Peace as Nonviolence

Table of Contents

1. Frontmatter

2. Pan African Peace Research and Nonviolence: Dynamism and Growth Across Diverse Disciplines and Ideologies

   Matt Meyer

   Abstract

   Any earnest attempt at reviewing the history of “African peace studies” must begin centuries ago. Searching outside the Eurocentric framework of how knowledge is based, we must understand that the oral tradition and griots of ancient times stored histories of peace, conflict resolution, and resistance richer than we can barely imagine. We can only surmise the storehouse of knowledge contained in the vast libraries of Alexandria, Egypt, an incalculable number of recorded perspectives now lost due to decay and the design of those who would mask African contributions in European guise. The collection and recollection of indigenous African knowledge bases and systems has been a relatively new endeavor in the academy, but which is gaining significant attention certain to increase in the years to come. This overview reflects on the contemporary early days of African-based programs developed unevenly in the period immediately following the independence of Ghana, continues with the college departments supported initially by Scandinavian universities and think-tanks, moves on to UN and UNESCO-related initiatives, and the growth of African peace studies journals and publications, and concludes with the fields’ current blossoming of diverse efforts throughout the continent. Through a wholistic, interdisciplinary, and historicπ exploration of the field, we suggest future possibilities for strengthening African pillars of lasting peace through peace studies.

3. Studying Peacebuilding and Nonviolence: The Ethos and Experience of the International Centre of Nonviolence, South Africa

   Geoffrey Harris, Crispin Hemson, Sylvia Kaye, Simóne Plüg

   Abstract

   The International Centre for Nonviolence at Durban University of Technology is a major player in the study of peacebuilding and nonviolence in Africa. ICON’s overall aim is to help African communities achieve sustained peace, which means that its teaching, research and community engagement are transformational in their methods and outcomes, with an immediate impact on the lives of those involved. In practice, this means the use of transformative learning processes in our undergraduate teaching and participatory action research in the research theses which we supervise at master’s and doctoral level. This chapter explains the theory, experience and challenges of transformative learning and participatory action research in the African context.

4. Nonviolence as a Decolonial Principle: Limits and Possibilities of Mainstreaming Peace Studies in Africa

   George Mutalemwa, Sarah Trochemowitz

   Abstract

   In recent years, peace studies has gained increased significance with new programs and courses emerging worldwide. An example of this trend is the project of the Association of Catholic Universities and Higher Institutes of Africa and Madagascar (ACUHIAM). The ACUHIAM’s project aimed at mainstreaming peace studies within Africa. It offers not only unique insights into this current trend but also the chance to explore the intersection of peace studies, epistemic violence, and decolonial theory. The concept of epistemic violence often remains marginalised within the discourse about violence, and thus, to achieve non-violent peace studies, a decolonial theory approach can help to address this. There is still a gap in the literature using decolonial theory approaches to analyse empirical data in peace studies. Therefore, we developed a coding system based on Grosfoguel’s concept of coloniality of power, knowledge, and being is developed to create an empirical bridge. The data conducted through semi-structured expert interviews is then analysed using this system. Eventually, these empirical outcomes might assist the implementation of the project by outlining the principles that are essential for non-violent and sustainable peace studies.

5. Sustainable Peace, Peace Ecology and Ecological Peace Policy for Sub-Saharan Africa

   Hans Günter Brauch

   Abstract

   This brief essay develops the theme in ten parts. In Sect.1 the author distinguished between two phases of the Anthropocene since 1945 to 2020 and for the next 80 years with a projected major demographic transition and major changes due to anthropogenic climate change. Section 2 contrasts a longer-term trend of violent conflicts in Sub-Saharan Africa from 1946 to 2019 with a snapshot on 2020. Section 3 reviews the impacts of global climate change and the human-induced disasters in Africa while Sect. 4 mentions five sub-Saharan African peacemakers: Nelson Mandela, Wangari Maathai, Kofi Annan, Laymah Gbowee and Denis Mukwege who worked to contain violence and to cope with the environmental crisis. In sect. 5 the author introduces three conceptual pillars of a peace studies programme for Sub-Saharan Africa by briefly sketching a ‘sustainable peace concept’ (Sect. 6), a ‘peace ecology approach’ (Sect. 7) and proposing an ‘ecological peace policy’ for Africa (Sect. 8) emphasising why these concepts matter for Sub-Saharan Africa in the second phase of the Anthropocene (Sect. 9) and in conclusion it offers an outlook for a closer scientific cooperation between EU and AU countries that should not only address technological innovation but also peace and ecology issues and concerns.

