of their struggle reveals that strictly practiced an authentic bottom up peaceful resistance. First, they abridged the religious differences between themselves. Then, they derived synergy by forming a social network based organization. The women started their struggle at the family level by convincing their spouses to stand for peace. After this, they took their struggle to a state level by courageously approaching Taylor to influence him to enter negotiation. They transcended the national boundary by following the negotiators to Ghana and pressuring them (including the mediators) to reach settlement. After settlement, the women ensured the sustainability of their voice by rallying behind the first women candidate and enabling her victory. This bottom up approach is an important lesson in non-violent resistance technique. This article will employ content analysis of documents and video documentary entitled “pray the devil to hell”.
20
Livia Mueller M.A. Candidate, Ethics, Peace and Global Affairs, American University
201 I Street NE, Apt. 905, Washington D.C., 20002 Phone Number: 253 709 6487
E-Mail: [email protected]
EMPOWERMENT THROUGH ONESELF: WOMEN’S PARTICIPATION IN INDIGENOUS GRASSROOTS MOVEMENTS FOR SOCIAL, CULTURAL, AND ECONOMIC RIGHTS IN LATIN AMERICA
Latin America’s history demonstrates an ambivalent relationship with human rights: while progressive advancements in civil and political rights form some of the most inspiring examples of positive human rights work, economic, social and cultural rights continue to lack recognition in most countries – especially in form of discrimination and abuse of women and indigenous peoples. Interestingly, though, in face of the desperate need to end this life without dignity combined with the apparent inexistence of truly helpful assistance from either the government or the international arena, previous “Western” solutions had failed, those marginalized communities have turned inwards, to their very own distinct identities, where they themselves found the strength to make a change for the better. Relying on their own knowledge of their dignity and human rights, those communities joined together in a movement embracing their indigenity to demonstrate to others that they deserve nothing else but a respectful position of equality within their society. Using the methodology of a multiple case study, I am analyzing two indigenous movements with strong female participation – the La Ruta Pacifica de las Mujeres in Colombia and the Jambi Huasi in Ecuador – that demonstrate the unique resources these local initiatives provide for the creation of peace not only in their communities but also in their countries.
21
SESSION 10
Catherine Odera and Maureen Erinne Kennesaw State University, PhD Students
Humanities and Social Sciences Kennesaw State University
1000 Chastain Road Kennesaw, Georgia 30144
Phone: 770-499-3313 or 601-307-5412 E-mail:[email protected] and [email protected]
ROLE OF INDIGENOUS GENDERED PEACE-BUILDING STRATEGIES: ANALYSIS OF GRASSROOTS LEVEL
WOMEN’S GROUPS (CASE STUDY OF KENYA AND NIGERIA) In the field of International Relations, gender roles in conflict and post-conflict societies continue to occupy scholarly discourse. Most recently, there have been calls to view conflict and subsequent peace-building from a gendered lens because men and women experience conflict differently. Women often take on the role of victims of violence and sexual crimes such as rape. In most developing countries in Africa, community-building and peace-building is often publicly attributed to men in society. This recognition of men’s role often comes into play in economic and political conflicts that affect a community. Women are often relegated to the periphery and are naturally charged to perform roles that are of a subordinate nature and secondary to men’s roles such as home-keeping and family-rearing responsibilities. Scholars around the world have challenged this limited view of women’s role in conflict and have called for concerted efforts to include women in peace-building and reconstruction efforts. Despite these efforts, women’s participation in peace-building on a national and international level remains limited to the grassroots levels of the community. It is therefore imperative to examine the ways women at the grassroots level utilize indigenous peace-building methods in post-conflict areas. The purpose of this paper is to explore indigenous gendered peace-building strategies in post-election conflict Kenya and Niger Delta region in Nigeria. This paper will highlight the various indigenous strategies women’s groups in Kenya and Nigeria use when building peace in a culturally sensitive environment. Further, the paper will challenge the effectiveness of western-based methods such as gender-mainstreaming that are prevalent in most peace-building and development work in post-conflict areas.
Name: Doron Pely Affiliation: PhD Candidate, Kings College, London
Cell: + 972 54-436-4994 (Israel) Email: [email protected]
THE IMPACT OF INTER-INTRA CLAN CONFLICT ON WOMEN IN NORTHERN ISRAEL’S PATRIARCHAL
ARAB COMMUNITY, AND THE INFORMAL YET SIGNIFICANT IMPACT OF SUCH WOMEN ON THE PROCESS AND OUTCOME OF SULHA (SETTLEMENT) DISPUTE RESOLUTION PROCESS
Women in Northern Israel’s patriarchal Arab community are significantly impacted by inter and intra clan disputes. Such disputes often result in extended families being exiled to another geographical location for long periods, the destruction of intra-communal, women-based, support networks and economic hardship.
22
Furthermore, these very women are also excluded from any formal participation in the Sulha (settlement), an inter-intra clan, customary justice application practiced within Northern Israel’s Arab community, as well as ubiquitously, with variations, throughout the Muslim/Arab world. This paper uses interviews, observations, and existing literature to explore the impact of disputes on women, as well as to locate and describe the informal yet significant role women play throughout the Sulha conflict resolution process. The conclusion is that despite the informal nature of women’s interaction with Sulha, their impact on the process is significant, essential and plays a central role in the success and/or failure of the reconciliation process.
Dr. Felix Chinwe Asogwa Head, Department of Political Science
Enugu State University of Science and Technology Enugu State, Nigeria
Phone: 234-803-341-7464 Email Address: [email protected]
WOMEN IN INDIGENOUS CONFLICT MANAGEMENT: AN ANALYSIS OF THE ROLE OF “UMU-ADA” IN
CONFLICT MANAGEMENT IN THE IGBO SOCIETY OF SOUTH-EAST NIGERIA The pervasiveness of conflict in modern society has been a source of concern to scholars and world statesmen. Therefore, modern civilization appears to be at cross purpose with the destructive impact of conflict in various societies. Divergent views have been expressed by scholars on the causes and consequences of conflict in our society. Equally, extant literatures abound on the different mechanisms for conflict management. However, one area that has been under-explored is the role of women as conflict managers especially in traditional societies. This paper, therefore, sets out to examine the role of women as conflict managers in an indigenous society such as the Igbos in the south-east of Nigeria. The Igbo constitute one of the largest ethnic groups in Nigeria. The Igbo society is a largely male-dominated society. However, in terms of conflict resolution mechanism, one of the most interesting things about the Igbo society is the centrality of women as agent of conflict management. Women, under the aegis of “umu-ada” group, constitute one of the strongest forces in conflict management in the Igbo society. Therefore, this paper attempts to explore the place of “umu-ada” in conflict management in the Igbo society. It examines the conflict resolution mechanism employed by the “umu-ada” group in the Igbo society and assesses the effectiveness of such mechanism. The paper equally pays attention to the limitations of this group as agent of conflict management especially in a predominantly male society. It proffers suggestions on how to enhance the capacity of the “umu-ada” group in conflict resolution mechanism in the Igbo society. Finally, it is anticipated that material generated from this study will be of great value to other traditional societies grappling with the challenges of social conflict. Material for this study is mainly drawn from personal interviews and use of library materials.
