11/2011
We are pleased to announce that the second Berghof Policy Brief, ‘Anti-terrorism Legislation: Impediments to Conflict Transformation’ is now available online. Authored by our senior researcher Dr Veronique Dudouet, the paper reviews the ambivalent impact of terrorist ‘blacklisting’ regimes on peace processes with non-state armed groups, and argues that when applied unwisely, they might interfere with efforts to find a political solution to asymmetric intra-state conflicts. Indeed, the political nature and inconsistent application of terrorist proscription tends to blur the distinction between legal and unlawful political activism, encourage state repression of unarmed dissidents, and fuel radicalism. Anti-terrorist policies also shrink the space for international peace facilitation in intra-state conflicts by criminalising third-party mediation and negotiation support, and impeding confidence-building with listed actors and ‘insider mediators’. The paper concludes by offering a range of reform options to improve the capacity of anti-terrorist policies to foster armed groups’ shifts from violent to non-violent strategies.
To access the series, see here .
10/2011
We are pleased to announce that all articles from our book The Non-Linearity of Peace Processes – Theory and Practice of Systemic Conflict Transformation, edited by Daniela Körppen, Norbert Ropers and Hans J. Giessmann, are now available online. To order a hardcopy, please visit the publisher’s website or, for example, Amazon.
free pdf-downloads
10/2011
We are happy to report that all articles of the second print volume of our Handbook on Conflict Transformation are now available also online (Handbook downloads ). Berghof Handbook II brings you 20 new or revised articles not previously available.
For further information on the print version and order options see here.
08/2011
We are pleased to announce the publication of our book The Non-Linearity of Peace Processes – Theory and Practice of Systemic Conflict Transformation edited by Daniela Körppen, Norbert Ropers and Hans J. Giessmann.
This is the first comprehensive volume analysing the value added by integrating systemic thinking into peacebuilding theory and practice. The aim of this book is to link the most recent debates in the peacebuilding field, e.g. on liberal peace, on the non-linearity of conflict dynamics and on bridging the attribution gap, with various systemic discourses, discussing the extent to which systemic thinking and methods are helpful to further develop existing approaches to conflict transformation.
Against the background of different case studies, practitioners and scholars frame their various understandings of systemic thinking and present a great variety of systemic concepts, such as systems theory, systemic action research and constellation work.
Details: The Non-Linearity of Peace Processes – Theory and Practice of Systemic Conflict Transformation, edited by Daniela Körppen, Norbert Ropers and Hans J. Giessmann,
Barbara Budrich Publishers, Opladen / Farmington Hill, 2011, 273 pp.
Pb. 33,00 € (D), 34,00 € (A), 45,50 SFr,US$47.95, GBP 29.95, ISBN 978-3-86649-406-0
To order, please visit the publisher’s website or, for example,
Amazon.
07/2011
The new volume of our Berghof Handbook for Conflict Transformation is fresh off the press. “Advancing Conflict Transformation. The Berghof Handbook II” (ed. by B. Austin, M. Fischer and H.J. Giessmann; 2011, Barbara Budrich Publishers) collects new insights into nonviolent ways of managing inter-group conflict and what is needed for consolidating positive peace. It brings you 20 new or revised articles not previously available in print and continues our tradition of gathering scholars and practitioners in one conversation. 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.
For more information, please visit the Handbook website (including pdf downloads of the introduction and table of contents) and check out the flyer. Orders can be placed with the publisher or your (online) bookseller.
03/2011
The German-language “Handbuch Frieden”, edited by BCR Director Prof. Hans J. Giessmann and Dr. Bernhard Rinke from Osnabrück University, is finally available. Comprising 640 pages, it gives the most comprehensive account to date of the concept of “peace”. Contributions by 51 researchers address a range of political, economic and cultural issues strongly connected to peace (e.g. peace policy, “peace dividends” or “power of peace”), study the etymological history of the word and also take look at peace in various historical and contemporary contexts (e.g. war and peace, peace and religion, peace and music). The handbook is aimed at a wide audience of specialists, but can also be seen as a manual for both academic and practical peacebuilding training. The publication of this book was funded be the German Foundation for Peace Research (DSF).
order
further information and electronic access
02/2011
We are pleased to announce the release of the workshop report “Mediating Peace with Proscribed Armed Groups”, which summarises discussions and recommendations from a policy workshop held in Brussels in October 2010. Co-organised by Berghof Peace Support and Conciliation Resources with funding from the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust, the aim of this workshop was to initiate a debate about the direct and indirect implications of EU counter-terrorism legislation on peace processes with non-state armed groups, and to identify possible steps forward in order to mitigate the counter-productive impact of blacklisting on conflict resolution and to enhance the EU’s mediation capacity. The workshop was attended by high-level EU officials, mediators and civil society experts. BCR was represented by Véronique Dudouet who compiled this report together with a team from Conciliation Resources.