6. Sustainable Peace Education as a Response to Violent Conflict in Nigeria

   Stanley Osezua Ehiane, Mariam Seedat-Khan

   Abstract

   Nigeria’s enduring violent conflicts amongst insurgency groups remain a threat to the 2030 sustainable development goals (SDGs) and Nigeria’s political legitimacy. Northern Nigeria’s illiteracy rate has allowed insurgency groups to proliferate. Violent acts among insurgents have intensified. The will to contain violent conflict through counterterrorism and Nigeria’s military counter-insurgency actions have contained the terrorist clusters’ enterprises. However, the failure to sustain peace efforts remains an obstruction to impede unremitting violence. This chapter proposes knowledge intervention to initiate peace processes by constructing resilience through peace education models aimed at vulnerable youth. Social scientific scholarship from the global south is interrogated. The proposed intervention considers responses to violent conflict that address innumerable levels, mandate the need for a constructive intervention supported by theoretical, applied peace education to address violent conflict. The intervention reduces strains via an intersectional analysis of educational preconditions and consequences. The guidelines deliver a foundation for additional improved interventions, relying on interdisciplinary regulators and policymakers as change agents. The examination, background and nature of conflict are measured against United Nations’ peace education models that successfully deconstruct violent conflict through sustainable peace education and development initiatives. We conclude that youth peace education in the north is vital in addressing the roots of conflict.

7. Alternative Societal Models of Peace Education in Cameroon

   Vorkunova Olga, Nga Etjeke Daniele

   Abstract

   This chapter explores the peace education dimension in Cameroon. Peace education here is inextricably linked, with an institutional logic defining its specific configurations. The interaction between education and peacebuilding institutions gives rise to four contrasting ‘societal models’ of competence-building systems. The Ecumenical Youth Peace Initiative Commission (EYPIC) was established to involve youth in solving religious, ethnic and tribal conflicts through peacebuilding.

   On the education and training dimension, national systems can vary according to the relative importance they attach to different types of knowledge, and the distribution of competence among the entire workforce. A narrow and elitist system is characterized by the dominance of formal academic knowledge and a highly uneven two-tier distribution of competence: a well-developed higher education system for the elite while the majority of the workforce is poorly trained. A broad-based education and training system recognizes the value of both academic education and vocational training. The EYPIC provides training characterized by a widespread and rigorous general and vocational education for a wide spectrum of the workforce. Such a system is more conducive to a decentralized mode of work organization. A more even distribution of competence among the workforce provides a better basis for interactive learning and the cultivation of tacit knowledge as a source of organizational capability.

8. Analysing Peace Education in Post-Apartheid South Africa

   Bernedette Muthien

   Abstract

   This chapter offers an intersectional assessment of peace education and conflict resolution pedagogy in contemporary South Africa. This chapter provides a brief conceptual overview of peace education, conflict resolution and nonviolence education in South Africa. The chapter locates contemporary curricula and practices of peace education and nonviolence within the country’s democratic constitution, whose Preamble addresses emerging from Apartheid and colonial oppression and violence into a society of reconciliation and nationbuilding. The chapter then analyses Human Rights Education as reconciliation and nationbuilding in post-Apartheid South Africa, from actual junior and high school curricula and university courses and peace and reconciliation institutions, to programmes offered by government and Constitutional Rights Commissions.

