The 2019 edition of the Berghof Glossary revisits the main principles and approaches that we use in our work to supports people and conflict parties around the world. For a second time, our team has embarked on a joint exploration in order to chart a shared understanding of what it takes to create “space(s) for conflict transformation”.
Dealing with violent extremism (VE) has emerged as a central framework of analysis and policy-making in most Western and non-Western government agencies. It is also heavily shaping the programming of non-governmental agencies, not least due to the availability of related funding lines. While there is an undeniable need to address violent extremism, this latest Berghof Handbook Dialogue takes as one premise that more often than not, analysis and programming to date often fall short in understanding and tackling the root causes of the phenomenon. Our lead article proposes: „Ultimately, addressing VE is fundamentally about conflict transformation, yet CVE/PVE interventions are rarely designed to be transformative.“
Individual and Social Approaches to Healing and Dealing with the Past
This Handbook Dialogue is dedicated to Dan Bar-On, who spent most of his life reflecting on practical approaches for dealing with the past and exploring how people whose lives and identities have been shattered by violence come to live a decent life again.
The Berghof Foundation published a glossary in 2012, in which we further investiged the terms that mark our endeavours in conflict transformation. You may ask: why another glossary? The Berghof Foundation produced it for three reasons. First, we believe that the concept of “conflict transformation” is still relatively new, disputed and by no means clearly understood. Hence it remains important to make explicit what we mean when we speak of conflict transformation. Second, we believe that language and terminology are fluid and keep developing. Hence it is necessary to revisit terms and keep discussing them within and between organisations, rather than taking a once-understood interpretation for granted. Third, as the Berghof Foundation started afresh in 2012, bringing together previously independent areas of peace education, peace support, conflict research and grant-making, it was exciting and instructive for the staff within this new organisation to engage their subject matter jointly and systematically.
Following the first volume of its Handbook for Conflict Transformation in 2004, Berghof Conflict Research (Berlin) now presents Volume II. This edition collects new insights into nonviolent ways of managing inter-group conflict and what is needed for consolidating positive peace. The Berghof Handbook reflects the state of debate from a variety of disciplines, advancing discussions on the theory and practice of conflict transformation. Topics include, among others: global trends in organised violence, the role of gender relations and asymmetries in conflict, third-party intervention and insider approaches, human rights, transitional justice and reconciliation in post-war societies. It addresses all those who are interested and active in the fields of conflict prevention and management, development co-operation, human rights and post-war peacebuilding. The Handbook is designed for practitioners and scholars who seek ideas and information for their own work and wish to draw on the wealth of experience gathered by colleagues in a wide range of regions and contexts. The Handbook is further intended to inform experts in politics, journalists, teachers and students.
In this Dialogue, practitioners and researchers reflect on the conditions of success or failure in peacebuilding and conflict transformation. The lead article expresses a lingering worry that complex economic and environmental crises, international factors of violence and war, and an underlying 'murkiness' of values may overwhelm the best efforts for social change and create a feeling that we are “just wasting our time”. The comments emphasize that values and approaches - as well as the international context, power politics and injustice - should be the objects of critical analysis. Investment in learning, honest self-reflection and critical peace research appear to be a must for effective practice. Others stress a need for more effective public mobilization for the effective prevention of violence. Many additional questions are raised and present food for thought for an ongoing debate.