23
SESSION 11
Panel Title
HOW INDIGENOUS CONFLICT RESOLUTION METHODS WORK WITHIN “WESTERN”
SOCIETIES THROUGH RESTORATIVE JUSTICE INITIATIVES Understanding culture is key to constructive conflict resolution. Literature on conflict resolution theory and practice has traditionally placed culture on the periphery, and within traditional, dichotomous categories that have become insufficient for studying diversity of complex cultures. Indigenous conflict resolution processes have been neglected in the field of conflict resolution even though they continue to serve the majority of the population around the world. It is important to study individual cultures through an elicitive-oriented approach as described by John Paul Lederach (1995), a pioneer in the field of conflict resolution. An elicitive approach is “built on drawing out and using what people bring you… it understands language, metaphor, proverb, and story as resources, mechanisms, and approaches to conflict resolution” (Lederach, 1995, p. 83). The panel presents various critical issues and case studies of indigenous and traditional cultures, and how their conflict resolution processes are appropriate and effective in addressing interpersonal, intergroup, and intercommunity conflicts. The presentations include discussions of intercultural dynamics in indigenous conflict management approaches between different ethnic groups within a nation; traditional mediation processes that are commonly supported by various cultural groups; power and influence of indigenous conflict resolution processes that contributes to the effectiveness of such systems; how indigenous conflict resolution models address human rights issues and other types of conflicts experienced by such communities; and how indigenous conflict resolution methods work within “Western” societies through restorative justice initiatives. Specific cases include the Qom people in Northern Argentina, the Laotians in Laos, the Aboriginal or First Nations people in Canada, and the Oromo people in Ethiopia.
Panelists and Paper Titles “Indigenous Neoy Gai Geer Mediation Process: A Case Study of Laotians in Southeast Asia and Their Approach to Resolving Conflicts” Stephanie Phetsamay Stobbe (Ph.D. in Peace and Conflict Studies) Assistant Professor in Conflict Resolution Studies Menno Simons College at the University of Winnipeg Suite 210 – 520 Portage Ave. Winnipeg, Manitoba R3C 0G2 CANADA (204) 953-3850 [email protected] or [email protected] “Indigenous Processes of Conflict Resolution: Neglected Methods of Peacemaking by the New Field of Conflict Resolution” Hamdesa Tuso (Ph.D.) Assistant Professor in Peace and Conflict Studies Arthur V. Mauro Centre for Peace and Justice St. Paul’s College at the University of Manitoba Arthur V. Mauro Centre for Peace and Justice St. Paul’s College at the University of Manitoba 70 Dysart Road
24
University of Manitoba Winnipeg, Manitoba, R3T 2N2 CANADA (204) 474-6492 [email protected] “Qom Intercultural Conflicts in Argentina: From Reflection to Action and Back Again” Name: Lilian Edith Vargas (J.D., M.A.) Executive Director of FIMe (Fundacion Instituto de Mediacion – Interdisciplinary Conflict Management Center) FIMe (Fundacion Instituto de Mediacion – Interdisciplinary Conflict Management Center) Hipolito Irigoyen 645 Resistencia – Chaco ARGENTINA (54) 3722-429786 http://fimeint.org [email protected]
Jamil Al Wekhian Conflict Management Program
Kennesaw State University
ISLAM AND PEACE: EXPLAINING THE PRINCIPLE OF NON-VIOLENCE FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF ISLAMIC SCRIPTURE
While many members of Western society perceive Islam as a violent religion, most practicing Islam deny that this is the case. This research paper will explore the Islamic scripture most widely accepted by Muslim scholars: the Holy Quran and the hadith of the Prophet Mohammed, peace be upon him (PBUH). The research paper will first discuss the different types of Islamic literature and describe their significance for Muslims around the world. Because most Muslims advocate that their religion is non-violent in nature, it would be intriguing to determine the Islamic stance on war and non-violence, as described in the original Islamic scripture. Because all Islamic scripture is in Arabic, there have been many misinterpretations of verses within the Holy Quran as well as the hadith, which in turn, leads to skewed perceptions of the Islamic stance on violence. The overall goal of this paper is to provide a descriptive analysis of the Islamic scripture as it pertains to Islam’s stance on violence.
25
SESSION 12
Panel Title
REDUCING VIOLENCE TOWARD INDIGENOUS PEOPLE AND THEIR KNOWLEDGE SYSTEMS This panel explores the work of the Indigenous Education Institute (IEI) in reducing epistemic violence toward Indigenous peoples. IEI was created for the preservation and contemporary application of Indigenous traditional knowledge, and its goals are: (1) to enhance the recognition of Indigenous science, in juxtaposition with western science, through processes that respect the integrity of both ways of knowing. (2) To support Indigenous strategic planning and evaluation. (3) To support Indigenous communities in the research of their own knowledge and needs, enabling responsible capacity building to effect transformational and sustainable change. (4) To promote global networking among Indigenous communities to enhance the awareness and inter-relationships of Indigenous ways of knowing.
Panelists and Paper Titles Dr. Polly O. Walker, Assistant Professor, Peace and Conflict Studies, Juniata College, Huntingdon, PA 16652, phone: 814 506 8354, email: [email protected]. “Engaging respectfully with Indigenous peoples, their worldviews and conflict management systems” Mary Walker, Kummarra Indigenous Family Care, End QLD, Australia, and Poly Walker “Aboriginal Australian Conflict Management” Dr. David Begay, Indigenous Education Institute, PO Box 898, Friday Harbor, WA 98250, 928-607-0365, email: [email protected]. “Engaging respectfully with Indigenous peoples, their worldviews and conflict management systems” Dr. Nancy Maryboy, Indigenous Education Institute, PO Box 898, Friday Harbor, WA 98250, 360-370-5398, email: [email protected]. “Engaging respectfully with Indigenous peoples, their worldviews and conflict management system”
Matikeeva K. Sairagul Kennesaw State University [email protected]
KYRGYZ-UZBEK ETHNIC CONFLICT IN 2010 THROUGH THE PRISM OF JOHAN GALTUNG’S CONFLICT TRIANGLE
Everything is recognized in comparison. Kyrgyzstan is the most democratic and transparent country in post-Soviet space in comparison to other countries in Central Asia, and even Russia. However, any other countries of post- Soviet space beside Kyrgyzstan did not have such frequent political regime changes which were well known under different labels such as “tulip revolutions”, and “overturns”, and ethnic conflict. The unique combination of principles of democracy with a specific type of authoritarianism has impacted two forced political regime changes in 2005 and 2010. As a result, the country is enmeshed in the continuous political, economic, and social crisis, which has impacted the bloody interethnic conflict in Osh, South Kyrgyzstan in June 2010. The interethnic conflict between the Kyrgyz and Uzbeks in Osh
26
has a history that dates back to June, 1990. Surprisingly, the second ethnic conflict occurred exactly 20 years after the successful reconciliation following the first ethnic conflict between the same nationalities. The purpose of the study is to explore a particular context and the structural causes of ethnic conflict in Kyrgyzstan in June 2010 through the prism of Johan Galtung’s conflict triangle model and to test whether structural violence causes ethnic conflict.