9. The Failures of Higher Education in Addressing Peace Preservation in Mozambique

   Anna Fontana

   Abstract

   One of the greatest challenges for peace preservation, in Mozambique, is that even after the 16 years’ civil war that took place between 1976 and 1992 in the country, few universities promoted peace studies in their academic curricula. This is due to the competition they face in attracting more students for their financial stability, particularly considering the demands of the labor market for qualified professionals in the areas of hard sciences, engineering, and maths, among others. This situation turns Mozambique into a country of greed for power, money and opportunities for personal growth instead of universities promoting peace and the quest for the common good. In order to address these and similar challenges, this reflection presents an overview of higher education’s rejection of social sciences and humanities in Mozambique which paves way for the non-implementation of peace studies in academic programs in most of its university institutions. After having argued for the introduction of such studies, it will be maintained that this kind of studies should be extended to community outreach activities and university debates and conferences. In such events, highly influential political leaders, civil society organizations and the citizenry, for instance, could be invited to the same table of discussions in trying to find better solutions for peace preservation in the country.

10. Language and Culture in Peacebuilding: Human Rights Violations Investigation Commission of Nigeria (HRVIC): 1999–2021

    Ugo Aniga

    Abstract

    Conflict, derived from the Latin verb, ‘confligere’, meaning ‘to strike together’ is not entirely negative. There is a creative or productive aspect of conflict. Conflict does not really imply war. It is rather the lack of cooperation between two persons or parties. When two persons fail to cooperate, the possibility abounds that they may reconcile when the conflict is resolved amicably. It however, lingers if it is not well handled, thereby necessitating fight or waging of war. The primary aim of this paper is to discuss the power of language in the course of peacebuilding in any society; Nigeria, especially, as it regards the Human Rights Violations Investigation Commission of Nigeria (HRVIC) established in 1999. Language is universal just as conflict is inevitable and universal. The paper argues that language, though taken for granted by people, can make or mar peacebuilding processes. The paper therefore, narrows on what is language and culture in the event of conflict, on the one hand, and HRVIC peacebuilding exercise in 1999 on the other. It studies empirically; the roles language and culture of the Nigerian peoples are capable of playing in either escalating or mitigating an existent conflict.

11. The Place of Peace in Linguistic Diversity within Religious Congregations in Zambia

    Ireen Moonga, Audrey Muyuni, Jive Lubbungu

    Abstract

    Zambia is a multilingual society with many languages and dialects that characterize people’s lives. Apart from being a tool for social integration, language is a repository for personal identity and cultural history. This explains why there is an emotional attachment to one’s tribe especially when one feels demeaned. This feeling of loss of dignity and respect can result in hatred that, if not handled well, can culminate in emotional and even physical violence both in secular and religious circles. However, when well embraced, multilingualism can contribute to the development of inclusive societies that enable multiple cultures, worldviews and knowledge systems to coexist and be fertilized. This chapter intends to establish how four different churches in Kabwe District of Zambia handle linguistic diversity to foster peace in their different religious programmes. Interviews on the role of language in the promotion of peace included leaders and ordinary church members.

12. Learning Pragmatic Nonviolence Together: African Peace Studies in Australia

    Helen Ware

    Abstract

    At first sight it may seem strange to be discussing the role of African peace studies in Australia. However, since its origins 40 years ago, peace studies at the University of New England (UNE) has had a special interest in developing countries, specifically in Africa. Since 2003 UNE has been providing full doctoral peace studies field-research scholarships to a range of African students. Over the period 2003–2021, a total of fifteen of these African students have gained their doctorates at UNE studying African topics and four more are still in progress. Their geographical coverage has included the Gambia, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Mali, Ghana, Nigeria, Central African Republic, South Sudan, Sudan, Kenya, Tanzania, Zimbabwe and South Africa as well as the African Union, ECOWAS and UNEP. Issues examined include evaluations of peacekeeping missions, explorations of human rights models of nonviolence and studies of women’s work in achieving justice and the SDGs for all. Drawing on the research of this outstanding group of African students, this chapter explores the experience of building a trans/multidisciplinary nonviolent oasis at a geographical cross-roads whilst peace studies units around the world, searching for funding, were rebaptising themselves as security and conflict departments.

