Thoughts on Change

As Bob Dylan wrote/sang some decades ago “The Times They are a Changin’” .  The poetry of this song merits serious reflection, and here is one verse I particularly like:

“Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won’t come again
And don’t speak too soon
For the wheel’s still in spin
And there’s no tellin’ who
That it’s namin’.
For the loser now
Will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin’.”

It is very difficult to live through changing times.  Rather than embrace change we tend to try to cling to the past, to what seems certain, and this almost never works.  It is as if we are backing into the future, hanging on for dear life to those ideas and symbols that anchored us before.  This can become desperate, fanatical and violent as we become more and more uncertain and insecure.

Personally, this quote helps me keep some perspective in the whirlpool of current events:

“If long-cherished ideals and time-honored institutions, if certain social assumptions and religious formulae have ceased to promote the welfare of the generality of mankind, if they no longer minister to the needs of a continually evolving humanity, let them be swept away and relegated to the limbo of obsolescent and forgotten doctrines. Why should these, in a world subject to the immutable law of change and decay, be exempt from the deterioration that must needs overtake every human institution? For legal standards, political and economic theories are solely designed to safeguard the interests of humanity as a whole, and not humanity to be crucified for the preservation of the integrity of any particular law or doctrine.”  Shoghi Effendi, World Order of Baha’u'llah, 1991, p. 206)

Financial crisis, Human Rights and Conflict

One of the best predictors of violent conflict is extensive human rights abuse.  This only makes sense really, because injustice (or at least a sense of injustice) is almost always a factor in social conflict, and human rights, among other things, provide a widely accepted standard of social justice.   OK… now consider this document from the United Nations Office in Geneva (brought to my attention by Tahirih Danesh).

Basically, the U.N. Human Rights Council is concerned that human rights might suffer, or are already suffering, during the current financial crisis.

“The Council, in the resolution, stressed that the global economic and financial crises did not diminish the responsibility of national authorities in the realization of human rights. It called upon States, notwithstanding any possible impact of the global economic and financial crises, to respect their human rights obligations and to continue their efforts towards the universal realization and effective enjoyment of all human rights, particularly by assisting the most vulnerable, and in this context urged the international community to support national efforts to, inter alia, establish and preserve social safety nets for the protection of the most vulnerable segments of their societies. The Council reaffirmed that an open, equitable, predictable and non-discriminatory multilateral trading system could substantially stimulate development worldwide, benefiting all countries, particularly developing countries, and thereby contributing to the universal realization and effective enjoyment of all human rights.”

It follows, though this document does not go into the subject, that if, as the Council fears, human rights suffer, this may well increase various social tensions that lead to conflict; and overall, peace will suffer.  As I wrote over ten years ago:

“…it should be acknowledged that, as Austrian economist Joseph Schumpeter argued, capitalism inevitably involves a process of “creative destruction.” Competition stimulates firms to innovate, both in products and in production, in order to outdo their rivals. However, entire industries and regions can be “destroyed,” or at least marginalized, as more innovative competitors take the lead in a given sector. This is demonstrated, for instance, by the change from the horse and cart to the automobile, or from canals to railways. The liberal argument has always been that, despite the rather Darwinian way this process produces “winners” and “losers,” society as a whole benefits from constant improvement in the quality and range of goods and services available to consumers. In this sense economic globalization is viewed as the logical extension of this process to an increasingly unified global market.

However, as MacEwan has forcefully stated:

Losers… are not simply impersonal firms or abstract inefficient technologies. In the real world, losers are people, sometimes capitalists, but always workers, individually and as communities. Creative destruction means the unemployment of real workers, the destitution of real communities, devastation of the environment, and disempowerment of the populace (MacEwan, Arthur. 1994. “Globalization and Stagnation.” Monthly Review, Vol. 45, April, p. 3.)”

Once again we find that (nearly) everything is related to everything else, and that social justice and human rights (broadly understood) are the great challenge for contemporary global governance.

Economic Crisis and Global Governance cont’d

Following on my previous posts about the economic crisis and how it seems to be having an impact on Global Governance, I just saw this story in the Washington Post:

By Craig Whitlock

Washington Post Foreign Service
Monday, February 23, 2009; Page A13

BERLIN, Feb. 22 — European leaders on Sunday pledged to establish global oversight of hedge funds, crack down on tax havens and beef up other rules as part of a reformation of the international monetary system.