27
SESSION 13
Dayo Akinlaja Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice
Ekiti State Tel. No. 234-836767039
E mail: [email protected]
IN CLEARER TERMS: THE WEST, TRADITION AND JUSTICE IN NIGERIA. There is an increasing strain on the potency and capacity of the Western and conventional dispute resolution mechanism of litigation in Nigeria. The explosion in daily transactions and interactions caused by the exponential increase in population has added to the challenges faced by the current dispute resolution systems. Besides, the imperfections that attend the wholesale application of the practice and procedure in the Western Court system in Nigeria are understandably enormous. The disturbing import of the foregoing is an increasing dissatisfaction with the running of the Nigerian court system. The dissatisfaction, coupled with the almost unending delay in the trial of cases, has led to many instances of the resort to self-help in settling conflicts by the aggrieved. Thus, what obtains in most cases, are situations where justice delayed results in jungle justice! Moreover, justice itself is oftentimes lost in the labyrinth of the technicalities inherent in the adopted court system; in other words, what is described as justice under the imported system becomes nothing more than a piece of esoteric balderdash to the average person. This gap between our traditional society and the imported court system we run calls for rethinking. This paper is an attempt to argue for a pragmatic law practice and system that would remedy the shortcomings in the extant court system and provide the needed justice for the Nigerian people. In my paper, I wish to propose an alternative dispute resolution mechanism that will pay sufficient attention to the defining peculiarities of traditional society. It is imperative that we find an alternative dispute resolution mechanism of arbitration, conciliation and mediation that is woven around our traditional institutions. My paper will also examine the relevant institutions and the modalities of their operation on this subject.
Anthony Wanis-St. John, Ph.D. International Peace and Conflict Resolution
School of International Service American University
4400 Massachusetts Ave., NW Washington DC 20016
202-885-1544 [email protected]
INDIGENOUS RECONCILIATION RITUALS: COMPLEMENTARITY OR TENSION WITH INTERNATIONAL TRANSITIONAL JUSTICE PRACTICES?
Localized, indigenous reconciliation and peacemaking practices resolve local conflicts and manage the webs of social relationships in indigenous communities in culturally relevant ways. But these communities have been deeply impacted by modern forms of warfare, with the resulting loss of practitioners and practices of these rituals. In post conflict peacebuilding, several countries have tried to ‘scale-up’ indigenous practices to address crimes against humanity, as a form of transitional justice, alongside or in place of ad hoc or standing international tribunals. This paper looks at the complementarities and tensions between the retributive practices of international tribunals, the
28
restorative potential of indigenous practices, as well as the shortcomings of each in addressing war crimes and large-scale violence. Case studies from Uganda and Rwanda, as well as insights from other cases, are analyzed comparatively. Tentative insights into how indigenous and international practices can be harmonizing are offered.
Bolanle Wahab, Ph.D Indigenous Knowledge and Development Programme
Centre for Sustainable Development University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria
(+234-803-4234-329, [email protected])
INDIGENOUS APPROACHES TO HOUSING-INDUCED DOMESTIC CONFLICT MANAGEMENT IN ONDO TOWN, NIGERIA.
Conflict is a term which means to clash, or engage in a fight or simply a confrontation between individuals or groups (Albert, 2003). Conflict may be viewed as occurring along cognitive (perception), emotional (feeling) and behavioural (action) dimensions. This paper presents the results of a questionnaire survey of households and housing facilities carried out in six wards of Ondo town in Ondo State of Nigeria. It examines the nature, causes and consequences of domestic conflict among residents and the methods of resolving such conflicts. It argues that indigenous strategies of conflict management work best in that traditional society and advocates their application in settlements with similar indigenous culture. The study revealed that domestic conflict occurs most in tenement buildings where residents have to share facilities and amenities (such as wells, electricity, kitchen, bathroom, laundry, verandah and central passage) and occurs least in self-contained dwellings. Unhealthy condition of houses, waste management, uncooperative attitudes of occupants, poverty and inequality in incomes are other causes of the conflict. Scolding/cursing is a form of domestic conflict, followed by fighting in the area. Domestic conflict affects occupants of dwellings psychologically; generates noise, creates distractions, and results in unclean environment. Resolution of such conflict is done internally within the dwellings through facilitated dialogue, cross-examination and community participation anchored by compound elders (males and females). In traditional African societies, housing facilities are jointly provided and there are respected and sustainable framework for their use and maintenance such that conflicts hardly occurred over their usage. The few conflicts are amicably resolved using the indigenous knowledge systems approach rather than the conventional court.
29
SESSION 14
Fonkem Achankeng University of Wisconsin Oshkosh
Phone: 920-424-0659; Email: [email protected]
BEKEM IN PEACEMAKING IN NWEH SOCIETY
In her article, “Mediation and multicultural reality”, Michelle LeBaron (1998) makes the strong assertion that truly competent practice and process design requires a complex understanding of culture and the development of intercultural capacities by third parties. This presentation focuses on third-party practice among Nweh people of Africa and highlights the role of Bekem who are institutionally charged with mediating conflicts and reconciling the parties in that society. Far from being an attempt to idealize an African dispute resolution approach, the intention of the paper is to highlight an indigenous practice among an under-investigated ethnic group. It contributes to the exploration of how intercultural capacity can be built in the study of third-party roles in the practice of conflict management. In presenting the Nweh approach to peacemaking processes, the paper seeks to understand, from the standpoint of Nweh traditional culture, some of the questions that LeBaron (1998) poses in regard to her view of conflict as being a cultural event. I argue that the fact that Nweh worldview and organization assigns the specific role of peacemaking, conflict management and conciliation to a given class of people in that society seems interesting when compared with the Western concept of mediation and third-party intervention. In this study, qualitative research methods – participant observation and informal interview were used. Data were gathered primarily through participant observation and informal interviews. The considerations for choosing this research approach were: (1) the belief that the research questions are better answered, understood and explained through interpreting and describing rather than measuring. (2) The research questions are general, broad, open-ended and flexible. (3) The purpose of the study was not to seek explanations and predictions that will generalize to other people and places, but to subjectively derive understanding from the perspective of observed persons in their own milieu (Sprinthal, Schmutte and Sirois, 1991).
Dr. Solomon Losha Nova Southeastern University, 3301 College Avenue, Fort Lauderdale, Florida USA
Tel: 954-513.5590/ Email: [email protected]
INDIGENOUS PEACE MAKING AMONG THE BANSO PEOPLE OF CAMEROON: BONYANG AS A CONFLICT RESOLUTION SYSTEM
This paper describes the role of bonyang as an indigenous conflict resolution mechanism in the Nso political and administrative system and as a gerontological and anthropological system of peace making embedded in implicit cultural experiences accumulated over time. It argues that while conflict resolution in the western context is conceived as problem solving underpinned by the objective realities of the individual conflict parties and issues, and managed through a resolution process with clearly distinct stages, the bonyang conflict resolution process is communal, holistic, transcendal and rooted in the realities of the spiritual and material worldviews of the Nso people. The method used in the collection, analysis and interpretation of data is case study. The finding of the study shows that the ultimate goal of conflict resolution in the Bonynang system is community peace, community education and institutional stability. Because of the spiritual and material interplay of the bonyang conflict resolution mechanism the outcome of the peace process in this system has a higher chance of community adherence.
30
SESSION 15
Ifeanyi Severus Odoziobodo Department of Political Science
Enugu State University Enugu, Nigeria
E-Mail Address: [email protected] Phone: 234-803-3706200
Ifeanyi Felix Didiugwu Department of Communication
Enugu State University Enugu, Nigeria
E-Mail Address: [email protected] Phone : 234-803-4056827
FROM MILITANCY TO AMNESTY: AN EXPLORATION OF NIGERIA’S INDIGENOUS CONFLICT MANAGEMENT STRATEGY IN THE NIGER DELTA REGION.