13. Challenges in Teaching Nonviolence in Schools

    Timothy Gachanga

    Abstract

    The increasing levels of violence and conflicts in society and the general lack of relevant research on nonviolence provide a challenging backdrop to efforts by teachers to teach nonviolence in schools. This chapter reviews the literature on some of the challenges confronting teachers in teaching nonviolence in schools. The chapter shows that there is little research done on nonviolence suitable for peacebuilding in schools. The reason for this is that we are still involved in the study of violence. Violence is the orientation for peace. We appear to know little about peace. We think of peace as something it is not, instead of what it is. Cases of successful peacebuilding experiences are rare. In addition, learning institutions continue to churn out values that could promote violence. Nonviolence receives little to no coverage in school curriculum. When war is discussed, it is done with a sense of passion and excitement, while peace when it is included, is portrayed as boring. In conclusion, the chapter behooves us to imagine a non-violent world. Only then can we look around us and begin to understand what was necessary for us to arrive in a world full of violence in the first place.

14. Learning Lessons of Truth and Reconciliation in Post-Apartheid South Africa: ‘Coming to Terms with the Past’ through Peace Education?

    Özker Kocadal

    Abstract

    South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was formed in 1995 in order to uncover the truth about human rights abuses of the apartheid era. Although the commission’s work has been widely considered as exemplary, the truth and reconciliation lessons are yet to be fully adopted by the wider South African society. This chapter first focuses on the discussion of the TRC as part of the coverage of the antiapartheid struggle in curricula of South African primary and secondary schools. The current reform effort of history education at schools by the History Ministerial Task Team (MTT) is subsequently examined to assess whether this effort can benefit peace education. The findings indicate that the reform effort is essentially about making history a compulsory subject with an Africanist perspective and that it is likely to fail in promoting the TRC’s lessons of forgiveness and peaceful coexistence. The chapter ultimately proposes a social and emotional learning (SEL) methodology, along with compulsory history lessons, that can be implemented by South African authorities to further the TRC’s lessons.

15. Insights into the Challenges of Evaluating Young Learners’ Intercultural Competences for Better Living-Togetherness

    Pascal Nadal, Aruna Ankiah-Gangadeen

    Abstract

    In this paper, we narrow our lens on a pioneering endeavour for better ‘living togetherness’ within an ethnically diverse society initiated in 2018 by Catholic Education authorities in Mauritius. This was done through the introduction of an ‘Intercultural Education’ programme in all 66 Catholic primary and secondary schools of the island. In particular, we focus on the challenges of evaluating intercultural competences developed by young learners, given that most frameworks deal with interculturalism from a language perspective and have mainly been worked out for mature learners. Underpinned by insights from teachers, heads of schools and curriculum developers, our findings reinforced perspectives from the existing literature on the need to use language judiciously while assessing intercultural competences, the way performance in Intercultural Education should be reported, and aspects to be considered in the test item design. Finally, we try to push frontiers by highlighting the centrality of teachers’ and parents’ roles in the assessment of intercultural competences.

16. The Role of Women’s Pre-marriage Rites of Passage and Cultural Practices in Promoting Peace in Kabwe District, Central Province, Zambia

    Lucy S. Kamboni, Simakando Silongwa

    Abstract

    This study is an assessment of women’s pre-marriage rites of passage and cultural practices and their role in promoting peace in Kabwe, Zambia. These rites help in the process of promoting peace because the lessons learnt prepare a woman to become a peacemaker in marriage. For instance, women are taught that when there is a conflict involving the exchange of words, they should put a stone in their mouth until the situation calms down. This is cardinal in peacemaking as it helps in avoiding the escalation of conflicts. Moreover, women are taught how to prepare variety of traditional dishes which are served to the groom and his family. This is done because it is believed that the way to a man’s heart is through the stomach. Therefore, the provision of food to a man helps to bring peace in a home. Additionally, pre-marriage lessons on sex are important because they prepare a woman on how to handle a man in bed. This is cardinal because without this knowledge there may be conflicts in the home due to sexual dissatisfaction. Therefore, women’s pre-marriage rites of passage and cultural practices should be encouraged because they promote peace in the society.