Leaders from eight European countries, meeting in Berlin, said they had agreed on broad principles for bolstering the regulation of global finance in advance of a summit of the world’s leading powers April 2 in London.

“A clear message and concrete action are necessary to engender new confidence in the markets and to put the world back on a path toward more growth and employment,” said German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who hosted the meeting.

The officials were seeking to adopt a common European negotiating strategy for the summit, which will be attended by the United States, China, Japan, India, Brazil and other large economies that make up the Group of 20. (you can read the rest here )

It is very interesting to watch this process underway, even if, as I keep saying, there are no guaranteed solutions.  Some scholars talk about how success in one issue area might “spillover” to others, and, personally, I think that it is how a more peaceful world order will gradually emerge.

Ethnic Conflict: a few more thoughts

I wrote a relatively long post on ethnic conflict in December .  However, there are other issues connected with ethnic conflict that I have not really discussed.  Most importantly, perhaps, is the idea of an ethnic group .  If you check out the Wikster page on this topic, you will see all the usual ideas about people identifying with each other because of certain characteristics.  However, when I step back and think about it for a minute, I realize that an ethnic group is any group of people that has come to conceive of itself as an ethnic group.  That is, ethnicity is socially and historically constructed, it is not “inscribed”.  It has emerged out of the historical experience of the people involved.

As we have also discussed, the idea of ethnic group is closely related to the 19th century idea of “nation”.  It was felt in those days that humanity could be divided into distinct peoples or nations, and that there should be one state per nation.  The democratic principle of “self determination” reflects this view:  basically, the “people” are supposed to have the right to decide how they want to be governed.  However, it is not at all straightforward to decide who “the people” are, and it has always been a challenge to find a means for them to decide.

What we have seen in the 20th and now the 21st century is that one nation/one state is not (and actually never was) possible as a principle of organization of global governance.  What we have also seen, is that the struggle for self-determination by ethnic groups has become a source of enormous violence and suffering, as civil wars of various kinds have gone on an on, and brought in their wake drug trafficking, diamond trafficking, child soldiers, etc…

It seems to me that we urgently need to move beyond a 19th century conception of nation and ethnicity, and come to see all “peoples” as one people.  I suspect most ethnic consciousness comes from a group being put on the defensive, or as Burton would argue, having some of their human needs denied by the powers that be.  As I mentioned in my last post, those needs have to be met sooner or later for peace to prevail.

Burton redux

Some time ago I wrote a brief post about John Burton’s human needs theory and its implications for peace and conflict resolution.  Well, as I sit here during fifth week of a general strike, I have been thinking about some of these ideas again.  One of the problems involved with the strike is that the country’s government, for a number of reasons, is not seen as entirely legitimate by the population.  Some years ago, I wrote a bit about this kind of situation, drawing on Burton’s ideas:

“Burton’s work on human needs provides a useful benchmark against which plans for “post-conflict” society can be measured. Burton (1990: 23) starts from the premise “…that there are limits to the extent to which the human person, acting separately or within a wider ethnic or national community, can be socialized or manipulated…”; and “…that there are human development needs that must be satisfied and catered for by institutions, if these institutions are to be stable, and if societies are to be significantly free of conflict.” While acknowledging that this is still a new and contested research area, Burton presents a plausible list of needs. First, human beings require a sense of security and of identity. Second, since people have a generic drive to learn, they require a consistent response from the environment, without which learning is impossible. Third, from their social context people require both recognition and valued relationships, or bonding . Finally, and perhaps most importantly, individuals require (some) control over their environments in order to insure that their needs are fulfilled (Burton, 1990: 47 and 95). This approach has important implications for social institutions. If, on balance, needs are being met within an institution, the institution receives support and is consolidated and perpetuated. If, however, needs are not met, the institution loses support and legitimacy, and confronts increasing opposition. In the latter case, authorities tend to react with repression and coercion, but if an institution is “de-legitimated” for enough people, conflict can not be resolved this way. Rather, the institutional structures have to evolve, sooner or later, to more fully accommodate the needs of the people they affect.