This study examines the amnesty programme embarked upon by the Nigerian government to stem the tide of militancy embarked upon by youths in the Niger Delta region, in revolt over the socio-economic and political deprivations meted against the people of the region arising from oil exploration and exploitation by multinational oil companies in collaboration with the Nigerian government. These deprivations pitted the youths against the Nigerian government and the multinational oil companies with obvious deleterious consequences threatening the economy and the security of the region in particular and the nation at large. Using the relative deprivation, rising expectation and frustration aggression model as a theoretical frame work, the study, which employs the survey research method, argues that against the background of many years of militant activities in the region, the amnesty programme was an ingenious indigenous last ditch effort in solving the problem, considering the failures of many institutional approaches. The study is of the opinion that the amnesty programme was a masterstroke in the history of political engineering in Nigeria. This is to the extent that it went a long way to bringing about relative peace and stability to the region in particular and Nigeria in general.
Prof C. O. O. Kolawole Dean, Faculty of Education
University of Ibadan Ibadan, Nigeria.
[email protected] +2348033340402/+23487293680
EFFECT OF ALTERNATIVE CONFLICT RESOLUTION STRATEGIES ON SELECTED TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS
UNDERGRADUATE UNION LEADERS IN IBADAN, NIGERIA One of the major problems confronting the achievement of tertiary institutions’ goals and stable academic calendar in Nigeria of recent is frequent conflicts between students and members of the management teams in tertiary institutions. Conflicts normally arise between student union leaders who engage tertiary institutions management teams in violent confrontations each time any decision such as increase in school fees or municipal charges that is inimical to their collective welfare is taken. These conflicts are a means through which these leaders believe that their grievances would be addressed.
31
Conflicts often occur when these leaders raise objections to such policies by tertiary institutions management. When such conflicts break out, they often escalate and lead to dangerous confrontation between the two opposing groups. They also results, on several occasions, in loss of life, public and private property, man-hour, closure of campuses and semesters or sessions depending on their gravity. The situation is, however, changing now that tertiary institutions managements have resorted into the use of indigenous dispute resolution strategies as means of engaging the student union leaders in dialogue. The dialogue has, most of the time, helped to solve serious disputes that could have led to serious consequences. This paper, therefore, examines the effect of indigenous conflict resolution strategies on selected tertiary institutions students’ union leaders. This is with a view to making a case for the adoption of such indigenous conflict resolution strategies as regular features of tertiary institutions conflict management system.
32
SESSION 16
Saheed Aderinto Department of History
Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, NC WHERE IS THE BOUNDARY? POLITICS, COMPROMISE, AND LAND DISPUTE IN YORUBALAND (NIGERIA) This paper is about land and boundary dispute between the Ibadan and the Ijebu, two Yoruba sub-groups. Before the imposition of alien rule in 1893, they did not fight over the land between their largely demarcated boundaries. However, the introduction of cocoa cash crop economy ignited conflict and intensified preexisting antipathy. This paper starts with a discussion of political and economic relations between the Ibadan and the Ijebu during a century-long civil war in the 19th century. It then moves on to examine how imperialism and the introduction of cocoa transformed land-use practices as uncultivated forest land were gradually transformed into cocoa plantation. Contested histories of migration, settlement, and communal land ownership were grafted into the conflict as villages, clans and families in both sides claimed cultivated and virgin lands. This paper in addition to dealing with the character and theater of the conflict, also explicates how local and foreign legal and cultural practices of conflict mediation, management, and resolution were deployed. The politics of conflict resolution was not hidden: incessant fight reduced production of cocoa and proceeds accruing to the colonialists, the large trading firm and the local elites. It also affected local food production and undermined the power of the chiefs to mobilize for other culturally constructed goals. Conflict resolution was viewed by different agencies from different perspectives. It fitted adequately into the colonial project of maintaining tranquility in order to maximize expropriation. Furthermore, traditional Yoruba ideals of peace and conflict were contradictorily employed to justify the need to stop the fight or legitimize why it had to be prolonged. Hence, this paper explores the “vocabulary/language of conflict” grounded in indigenous ideas of honor, respect and economic survival.
Jiayan Zhang 1000 Chastain Rd.
Kennesaw, Kennesaw State University Phone: 770-423-6340
Email: [email protected]
A FAILED REFORM: SOCIO-ECONOMIC CHANGE AND IRRIGATION DISPUTES IN CENTRAL HUBEI, CHINA, 1979-2011
In central Hubei, China, access to water is crucial to agriculture. Conflicts over irrigation are common. Prior to 1949, any land deeds had to make clear the associated water sources for that land. Private landownership was abolished soon after 1949, and the government spent a great deal of time and money to build water conservancy projects to ensure the irrigation of land under collectivization. Since the economic reform, land has been returned to individual households to cultivate, and the government gradually pushed the peasants to market to get water for irrigation. The large-scale water conservancy projects built for collectivized agriculture, however, failed to fit with fragmented farmland system due to the decline of village irrigation channels and the lack of peasant cooperation caused by free-riding and the disappearance of cooperative irrigation under the leadership of the traditional rural gentry (after decades of revolution). Individual peasants now have to find water such as dig wells for their small land; once everyone starts to do so, the well becomes deeper, it becomes increasingly difficult to get water,
33
and conflicts over irrigation intensify. The marketized reform has clearly been a failure. The solution depends on how well the local people can combine historical tradition, local environment, and current social conditions.
Sarah Okaebea Danso & Joana Ama Osei-Tutu Department of Research and Academic Affairs
Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Center PMB 210, Accra Ghana
Sarah Okaebea Danso ([email protected], +233-244-611258) Joana Ama Osei-Tutu ([email protected], +233-244-619596)
HOMEGROWN CRISIS, HOMEGROWN SOLUTIONS? : THE EFFICACY OF INDIGENOUS CONFLICT
RESOLUTION/MANAGEMENT APPROACHES IN GHANA Africa comprises of diverse heterogeneous states in which traditions and cultural systems play instrumental roles in almost every facet of the societies, including areas of conflict, conflict resolution and conflict management. With its rich culture and strong systems of traditional beliefs, the institution of chiefdom and traditional rulers is thus very much common and established across the African continent. While modern day African states are headed by presidents and heads of state as a result of democracy, there still exist in most societies, the longstanding respect and recognition of traditional rulers or chiefs as symbolic and revered personalities who wield considerable power or authority. In Ghana, traditional institutions or the chieftaincy system as established by customary law is very much entrenched and exists alongside the democratic structure of governance. Ghanaian chiefs or traditional rulers have the mandate to arbitrate and confer on political, economic or social issues as it affects the people in their traditional area. Using four of Ghana’s administrative regions (Northern, Volta, Ashanti and Greater Accra) as case studies, this paper identifies key conflicts unique to each region and examines indigenous approaches that were employed to resolve the conflicts in each case. In other words, in these conflict cases how were home-grown conflict resolution mechanisms effective, particularly where contemporary or external interventions failed or produced minimal success? Based on field research and secondary data, we further critically assess the role of tradition and religion as an indigenous conflict resolution and management approach to resolving internal conflicts in Ghana.