17. Ogoni Women’s Peace, Nonviolence and Feminist Resistance

    Domale Dube Keys

    Abstract

    The discovery of oil in Ogoni in the mid-twentieth century led to it becoming a heavily militarized area. This militarization escalated in the early 1990s when the Ogoni people in the Niger Delta waged a nonviolent struggle through the Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP) against Shell Oil Company and the Nigerian government to seek improvement to their political, social, economic and environmental conditions and an end to violence in their land. The Federation of Ogoni Women’s Association (FOWA), the women’s wing of MOSOP, has been at the forefront of this struggle since its inception and views one of its primary goals as existing to establish peace in Ogoni. By providing informal education for women, FOWA teaches, among other things, how to use peace to improve their community and view themselves as the peacekeepers in Ogoni. Based on findings from individual interviews with 10 FOWA leaders in Nigeria and numerous sessions of participant observations and focus group interviews, this chapter seeks to understand how Ogoni women conceptualize peace and use nonviolence to work toward establishing peace in Ogoniland through the FOWA organization.

18. Beyond Rhetoric to Practice: A Review of Women’s Place Within the African Peace and Security Architecture

    Lukong Stella Shulika, Stanley Ehiane, Leonard Lenna Sesa

    Abstract

    The literature on women and peace-building assert that conflicts are a trigger to women. Being designated as the main victim of the conflict, the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 acknowledged disproportion gender in conflict resolution and resolved equity roles in peace and security. Hitherto, the UNSCR 1325 on Women, Peace and Security also affirm the indisputable role of women in ensuring sustainable peace and security in (post)conflict societies. While the UNSCR 1325 and other comparable instruments theoretically promote women’s full and equal participation in peace and security processes at all levels, the question of whether they are operationalized remains an open subject. As a result, this chapter delves deeper into this topic by examining the role of African women within the African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA). It recognizes that the African Union has remained committed to promoting peace, security, and gender equality on the continent. However, there is still a disparity in gender participation in conflict resolution and post-conflict peacebuilding in Africa. The chapter concludes that achieving the UNSECR 1325 could usher in a new era of peace as women borne the disproportionate brunt.

19. A Rapid Assessment of the Interplay Between Gender, Financial Literacy and Peacemaking

    Asenath Maobe

    Abstract

    The role of women in peace processes can never be gainsaid. Peacemaking is not only about marking territories nor spelling ceasefires, but also including all key players towards attaining sustainable peace. Although women are evidently missing in peace mediation and negotiation tables, the study argues for a case of women moving from dinner tables to violence tables to provide integrated perspectives on war and peace. These roles come at a cost, and the cost is financial literacy. These skills are useful given that wars, conflicts, peace, and democracy all require money. However, women all over the world report lower levels of financial literacy. For women to effectively participate in peace processes, they need to understand and manage personal finances as well. Using a questionnaire data were collected from women working in higher education institutions, this paper explored the interplay between, women, finance, and peace. The results indicate low levels of women’s financial literacy and role awareness in peace processes. A strong link between financial literacy and women’s role in peacemaking was however established with an R² = 52.9%. These findings emphasize the role of women’s financial literacy in peace processes. It is believed, the findings will be useful for policies regarding women, finance, and peace.

20. Achieving Nationhood in the Trauma of Ethnic Wars and Genocide in Rwanda and Burundi: A Women Writers’ Angle

    Machogu Obed

    Abstract

    This study examines the representation of nationhood in the background of the trauma of wars and genocide as embodied in two selected women-authored novels from Rwanda and Burundi. The novels studied include: Weep Not Refugee by Marie Therese Toyi (Rwanda) and Broken Memory by Elizabeth Combres (Burundi). These works convey the writers ‘vision/s for the realization of nationhood in these traumatized societies. The need to examine the representation of national cohesion in the aftermath of societal fragmentation from the perspective of women writers as embodied in these fictional works arises from the conviction that they offer alternative spaces for pondering nation building outside the governments’—initiated mechanisms that have been labelled by various critics as controlling, delimiting and fixed. In order to circumvent marginalization in decision making, some women writers have used fictional writing as a space for voicing harmony, reconciliation and peace of their war-traumatized societies. This paper argues that women’s input is of paramount importance in the nation building process. I propose, specifically, that harnessing the ideas of women fiction writers regarding national cohesion in Rwanda and Burundi is a productive exercise in the formulation of policies necessary for the realization of an all-inclusive sense of national belonging in the post traumatic countries of Rwanda and Burundi.

