Building Peace: Practical Reflections From the Field - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1565492862 ISBN 13: 9781565492868

Publisher: Kumarian Press, 2009

Synopsis

Even though international peacebuilding has rapidly expanded in the last two decades to respond to more multi-faceted and complex conflicts, the field has lagged behind in documenting the impact and success of projects. To help address this gap, the Alliance for Peacebuilding, one of the leading networks in the field, has brought together 13 stories of innovative peacebuilding practices from around the world in Building Peace.

While the projects covered are diverse in nature, together they demonstrate the significant impact of peacebuilding work. Contributors created new institutions to prevent and manage conflicts at the local or national levels, helped restore relationships in conflict-affected communities, and empowered citizens to work for positive change in their societies across ethnic, religious, and political divides.

It’s clear that there is no quick fix for violence but this volume will go a long way in providing inspiration and practical tools for policymakers, academics and practitioners who seek to make significant and valuable contributions towards achieving peace.

About this title

About the Author

Craig Zelizer is the Associate Director of the Master of Arts in Conflict Resolution Program within the Department of Government at Georgetown University and a Senior Partner with the Alliance for Conflict Transformation. He has over 15 years experience in peacebuilding activities around the world, including assessment, training, dialogue, capacity building and evaluation work. He has published several articles on trauma and peacebuilding, arts and peacebuilding, and careers in international peace and conflict resolution. He is also the founder of the Peace and Collaborative Development Network, a leading online platform to bring together scholars and practitioners working on international conflict. He holds a Ph.D. in Conflict Analysis and Resolution from George Mason University.

Review

"This volume provides an enlightening, encouraging, and fascinating set of reports about effective peacebuilding endeavors. These accounts and assessments were written by persons directly engaged in each undertaking and yield valuable lessons. Certainly, these highly diverse actions deserve widespread attention and frequent emulation."

"Building Peace presents a rich set of case studies of courage in peacebuilding that should inspire another generation of peacemakers. The authors provide a great variety of blueprints for communities, nations and multi-cultural groups dealing with the aftermath or reduction of ongoing and often violent conflicts. That the case studies come from such diverse areas demonstrates that having multiple approaches and processes in our peacemaking toolkit makes peacebuilding possible in widely divergent cultural and geopolitical settings. There is much to be learned here for practitioners, students and teachers of peace. It will make a great contribution to courses on conflict resolution, prevention and handling and on post-conflict peacebuilding analysis and practice."

"This book neatly brings together various methodologies, an impressive range of local and international settings and a number of time frames to give a powerful response to a real “demand” on peacebuilding today: How do we assess the successes (and failures) of what we do? Bravo to Drs. Craig Zelizer, Robert Rubinstein, their colleagues -- and to the Alliance for Peacebuilding in supporting this initiative."

"A must-read for all who care about a brighter future for our world. This book demonstrates the significant impact of peacebuilding across conflicts and communities -- and it showcases examples from an impressive range of contexts, from political diplomacy to healthcare, the arts to land disputes. The book is both rigorous and readable and, as such, is an important resource for the classroom instructor and student, the peacebuilding researcher, and all others who aspire toward a more secure and thriving world."

Edition details

• Publisher: Kumarian Press
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 1565492862
• ISBN 13: 9781565492868
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 352
• Editor: Zelizer Craig, Rubinstein Robert A.