Fabian Dome Yelsang Research Fellow
Centre for Continuing Education and Interdisciplinary Research (CCEIR) University for Development Studies
Wa Campus, Box 520. Ghana [email protected]
Tel: +233(0)208601033/0279169517
FAMILY LAND USE CONFLICT IN GHANA: AN EXAMINATION OF ISSUES AMONG THE DAGARA ETHNIC GROUP OF GHANA’S NORTH.
Land constitutes the major source of livelihood to the rural farmer. Competition over land control as a result of demographic pressure and poor rainfall pattern resulting in poor yields breeds conflict between communities as well as families in Ghanaian society. The Dagara ethnic group of North West Ghana particularly, the newly created district of Nandom is experiencing and will continue to experience land
34
conflict among individual families as land is greatly scarce and the people are predominantly farmers. In the process of sharing families land(s), those who command power try to take the larger portion of it for their generations to come thereby breeding conflict. Almost all families in the study area have some land disputes as to who controls what. However, there are some indigenous conflict resolutions mechanisms put in place by traditional systems which helps the people co-exists since creation till date. The study also found the elders in the communities to form the dominant component of the customary mechanisms of conflict management. The article outlines scarce and unequal access to natural resources (land) and power relations that exist in the study area and the conflict resolution mechanisms that interplay in managing these conflicts in bringing peace and harmony to the people in the area. A case study approach using Dagara farmers from north western Ghana particularly Nandom was used. An extensive literature review was also used in the methodology. The issues that emanated from the findings indicated that land disputes among family members were central. The conclusions drawn from the analysis show that conflict is pervasive due to disagreements over share of land. It is recommended that efforts should be made by the people to ensure that appropriate measures are put in place for efficient and appropriate land use to avoid future conflict occurrence.
Joseph Kingsley Adjei and Akanmu G. Adebayo Conflict Management Program
Kennesaw State University
INDIGENOUS CONFLICT RESOLUTION STRATEGIES IN MONARCHICAL SYSTEMS: COMPARISON OF THE NATURE, EFFECTIVENESS AND LIMITATIONS OF THE YORUBA AND AKAN MODELS
This paper examines the indigenous conflict management approaches used by the Yoruba of Nigeria and the Akan of Ghana as models. The choice of the two peoples is based on the fact that both societies were colonized by the British and also had similar indigenous laws and practices. The study compares the structure and nature of their hierarchical systems and how they were used in managing or resolving conflicts. It also discusses the limitations of these models. It argues that though the dynamics of conflict have assumed new dimensions in terms of coverage and accoutrement used, instead of trying to impose Western models of the state and the nation on societies to which these models are alien, indigenous approaches such as the Yoruba and Akan models can be incorporated into the so-called modern approaches to facilitate a more effective conflict transformation in Africa. The paper begins with the monarchical systems of the two jurisdictions and their respective approaches to conflict management. Next, it compares the two models and examines their strengths and weaknesses. It concludes on a promising prospect for the incorporation of the two indigenous models and similar ones into modern “Western” approaches.
35
SESSION 17
Panel Title
TRADITIONAL INSTITUTIONS, TRADITIONAL RULES AND CONFLICT MANAGEMENT Conflict constitutes one of the greatest challenges to mankind. This is as a result of the negative consequences of conflict in our societies. Yet conflict appears to be inevitable in human affairs, hence the emphasis on conflict management rather than elimination. In the traditional societies of the different regions of the world, conflict, though antithetical to development, is part of the everyday life. Various forms of conflict abound in these societies and they are generated from various factors. These conflicts are sometimes intra-community and other time inter-communal. Though these conflicts might be categorized as internal conflicts but sometimes they germinate into international dimension due to cross-cultural affiliations among various countries. However, these traditional societies have put in place various institutional mechanisms and rules of engagements to help mitigate the negative consequences of conflicts in their societies. This panel will, therefore, attempt to explore the various dimensions of conflict resolution techniques in the traditional societies especially in the African continent. Special emphasis will be focused on both the institutional arrangements and rules of conduct that have been evolved in these societies to cope with the pervasive nature of conflicts in these societies. It is envisaged that materials from this panel will enhance the conflict management techniques in the different societies of the world. Panelists and Titles of Papers Ifeanyi Felix Didiugwu: Department of Mass Communication, Enugu State University of Science and Technology, Enugu State- Nigeria. Title of Paper: “Communication and Conflict Management in the Traditional Igbo Society in Nigeria” Dr. Silk Ugwu Ogbu, Department of Political Studies, Pan-African University, Victoria Island, Lagos- Nigeria. Title of Paper: “Comparative Analysis of the Traditional Institutions in Conflict Management in Igbo and Yoruba Societies in Nigeria” Dr. Felix Chinwe Asogwa, Department of Political Science, Enugu State University of Science and Technoogy, Enugu State- Nigeria, Title of Paper: “The Umu-Ada Institution and Conflict Management in the Traditional Igbo Society of Nigeria”
James E. Agena Ph.D Department of Political Science
Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki, Nigeria. Tel: 2348037417027
Email: [email protected]
THE ROLE OF AGE GRADES IN CONFLICT MANAGEMENT IN THE TRADITIONAL IGBO SOCIETY Age grades are an essential component of the socio-political structure of the traditional Igbo society. Their position and role in prevention and control of conflicts is not only complementary, but critical in ensuring law and order and stability as well as peaceful coexistence of members of the society.
36
Emmanuel Joseph Duru
Department of Political Science University of Calabar
Calabar, Nigeria +234(0)8037239727 [email protected]
TRADITIONAL CONFLICT MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES IN IGBO
COMMUNITIES OF SOUTH-EASTERN NIGERIA. That conflict is a reality in all social interactions is an established thesis. In fact scholars aver that any society without conflict is a dead one since conflict is a means of understanding social behaviours. However, what make the difference are the effectiveness of the strategy and the adequacy of the institutions responsible for the management of conflicts available to a given society at any given point in time. In traditional Igbo communities of South-Eastern Nigeria where like other communities, there were instances of inter- and intra-community conflicts, for instance, traditional institutions such as, the Council of Elders and the Age Grade System were saddled with the responsibilities of conflict management. This was because these institutions were considered as social organizations that could provide the foundation for social change. This paper examines the effectiveness and efficiency of the conflict management strategies adopted by these institutions in Igbo communities using an analysis of relevant evidences. The study employs the Thomas - Kilmann Model of Conflict Management as a theoretical framework and draws extensively from varied secondary data to provide empirical case studies. It is argued here in this paper that the re-introduction of these traditional models of conflict management mechanisms and their integration with western strategies could provide the panacea in the management of conflicts in modern societies.
37
SESSION 18
r r d y Department of Linguistics and Nigerian Languages,
University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Nigeria. E-mail: [email protected]
Phone No: 08075403795 AFRICAN INDIGENOUS METHODS IN CONFLICT RESOLUTION: THE YORÙBÁ SOCIETY AS AN EXAMPLE.