21. Nonviolent Conflict and the Transitions to ‘Multi-Party Democracy’ in Burkina Faso

    Abdul Karim Issifu, Thomas Duke Labik Amanquandor

    Abstract

    The African continent is faced with dreadful civil wars that bedevil the international community. However, in contemporary times, the narratives are beginning to shift following the Arab Spring. Nonviolent conflict has become a key strategy employed by African citizens to express grievance demands and expectations for change, especially in undemocratic and authoritarian regimes. In West Africa sub region, for instance, Burkina Faso known for coup ridden history, through civil resistance, was able to oust the 27-year-old authoritarian regime to transition into a multiparty ‘democratic’ state in 2014. It is intriguing to unpack the nuances leading to the toppling of the authoritarian regime by unarmed force in a country known for rampant military takeovers and armed struggle. This article navigates secondary data, theoretical literature, and content analysis to offer a comprehensive grasp of the Burkinabé uprising. The article argues that mass participation and the media among other factors were instrumental in changing the rigid to a ‘flexible’ political climate in Burkina Faso. Though this remark appears fascinating, we do not know if Burkina Faso will resort to coups to change regimes in the future. The article reinforces earlier observations that nonviolent dissent is effective for democratization and socioeconomic and political change, unlike armed resistance.

22. “Walk to Work”: A New Wave of Nonviolent Activism Against the Militarization of Ugandan Politics

    Hannah Muzee

    Abstract

    This chapter examines a new wave of non-violent activism against the militarization of the Ugandan political landscape. It critically looks at a government that came to power by the force of the gun, the National Resistance Movement (NRM), that even when in civil situations seems hell-bent on maintaining its foothold, through intimidation and violent crackdown of protestations. Although multiparty politics in Uganda was restored in 2005, an equal playing field for party actors hardly exists. Aside from police brutality meted on opposition party actors, several legal instruments have been maliciously enacted to stifle activism by government opponents. Nevertheless, opposition party actors have continued to use non-violent and peaceful means of protestation against the government’s injustices. This chapter utilizes secondary data analysis to examine the non-violent protest of opposition party actors such as Dr., Kizza Besigye of the Forum for Democratic Change Party in Uganda. It examines the weaknesses in their strategies while illuminating the lessons that can be learned and the prospects for the future.

23. Peace Studies: Panacea for National Unity and Socioeconomic Development of Nigeria

    Ishaku Hamidu, Yusuf Gambo

    Abstract

    Nigeria like other African states was a colonial creation with numerous natural endowments and great potential for socioeconomic growth and development in all ramifications. However, lack of national cohesion, unity, poverty, corruption, ethno-religious disharmony, regionalism and deep-rooted enmity have caused conflicts which in turn affected socioeconomic and political activities for several decades. Instead of improving, the situation keeps deteriorating day by day, where the government, military and other security operatives seems to be handicapped. These make the nation to be drifting toward a failed state. Peace studies as a discipline has capacity to re-orient and educate the citizens, military, civil-society, the various ethno-religious groupings, using case studies from primary to tertiary levels will no doubt ameliorate the conflicts or insecurity in the country. Authorities are to embrace peace studies, makes it compulsory in various institutions, sponsor conferences on peace studies, peace building strategies, and adopt the conference communiqué/recommendations. The state is to expend more on education and researches to identify prone areas and act immediately to avert any conflict or threat to lives and properties. These, if done will bring lasting peace and security in the nation for robust socioeconomic advancement.