To Burton (1990: 127), legitimacy is a dynamic, rather than a static, condition which “stresses the reciprocal nature of relations with authorities, the support given because of the services they render, and respect for legal norms when these are legitimized norms.” He (1990: 127) contrasts this with a static notion of legality which “…has associated with it…loyalty to a sovereign or formal leader right or wrong, elitism, the common good and the national interest as interpreted by elites…” From this perspective, national reconciliation would not be complete until the social and political order was popularly perceived as legitimate. Though such legitimacy is currently considered to inhere in liberal democratic institutions, Burton (1998: 4) has recently argued that conventional representative democracy is only effective in a society with “…relative ethnic homogeneity, classlessness and equality…”; and this model alone is not able to guarantee institutional legitimacy “…in a society that contains major income differences, and in which minorities are unrepresented but must observe the norms of a majority”– conditions characteristic of many transitional countries. In summary, Burton’s work indicates that social reform which goes further than conventional Western models of governance to meet human needs is necessary if the deep-seated conflicts of war-torn societies are ever to be transformed into peaceful and creative relations among the groups concerned.”

(References from:  Burton, John. 1990. Conflict: Resolution and Provention. New York: St. Martin’s Press.
Burton, John. 1998. “Conflict Resolution: the Human Dimension. “International Journal of Peace Studies, Vol. 3, No. 1, January, pp. 1-5)

As I indicated in the previous post, the “good” news is that this framework gives us real insight into some of the apparently most deeply rooted and persistent social conflicts; however, the “bad” news is that it also shows us how far reaching any measures to heal these conflicts would have to be.

Learn Peace!

I like to share from time to time, places to learn about peace and conflict resolution.  Some of these “places” can be accessed online from the comfort of your own home.  For instance, The Conflict Resolution Information Resource, that I’ve mentioned before, has some very nice course offerings.  Consider this course, “Dealing Constructively with Intractable Conflicts (DCIC)“:

“The course focuses primarily on long-lasting, difficult-to-resolve conflicts, but it also has a lot of general conflict resolution material.   About half of the material is theoretical, covering topics such as:

* The nature and causes of intractable conflict
* Why some conflicts are more or less tractable than others
* Dynamics of intractable conflicts?
* How intractable conflicts end?

The other half of the material is more practical, covering such questions as:

* How does one do a conflict assessment?
* What types of intervention are needed to transform intractable conflicts?
* How do these different types of intervention work?
* How are interventions evaluated?”

There is also a very useful tutorial  on “Finding Conflict Information on the World Wide Web”, which has some practical exercises in finding the information you need.  Excellent idea IMHO.

It seems that information and training about peace is getting easier to access (at least for those who can get on the Internet).  This has to be a good thing.

Stay tuned for more places where you can acquire skills and take courses in this area.

G-7 musings

Last October I wrote a short post about the current global financial crisis, arguing that peace and prosperity on this planet will require closer policy coordination among all states, and certainly among the most influential.  Well, while I am not necessarily sanguine about the outcome or claiming any status as a prophet, the recent meeting of the G-7 finance ministers did produce some commitment in that direction.  The new U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner was quoted by CNN as saying:

“Although the precise mix of measures must be tailored to each country’s situation — our financial systems are different, [the] structures of our systems are very different — there is a common recognition of more capital and government financing to help restart credit markets,”

This is not a done deal, of course, since the forces of protectionism are very much on the loose, and governments will be under a lot of pressure to protect certain companies’ markets, fully knowing that this would cause everybody problems over the medium to long run.  So, this is definitely a watershed for global governance and for world peace and stability–many major wars of the past have been preceded by economic crises.