Conflict is inevitable in human societies but unresolved conflict of any type and at any level is associated with the attitude of aggression ,hostility, cruelty ,brutality, harassment ,coercion, compulsion, duress, threat, clash, and force which leads to emotional disturbance and breach of peace. Thus, in traditional African societies, there were judicial and legal decision-making mechanisms to manage and resolve conflicts. In Yorùbá society , conflict is an hydra-headed term, it means ‘ìjà’ (fight), ‘ lù, (attack), ‘a w ’ (quarrel), ‘èdèàìyédè’ (misunderstanding), and at the extreme , ‘Làásigbò, jàgídíjàgan, r gb d y n y np ny nrin and ogun iolen e and war From the point of view of the Yorùbá people, conflict can be visible or invisible, metaphysic al, personal or interpersonal, organized or unorganized. It may occur at the domestic or communal level, state, national or global. This paper examined the various types of conflict and methods of conflict resolutions particularly at the domestic and communal levels among the Yorùbá society .The research methodology included the use of oral evidence, interviews and relevant documents. Among the findings in this paper were that conflict resolution strategies among the traditional Yorùbá people emphasized the resolving of conflict amicably through elders, traditional religious leaders, the youth and women. Some of the strategies included the use of rituals, songs, folklores, proverbs and covenant making. All these strategies lead to healing and total reconciliation. The paper concluded that the Yorùbá people were interested not only in retributive and reparatory justice but also in peace-making resolution of conflicts which could be emulated in contemporary times.
Olutayo C. Adesina, Ph.D., Professor of History & Fellow,
Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies, University of Ibadan, Nigeria
E-mail: [email protected] Tel: +234- 8023151255
ILEPA AMONG THE YORUBA OF WESTERN NIGERIA: WHAT HAS THE DEAD GOT TO DO WITH PEACE
AND CONFLICT? Peace and conflict mechanisms among the Yoruba are highly ritualized. Processes governing such matters were known to involve sacred objects designed to give efficacy to decisions arrived at by contending parties. This paper investigates indigenous conflict resolution strategies among the Yoruba of Western Nigeria. The article focuses on the phenomenon of Ilepa, the use of a piece of earth from an Orori (burial mounds belonging deceased members of particular families). This became from time immemorial, a significant tool of indigenous conflict management and resolution, and of course, a tool of reconciliation and retribution. The phenomenon has been known to be used in addressing issues in a holistic manner. This age-old mechanism of conflict resolution has, however, not received the attention it deserves. How much legal and juridical powers and influence does a burial site wield in the judicial,
38
pacific and legal mechanisms of the Yoruba people of Southwestern Nigeria? Does this mechanism possess any relevance for modern day conflicts and societies? These are some of the major questions addressed by this work. Kinship is a very important factor in Yoruba social relations. Many of the Yoruba rituals and rites associated with burial and burial sites establish, sustain or reaffirm kinships and affinal relationships not only among the living but also between the living and the dead. In this way, the dead have continued to play a crucial role in human affairs. Using the concept of Alajobi (kinship), the work interrogates the role of the dead in human conflicts and conflict resolution efforts. The widespread use of Ilepa among the Yoruba has affirmed the efficacy of this approach. Beyond tracing the significance of the phenomenon for peace and amity among the Yoruba, the paper evaluates the value of this phenomenon for human understanding, especially with reference to its capacity to sustain understanding in a global age.
Joseph Kingsley Adjei and Akanmu G. Adebayo Conflict Management Program
Kennesaw State University
COLONIAL JUSTICE AND CONFLICT MANAGEMENT: THE CASE OF CHIEF SENIAGYA AND THE ASHANTI GOLDEN STOOL
Before the Gold Coast was colonized justice was administered by traditional rulers. Indeed, the court or palace of chiefs, in the case of centralized systems, and that of clan heads in the case of acephalous systems, symbolized justice. Conflict management—the process of reducing the negative and destructive capacity of conflict—was a major preoccupation of traditional authority. The traditional ruler and his council of elders wielded legislative and judicial power. All laws, to the extent that they emanated from human authority, were formulated by the chief and his elders. The chief was the supreme judge of his people. In criminal or quasi-criminal proceedings, the chief was also the principal prosecutor (Kludze, 2000). In the case of Ashanti, the Asantehene wielded the final authority in all matters. His supreme authority resided in the Golden Stool which was not only revered by all the people of Ashanti but also served as the symbol of unity, authority, and power of the Ashanti Kingdom. Therefore, any attempt at desecrating the Golden Stool was a direct attack on the Ashanti nation. It is against this background that the demand by the British colonial administration for the Golden Stool and an attempt at stealing and desecrating it by Chief Seniagya and four others, sparked off unrests among the Ashanti. This paper examines the British colonial justice system as applied in the case of the desecration of the Golden Stool. The paper traces the historical developments that led to an attempt by the British demanding the Golden Stool, the resultant exile of the Asantehene, Prempeh I, and its impact on the Ashanti people and society. It also discusses the curious case of a prominent sub-chief, Seniagya, his role in respect to the desecration of the Golden Stool, and his expulsion to Nigeria. The paper is structured in six parts. This introduction is followed by a discussion of the significance of the Golden Stool. Next, the paper looks at the exchanges between the British colonial authorities and Ashanti and their impacts on the Golden Stool. In addition, the paper discusses the exile of the Asantehene and its effects. Furthermore, it traces the events leading to the exile of Chief Seniagya and his accomplices and how British colonial law was applied.
39
Ajibade George Olusola, Ph.D. Department of Linguistics and African Languages,
Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, NIGERIA. E-mail:[email protected] or [email protected]
Tel. 00234-08062109625
SPARKS OF RESISTANCE, FLAMES OF CHANGE: ORATURE IN RECONCILIATION AND CONFLICT MANAGEMENT AMONG THE YORUBA
Conflict occurs when individuals or groups are not obtaining what they need or want and are seeking their own self-interest. Sometimes the individual is not aware of the need and unconsciously starts to act out. Conflicts in diverse ways especially ethnic conflict have today become the greatest threat to the stability and security of the modern world. Persons differ in their sensitivity to comments or actions of others, as well as their ability to deal with the stress created by a conflict situation. Literature is not just an instrument for aesthetic pleasure of the hearers and readers it is also a force for reconciliation and cross-cultural understanding. Hence, there is the need to look into the role of literature which is a product of the society where it is produced, in conflict and reconciliation. This portends that word in diverse forms is crucial in understanding and management of conflict at all levels-personal, domestic, local, regional, national and international. Hence, the goal of this paper is to critically analyse the role of Yorùbá orature especially their folklore in conflict resolution and management. The analysis and interpretation of data benefit from a conceptual understanding gotten in the fieldwork through experiential participation and through in-depth interviews with the traditional chanters of Yorùbá oral literature, poetry to be specific. The existing works on Yorùbá poems serve as secondary data to supplement the primary data. The paper elucidates the mediating effects of poetry and other forms of traditional Yoruba oral literature on conflict. In addition, it shows poets as mediator through their verbal artistry. The study concludes that, to the Yoruba, conflict goes beyond the physical dimension; it has some spiritual and metaphysical underpinnings.