24. Social-Economic Role of Mass Media in Peacebuilding: The Case of Uganda

    Henry Semambo

    Abstract

    Peacebuilding is a fundamental and gradual process which cannot only exist through proper managing of political affairs as most people think. But also, there is a need to understand other dimensions of peace which exist in the social and economic aspects of people in different countries or communities. Indeed, in the world where there is free circulation of ideas or information, mass media like; radios, televisions, songs and newspaper play a vital role in social-economic peacebuilding which may improve the quality of people’s wellbeing. Besides, people choose to use different media platforms depending on the gratification they hope to achieve from them. Therefore, inspired by uses and gratification theory, this chapter intends to explore the role of mass media in promoting social-economic peace among people. This was a case study research design and interviews were used to collect primary data. Content and descriptive analyses were used to interpret the data collected.

25. “Dance & Peacebuilding:” Developing Nonviolence Practices in an Interdisciplinary Course

    Mariah Steele

    Abstract

    This chapter explores the methods and impact of Dance and Peacebuilding, an interdisciplinary course that asks undergraduates to study peacebuilding research while also strengthening their nonviolence skills through embodied dance practices. Taught at the University of Rochester in New York, USA, the course attracts students from all over the world who build their capacities for self-reflection, empathy, listening and tolerance by making and sharing dances within the multi-cultural classroom community.

    Students learn to analyze conflicts, to design dance-based interventions for specific community needs, and to recognize their own biases in interpreting others’ movement—a perennial cause of conflict. Through witnessing their peers’ “Dances of Identity,” students come to understand the complexity of identity—how what is perceived outside differs from what is felt inside—expanding their ability to approach “the other” with curiosity rather than prejudice.

    This chapter provides peace educators with pedagogical ideas for enhancing students’ nonviolence skills through embodied dance activities and highlights the art-form’s strengths and limitations for peacebuilding. African dance traditions are a particularly rich, yet underutilized, resource for peacebuilding as they often carry important spiritual significance and local community knowledge. Thus, this chapter also proposes future possibilities for peace work using dance within African contexts.

26. The Arts of Education and Governance: Peace in the Person and in the State

    Frederick Ifeanyi Obananya

    Abstract

    For many philosophers of education, there occurs a necessary connection between education and the realization of peace in society. Drawing on Plato and Thomas Aquinas, this paper examines the relation of, on the one hand, education to the realization of unity in the person; and, on the other hand, governance to the realization of unity in the society. Fundamental to this examination is that the arts of education and governance operate as a dispositive agent towards the removal of the hindrances to the achievement of peace in a state. The art of governance, because it is neither an art of violence nor tyranny, does not impose peace on the state; rather it aids the citizens towards disposing themselves to the achievement of peace. Bearing in mind that governance is an art, and not a violent one for that matter, this paper concludes by proposing a peace studies programme that is done in two phases—a peace studies programme that retrieves valid achievements of the past, and interprets best achievements of the present, all within an authentic African anthropology.

27. The Creative Path to Peace and Nonviolence in Africa

    Ayo Ayoola-Amale

    Abstract

    There is a strong connection between hands-on, participative creative arts and the creation of non-violence as a key element of peace building. The nature and meaning of peace and non-violence is synonymous to that powerful aspect of creative arts that build peace and promote non-violence. The arts’ has capacity to help develop skills for peaceful problem-solving through the comprehension of fundamental principles in conflict resolution, and violence prevention. Artists work in war zones, refugee camps and conflict ridden communities using their creativity to stimulate and deepen knowledge in violence prevention and ultimately support peace building through building resiliency, conflict resolution and reconciliation from the community level. This chapter will explore the traditional art concepts and creativity in the past and the current understandings of peace as seen in our literature, poetry, mime, drama, dance, songs, paintings, sculptures, graffiti’s, stories, adages and from social psychology that has been great ways of building peace, non-violence and positive social development. It will show how the creative arts stimulates and support peace building and non-violence particularly in Africa.

    The impact that violence prevention goals of community-based art program has are enormous, the production of art supports and expand non-violent conflict resolution skills. It the artworks that educates and advocates for peace and non-violence plays a critical role in learning the concepts of non-violence and peace building in Africa.