Personally, I think the way the economic ministers have been obliged to take, at least to some extent, a collective stand confirms what Disney has been telling us for over 40 years:

“It’s a small world after all
It’s a small world after all
It’s a small world after all
It’s a small, small world”

More peace quotes

I felt it was about time for more peace quotes (here is my first set).  There are so many, from so many different people, that it is hard to choose.  Anyhow, it’s all good:

“We must be prepared to make the same heroic sacrifices for the cause of peace that we make ungrudgingly for the cause of war.” Albert Einstein

“Affirm divine calmness and peace, and send out only thoughts of love and goodwill if you want to live in peace and harmony. Never get angry, for anger poisons your system.” Paramahansa Yogananda

“War is not the continuation of politics with different means, it is the greatest mass-crime perpetrated on the community of man.” Alfred Adler

“How can one not speak about war, poverty, and inequality when people who suffer from these afflictions don’t have a voice to speak?“  Isabel Allende

“Bullets cannot be recalled. They cannot be uninvented. But they can be taken out of the gun.” Martin Amis

“We cannot change the past, but we can change our attitude toward it. Uproot guilt and plant forgiveness. Tear out arrogance and seed humility. Exchange love for hate — thereby, making the present comfortable and the future promising. “ Maya Angelou

“Peace is the work of justice indirectly, in so far as justice removes the obstacles to peace; but it is the work of charity (love) directly, since charity, according to its very notion, causes peace.” Thomas Aquinas

“The best way of avenging thyself is not to become like the wrong-doer.” Marcus Aurelius Antoninus

Once again we see that people throughout the ages and in many different walks of life have had important things to say about peace.  It is certainly time we started listening.

Films for Peace

Some time ago I wrote about the Dayton International Peace Museum .  Well, associated with the Museum is (among many other things) The ScreenPeace Film Festival .   The Festival’s Founding Director, Dr. Robert Girvin, explains how “ScreenPeace” came to be:

“The influence of the media on our collective consciousness is apparent to us all. After many years working in Hollywood and teaching university film classes, I have realized that we are sorely missing something in both our media production and our media studies… an official genre classification titled “Peace Films.”

To that end, the Dayton International Peace Museum and I initiated the ScreenPeace public film series in 2007 and added a Student Film/Video Contest last year for peace-themed films/videos produced by students in the Greater Miami Valley.”

You can see the films shown last year here .  There is a short blurb for each film that explains the film’s link with peace, broadly understood.  The calendar for 2009 is not up yet, but should be available soon.  The theme for the 2009 student film/video contest is “What does Peace mean to you?” .

Once again, I am very impressed by what is happening in Dayton, and specifically at the Peace Museum.  These people really seem to have their heads and hearts in the right place.  It seems obvious that film and video have enormous impact on us, and I find it very insightful and innovative to highlight the peace-related aspects of mainstream commercial films, and to encourage aspiring film makers to make films about peace.

IGBarb says check it out!

A bit of Bob Marley

I was watching a video of a Bob Marly concert the other night, and I was impressed by the lyrics to his song “War”:

“What life has taught me
I would like to share with
Those who want to learn…

Until the philosophy which hold one race
Superior and another inferior
Is finally and permanently discredited and abandoned
Everywhere is war, me say war

That until there are no longer first class
And second class citizens of any nation
Until the colour of a man’s skin
Is of no more significance than the colour of his eyes
Me say war

That until the basic human rights are equally
Guaranteed to all, without regard to race
Dis a war

That until that day
The dream of lasting peace, world citizenship
Rule of international morality
Will remain in but a fleeting illusion
To be persued, but never attained
Now everywhere is war, war

And until the ignoble and unhappy regimes
that hold our brothers in Angola, in Mozambique,
South Africa sub-human bondage
Have been toppled, utterly destroyed
Well, everywhere is war, me say war

War in the east, war in the west
War up north, war down south
War, war, rumours of war

And until that day, the African continent
Will not know peace, we Africans will fight
We find it necessary and we know we shall win
As we are confident in the victory

Of good over evil, good over evil, good over evil
Good over evil, good over evil, good over evil”

While this can certainly be “read” as a call to uprising and violence, it is also quite a concise statement about the relationship between justice–particularly social justice–and international peace and world citizenship.  The latter will certainly remain an illusion until progress is made on such basic issues of social justice as racial and class discrimination.

Also, it is interesting to note that two of the countries he mentions, Angola and Mozambique, did in fact, transition to independence through violent conflict, the third, South Africa, made a (relatively) peaceful transition.
Bob Marley – War lyrics are the property and copyright of their owners.
Bob Marley – War lyrics provided for educational purposes only.