40
SESSION 19
Charles Baguma Director of Gipir and Labongo Cultural Foundation
3843 Kampala, tel +256 792 222 200, [email protected]
WHEN THE TRADITIONAL JUSTICE SYSTEM IS THE BEST SUITED APPROACH; THE ACHOLI MATO OPUT, JOSEPH KONY AND THE LORD’S RESISTANCE ARMY (LRA) IN UGANDA
The LRA is a brutal rebel group headed by a messianic madman whose victims are captured boys turned into soldiers, captured girls forced into sexual slavery and villagers put to the machete (Washington post 2011). Apart from the killings, abductions, rapes and sexual enslavement of children, the war created a humanitarian disaster in the region, with more than a million huddled into the squalor and degradation of camps (Barney 2002). However, the majority of Acholi, recognize that most combatants in the LRA were forcibly abducted and have themselves been victims. This creates a moral empathy with the perpetrators and an acknowledgement that the formal justice system is not sufficiently nuanced to make the necessary distinctions between legal and moral guilt. This has generated a remarkable commitment to reconciliation and a peaceful settlement of the conflict rather than calling for retribution against the perpetrators of serious abuses (Katshung 2006). This is reechoed by Rosenberg 1999 that “…a ountry’s decisions about how to deal with its past should depend on many things: the type of war endured, the type of crimes committed, the level of societal complicity, the nation’s political culture and history). The Acholi religious, cultural and local government leaders have advocated for traditionally-based ritual processes for war-related justice, reconciliation, and reintegration, particularly mato oput the ritual climax of an Acholi justice process bringing reconciliation in the wake of a homicide within the community (mato oput project 2009).
Dr. Tajudeen Akanji www.educ.ui.edu.ng/TAAkanji
Center for Peace and Conflict Studies (CEPACS), University of Ibadan, Nigeria
Mobile Phone: +2348033861170 E mail: [email protected]
ENHANCING THE ROLE OF COMMUNITY BASED APPROACHES AND STRUCTURES FOR PEACE BUILDING
AND CONFLICT TRANSFORMATION IN THE NIGER DELTA REGION OF NIGERIA. A recent study on the influence of community based institutions and cultural practices on peace-building revealed that the use of these community based institutions and cultural practices like the traditional council of chiefs, peace committees, age grade system , stakeholders’ meeting, traditional oath taking, local conflict mediators, and community development committees have significant positive impacts on peacebuilding in the area. However, it is believed that Community-based structures need unquestionable mandate and authority for effectiveness and efficacy. Also, Conflict transformation and peace-building are long-term goals, so they must be sustainable and amenable to existing formal structures. Where then are the sources of these mandates and authority? Is it from the traditions, customs, or the formal structures?
41
In the oil rich Niger Delta region of Nigeria, it is generally recognized that the perennial violent conflicts are linked to the quest by the communities for resource control, and also, to secure basic needs (identity, freedom, well-being and survival). It is also evident that many of the approaches used so far by governments to address the issues of peace and peacebuilding such as, the creation of Development agencies and the recent amnesty program to address the basic needs of the community have been inadequate. This is evident from the spate of youth restiveness, hostages taking of oil workers and pipeline vandalization regularly reported in the region by local and international news media. A recent study on the influence of community based institutions and cultural practices on peace-building revealed that the use of these community based institutions and cultural practices like the traditional council of chiefs, peace committees, age grade system , stakeholders’ meeting, traditional oath taking, local conflict mediators, and community development committees have significant positive impacts on peacebuilding in the area. However, it is believed that Community-based structures need unquestionable mandate and authority for effectiveness and efficacy. Also, Conflict transformation and peace-building are long-term goals, so they must be sustainable and amenable to existing formal structures. This paper therefore attempts to locate appropriate sources of the required mandate and authority in order to give necessary forces for the implementation of its decisions and bye laws. Prescriptions of strategies to ensure popular ownership of the process are also given so that the government and other stakeholders can effectively institutionalize and harmonize community-based structures with other existing structures like the police, military, judiciary, regional administrations for sustainability. Appropriate recommendations are suggested to maximize the benefits of the community based approaches for peacebuilding in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria.
Victor Chidubem Iwuoha Department of Political Science
University of Nigeria, Nsukka [email protected]; 08032687803
REINVENTING SACRED GOVERNANCE OF TRADITIONAL AUTHORITIES: A STRATEGY FOR PREEMPTING
COMMUNAL CONFLICTS IN NIGERIA Nowadays, communal conflicts are more incessant and dangerous. Indeed, there is every reason to believe that the instruments of religion and identity are mostly implicated in these conflicts. However, what we are witnessing today is the outcome of many years of social production and reproduction; or more accurately, the dynamics of ascendency of capitalism over communism. People who feel estranged from the ripples of social production will always place it on the basis of dissimilarities in religion or identity. Therefore, to settle conflict means to settle skewed distribution of resources, of corruption, which abound in advanced capitalist societies. Thus, traditional ways of governance must be reinvented. Particularly, this system relies absolutely on sacred oats for good governance. In the Yoruba system, the Kings and king makers are forced to commit suicide if found wanted, while the Igbos depends on the ‘Ala’ which instantly struck the King to death and so on. For this, there is hardly room for corruption, for predisposing people to violence for survival. This study adopts qualitative method in gathering of relevant secondary data on the subject matter and analysis of the study. The study is predicated upon the Marxian theory of social production and reproduction. We argue that the Kingship institutions existing now in Nigerian communities are not constitutionally empowered to receive finance for administration of their local areas. Yet, governance through traditional authorities has the advantage of better accountability, of uniform religion and identity, for greater unification. Hence, modern forms of capitalist governance should remain, but only serve as an institution for appropriating resources to
42
traditional institutions to administer, as agreed by the people. The Western court process and law formulation should only serve for ensuring equitability in fiscal allocations to Kingship authorities.
Mallory Primm 12798 Falcon Point Place
Truckee, CA 96161 Phone: 714-815-1687
Email: [email protected]
SUCESSFUL INTEGRATION OF WESTERN AND INDIGENOUS CONFLICT MANAGEMENT: SWAZILAND CASE STUDY
As Western ideas spread by globalization, it is important to understand how these ideas intersect and integrate with local values and practices. Examining the Swazi National Courts provides a unique perspective of how indigenous conflict management strategies intersect with Western style courts to form an integrated approach to justice and the best practices and problems that arise from this integration. Swaziland has three levels of dispute settlement: chiefs’ tribunals, a strictly traditional dispute settlement arena for specific complaints; Magistrates’ courts, a codified Roman-Dutch Law based system of formal arbitration; and Swazi National Courts, a system of courts set-up by colonists for natives’ problems which has evolved into a court system drawing on both indigenous and Western values and processes. This paper examines how the Swazi National Court system came to exist as a bridge between indigenous and Western conflict management approaches, how this bridged system provides a venue for dispute arbitration that fits the needs and desires of the local population, and how the system can improve in its capacity to provide legitimate conflict resolution. Through archival research, extensive surveys of local citizens, interviews of court personnel, and observations of arbitration in Swazi National Courts, evidence shows that although procedural inconsistencies exist within the system, individuals value the Swazi National Courts as a formal conflict management system. Swaziland’s justice system provides a model for the successful integration of indigenous processes with modern Western approaches to conflict management.