11/2010
The ninth issue of the Berghof Series on “Resistance/Liberation Movements and Transition to Politics”, entitled “From Revolutionary War to Democratic Revolution: The Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) in El Salvador”, is now available online. This report was written by Dr Alberto Martin Alvarez from Colima University (Mexico), based on thirty-five in-depth interviews with former commanders and negotiators from the FMLN. It analyses the emergence, dynamics and political transformation of the El Salvadoran guerrilla organisations, paying more particular attention to the causes that led to the armed struggle as well as the intra-party and external factors that led in turn to a negotiated settlement. It also identifies important elements of the post-war development of the FMLN as a successful political party, right until its victory in the 2009 presidential elections.
A printed version of the study will be available shortly.
We are also pleased to announce that the previous issue (The KLA and the Kosovo War) is now available in print and can be ordered for 5 € (plus postage)
via email at the Berghof Centre or check out our publications website.
10/2010
We are pleased to announce the new occasional paper: “Empowering Diasporas: The Dynamics of Post-war Transnational Tamil Politics”, this time published by our colleagues from Berghof Peace Support.
Luxshi Vimalarajah and R. Cheran offer an in-depth analysis of the current trends in Tamil Diaspora politics and provide policy recommendations to the Tamil Diaspora activists and to the policy circles in the host countries.
09/2010
We are happy to announce the online release of a new study in our Publication Series on “Resistance/Liberation Movements and Transition to Politics” edited by Véronique Dudouet and Hans J. Giessmann. This eighth issue, entitled “The KLA and the Kosovo War: From Intra-State Conflict to Independent Country”, was written by our Kosovar research partner Armend Bekaj, based on extensive interviews with leading KLA founders and veterans as well as local bibliographical sources. As with the other papers in this series, it analyses the origins, development and post-war transformation of the Kosovo Liberation Army from the specific perspective of its members, who made the transition from opposing an oppressive state regime to participating in the construction of a new, more democratic system. In particular, it looks at commonalities between the KLA and other resistance/liberation movements across the globe, while also reflecting on distinct historical traits which makes Kosovo’s transition to statehood quite unique and arguably unprecedented.
We hope that you will enjoy reading it and welcome your feedback. You can also consult past issues on our website.
A printed version of the study will be available shortly.
07/2010
Handbook Dialogue No 9 – Human Rights and Conflict Transformation. The Challenges of Just Peace – can now be ordered in hard copy for 7,50 € (+postage) via email at the Berghof Center.
06/2010
We are very pleased to announce the release of Berghof Handbook Dialogue No 9: “Human Rights and Conflict Transformation: The Challenges of Just Peace”. Berghof Handbook Dialogues aim to address topics of particular relevance for societies in conflict and the practice of conflict transformation. In each Dialogue, practitioners and scholars debate and critically engage in light of their experience. At the centre of the latest Dialogue is the relationship between human rights protection and conflict transformation, which seems straightforward, but is not an easy one. Over and over again, the question has been asked whether the two share a common agenda or actually pursue competing goals. Contributors to this Dialogue aim to go beyond the divide and polarising language of “peace versus justice” in order to gain a clearer understanding of the potential – and limits – of bringing together human rights and conflict transformation in specific contexts. Drawing evidence from contexts such as Nepal, South Africa, Israel/Palestine, Uganda and Colombia, they argue that a more thorough emphasis on human rights – as causes and manifestation of conflicts, but also as normative and practical intervention tools – contributes to bringing conflict transformation closer to its aim of tackling conflicts at their deepest roots. The lead author and her respondents engage in a rich dialogue on areas of tensions as well as complementarity between the two sets of practices: they encourage mutual learning and joint work, and stress the importance of locally-designed, timely and context-specific initiatives, as well as of hard-nosed analysis of the political context and use of human rights and conflict transformation discourses.
05/2010
The Basque Country – the Long Walk to a Democratic Scenario.
The Transition Series compiles case studies produced by participants in the Berghof programme “Resistance/Liberation Movements in Transition”. The aim of these publications is to learn from the experience of movements around the world who have used political violence in their struggle but have also engaged in negotiation processes and democratic politics, in order to better understand their dynamics and role in waging conflicts and making peace. The authors have been consciously asked to reflect on the experience of these movements from their own unique point of view. What we publish in this series is not presented as neutral or exclusively accurate commentary; we are conscious that there is no single truth in conflict transformation, and we believe that these case studies reflect important voices which are usually excluded or devalued in the analysis of conflict.
This study “The Basque Country – the Long Walk to a Democratic Scenario“ was written by Urko Aiartza, a Basque human rights lawyer, and Dr Julien Zabalo, Professor at the University of the Basque Country, in close consultation with leading representatives of the pro-independence movement. It analyses the evolution of the conflict between the Spanish state and the Basque Country, from the creation of Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA) in 1958 to the present, with a strong emphasis on the various attempts to search for a solution to the conflict through dialogue and negotiation.
We hope that you will enjoy reading it and welcome your feedback. Two further issues of this Series will be published in the coming few months. You can also consult past issues on our website: http://www.berghof-conflictresearch.org/en/publications/transitions-series/.
A printed version of the study can be also ordered by following this link (6.00 € + postage).
03/2010
A German translation of the textbook “Learning each other’s historical narrative“ of the Peace Research Institute in the Middle-East (PRIME) has been published by Berghof Conflict Research and PRIME (German translation).
For more information on Dan Bar-On’s work you may read the obituary on Dan Bar-On or our report on a Workshop with Dan Bar-On at the Berghof Center.
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