Stephanie Stobbe (PhD) Assistant Professor in Conflict Resolution Studies
Menno Simons College at the University of Winnipeg Suite 210 – 520 Portage Ave. Winnipeg, Manitoba R3C 0G2
CANADA Phone numbers: office (204) 953-3850 or home (204) 231-4695
Emails: [email protected]; [email protected]
THE SOUKHOUAN RITUAL: THE LEGACY OF LAO WOMEN IN CONFLICT RESOLUTION Conflict resolution theory and practice have often neglected the contributions of women in peacebuilding. To obtain a more balanced perspective, the work of women’s movements, peace movements, and other social movements have attempted to highlight the importance of women’s roles in society and their active participation in peacemaking activities throughout the world. This study hopes
43
to contribute to recognizing gender in conflict resolution by examining the rituals of conflict resolution in Laos and the legacy of women working for peace. Through this gender lens, it highlights the importance of Lao women’s work in the soukhouan ceremony, a conflict resolution ritual that is integral to Lao culture. The soukhouan ritual demonstrates characteristics that are vital to any peacebuilding effort, specifically how women are actively working to repair harm, restore relationships, and organize support networks that are important for reconciliation in communities experiencing conflict. This research adds to conflict resolution literature that validates how women are playing a vital role in all stages of peacebuilding. Effective peace systems require partnership of both men and women (Boulding, 2000; Reardon, 2001; Sandole-Staroste, 2009). The beginning of the Women’s Suffrage Movement in the 18th century, the Women’s Liberation Movement in the 1970s, the UN Security Council Resolution 1325, and other social movements have contributed to the recognition of the equally important roles that women have in society and in peacemaking. This paper examines the rituals of conflict resolution in Laos and the legacy of women working for peace. Through a gender lens, it highlights the importance of Lao women’s work in the soukhouan ceremony, a conflict resolution and reconciliation ritual that is vital for rebuilding relationships and peace. The main methodology in this research project is ethnography. The project used a multi-method approach of participant-observation and interviews to discuss traditional and indigenous Lao conflict resolution rituals. The interviews took place in three provinces in Laos: Borkeo, Vientiane, and Luang Prabang. This paper is an offshoot of a larger project that involved 126 (67 men and 59 women) participants. The majority of the participants (78 percent) identified themselves as Ethnic Lao while the remaining participants (22 percent) identified themselves as various ethnic minority groups (e.g., Khammu, Hmong, Tai Deng, Tai Dam, Katdu, Hor, and Oh), some who are indigenous to Laos.
44
SESSION 20
Heather Hutchison, Georgetown University Ecuador Volunteer Foundation, Quito, Ecuador
(593) 96116071, [email protected]
ACHIEVING AUTONOMY, RIGHTS, AND DEVELOPMENT: THE ROLE OF COMMUNITY PLANES DE VIDA IN THE COLOMBIAN INDIGENOUS MOVEMENT
The Colombian Constitution of 1991 boasts a progressive agenda for indigenous rights, even if these constitutional rights have rarely been upheld in practice. With increasing threats from international, national, and local actors, the need for indigenous communities to oppose these threats and secure those rights has become a matter of survival. From the expansion of multinational extraction companies to the political conflict between international and national governments, paramilitaries, and drug traffickers, indigenous communities have been struggling to maintain their cultures and autonomy. I explore the use of the plan de vida, a multi-faceted form of community development planning, by Colombian indigenous communities to mediate the conflicts that surround them. It is important to recognize the implicit and explicit roles of the plan de vida as a solidarity-building and cultural recovery process as well as an instrument to strengthen the broader indigenous movement. In addition to studying several planes de vida, I use accounts from a development expert who witnessed the process of developing these documents in several communities. To understand the legal and ideological origins of these documents, I examine the Constitution of 1991 in addition to speaking with three important actors: a lawyer who specializes in international indigenous rights, a Colombian activist who has been involved in regional, national, and international indigenous movements, and the leader of a traditional indigenous community in Colombia. These sources offer local, national, and international perspectives on the importance of the plan de vida for indigenous communities. My presentation demonstrates how the plan de vida and the internal negotiation process that produces it have helped indigenous communities solidify their indigenous identity, resolve internal conflicts, and overcome local, national, and international conflicts. This tool can be effective in a variety of situations when local actors, community-based planning, and traditional decision-making mechanisms are employed.
John Idriss LAHAI Centre for Peace Studies
School of Humanity Faculty of Arts and Sciences University Of New England
Australia [email protected]
Mobile: +61411871588 Office: +61267734069
IN THE AFTERMATH OF THE WAR: RITUALS, TRADITIONAL JUSTICE AND THE QUEST FOR ACCOUNTABILITY, SOCIAL HEALING AND COMMUNITY TRANSFORMATION IN LIBERIA
The civil war in Liberia (1989-2003) was noted for the esoteric use of ethno-ritual cultural belief systems. In this paper, I explore the role of belief systems (surrounding women and women’s sexuality) in shaping
45
the trend community disintegration and reintegration during the Conflict and its engendered impact on men and women (ex-combatants and non-combatants). It argues that while several forms of violence did contribute to the general destructiveness of the war, sexual and gender-based violence was a major instrument used by the warring factions to shape the ‘warscares’ of the Liberian warzones and in the dislocation, and re-creation, of communities. It contends that although communities disintegrated and relationships broken during the conflict, an ideological and violent-prone social system, ‘the war community,’ emerged. In the aftermath, it becomes very imperative to dismantle this structure and to rebuild relationships. However, the truth commission that was established, with the support of the international community, to promote peace, justice and social healing, though it was gender sensitive, was unable to fully address issues that are culturally sensitive. Based on findings from a nine month (July 2010-March 2011) folknography field research in rural Liberia, I explores the role of traditional justice processes—that are anchored on the worldview, social values and cultural practices of the indigenous people—in promoting accountability for wartime (and post war) violence, and in the general quest for social healing and community transformation in Northern Liberia.
Birthe C. Reimers Kennesaw State University
1000 Chastain Road, MD 2201 Kennesaw GA 30144-5591
Cell: 503-888-4755 [email protected]
‘INTRA-TUTSI SCHISM’ AND ITS EFFECT ON TRUTH, JUSTICE AND RECONCILIATION IN THE RWANDAN
GACACA COURTS In the aftermath of the 1994 genocide, Rwanda today is a country where thousands of people who took part in mass murder live side by side with its survivors. There has been a government-sponsored return to decentralized, traditional, dialogue-based forms of conflict resolution that involve the community to facilitate reconciliation, such as the Gacaca courts and local Abunzi (community mediators). The emphasis in these styles of conflict resolution is three- fold: 1). Focusing on the importance of engaging citizens in reflections on decision-making, 2). Teaching non-violent, constructive ways of resolving conflicts, 3). Breaking old cycles of interethnic strife that have been fueled by a lack of open discussion. By 2004, the Rwandan government had passed several laws against “divisionism” and “genocidal ideology,” which made it illegal for people to identify themselves as Tutsi or Hutu. The Rwandan government claims that this measure sustains peace and promotes reconciliation. According to Galtung (2001), reconciliation is a process that heals the traumas of victims and perpetrators after violence, brings closure, and transforms their relation. Prerequisites for such reconciliation are justice and forgiveness. Since the latter cannot be imposed by a third party, reconciliation is a process that needs to take place between the victim and the perpetrator. The current Rwandan government, however, has institutionalized reconciliation through its National Unity and Reconciliation Commission. Are the government-instituted traditional conflict resolution processes fit to foster reconciliation, or do the governmental policies threaten to cause more instability and hinder reconciliation? These questions will be examined through the lens of Galtung’s (1969, 2001) structural violence theory and joint conflict resolution approach. This paper will conclude with a discussion of policy implications to help bridge the existing gap between theory and practice.