Journal 1: What is Old is New Again

John Paul Lederach and Katie Mansfield in 2010
at Notre Dame’s Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies



Genetic code of conflict transformation/ peace-building originates in the work of non-gov actors:
  • US: Civil Rights
  • Southern Hemisphere: states not providing services --> civil society protesting & pushing for infras
  • Religions: Mennonites, Quakers, Catholics
Tension: 
  1. Standardization that offers a degree in mediation vs. creativity of developing new practices in response to problems on the ground
  2. Rational-analytical, value-neutral problem solving vs values & ethics
    1. James Laue: respect parties' knowledge, prioritize questions of social justice, pracademic
  3. High-level negotiations that yielded quick peace agreement followed by elections not sufficient to bring sustainable peace in many violent conflicts in the post Cold War world 
    1. GPPAC Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict: gather small actors, get them to meet their government
    2. People Building Peace II


UN & civil society now wrestling with shared dilemmas:
  • Is peacebuilding done best by locals (insiders) or by outsiders? 
  • Is peacebuilding based on technical knowledge or does it really rest on a capacity for reflective practice? 
  • Should peacebuilders focus on short-term interventions or long-term engagements? 
  • When teaching others about peacebuilding do we emphasize best practices or adaptive creativity?

Adam Curle - University of Bradford in England, Quaker
  • Biafran War/ Nigeriann Civil War (1967-70)
  • Negotiations betweenn Negeria's General Gowon & Biafrann rebel leaders - reduced post-war reprisals 
  • Book: Making Peace (1971)
Lederach - Eastern Mennonite University and later with Notre Dame in the United States
  • Central America peasant uprisings (1970s-80s): US propped up dictators
Contemporary Conflict Resolution - Oliver Ramsbotham


Journal 2: Conflict Analysis: Tools for Asking Better Questions

7 basic plots - Christopher Booker (2004)
  1. Overcoming the Monster
  2. Rags to Riches/ self-made man
  3. The Quest
  4. Voyage and Return
  5. Comedy
  6. Tragedy
  7. Rebirth
7 analysis tools in this journal
  1. Stakeholder Map
  2. Dugan Nested Model
  3. Simple Stages of Conflict
  4. Curle Model
  5. Lederach Pyramid
  6. Onion
  7. Reflecting on Peace building Practice

#1 Stakeholder Map

  1. Identify issues
  2. Identify stakeholders (more: those who care, those who might eventually enter into the conflict)
  3. Placement (level of direct involvement) & size (power)
  4. Describe relationships
  5. Create your key (book - Working with Conflict: Skills & Strategies for Action - Fisher)
  6. Include yourself (how are you perceived? what power do you have?)
  7. No map is perfect. A good map generates questions.


#2 Dugan Nested Model

  1. Issue-specific Conflict: flashpoint, e.g. a fight
    • Enrollment is down for both schools
  2. Relational Conflict: direct relationships impacted
    • Resentment & hostility because of boys' school's request
  3. Structural (Subsystem): communities/ organizations that we can see rules/ regulations that shape them
    • School leadership, neighborhoods, Archdiocese
  4. Structural (System Level): "isms" - racism, xenophobia, etc.
    • Gender inequality: women alma mater contributed less, Church is male-dominated
    • Racism: White Flight because girl school has a higher non-white percentage
    • Class: choosing higher-quality, easier-transport city schools for boys
      • Boys' school in the suburb had a harder time to recruit city students


#3 Simple Stages of Conflict

Doucet: Formation, escalation, endurance, improvement, transformation

  1. Latent Conflict
  2. Conflict Emergence
  3. Conflict Escalation
  4. (Mutually) (Hurting) Stalemate: neither party thinks it can win without excessive loss, both are suffering from a continuation of fight
    • entered period of ripeness, propitious moment for third party mediation



#4 Curle Model

  1. Latent: conflict hidden, not widely discussed/ known
    1. Education helps move conflict from latent to overt: aware of the conflict, its sources, appropriate means of addressing it
  2. Over: out in the open, awareness of problem increases
    1. Confrontation helps balance power for negotiations/ bargaining
    2. Mobilize others to resist the change
  3. Negotiation: successful negotiation/ mediation lead to restructuring of relationship
    1. Bargaining & conciliation: agree upon resolution, possibility of development
  4. Sustainable Peace: peaceful relationship is one in which, irrespective of balance, the potential of both parties is more easily realized because of the quality of that relationship. Conflicts can be handled in ways that do not disintegrate into violence.
    1. Conciliation: development & restructuring of relationship


*A profound optimism in human potential, despite frequent evidence to the contrary (Woodhouse 4)
  • School conflict moved too quickly to problem-solving phase before balancing power and alter awareness of systemic issues

#5 Lederach Pyramid

  1. Top: official level negotiations between well-known & visible leaders
  2. Middle: civil society actors
  3. Bottom: grassroots, community initiatives
Horizontal work: bring people from same level but representing different parties
Vertical work: connect levels
*All parties have some power --> mobilize for positive change at every level

#6 The Onion

Working with Conflict: Skills & Strategies for Action (2000) - Responding to Conflict RTC organization. Modified by Barnes (adding Goal, Worldviews & values)



  • Positions: Boys' school allowed to go co-ed or not
  • Goals: 
    • Zero-sum: Only X students, either school gets them
    • Mutual: recruit enough to stay open
      • If co-ed is desired: shared classes, co-curricular
      • Girl school support boys' in recruiting non-white
  • Interest: --> Identify-based conflicts
    • Boys: traditional values - ministry to the Church
    • Girls: liberalizing impulse of Vatican II - ministry of the Church to the world

#7 Reflecting on Peacebuilding Practice

CDA Collaborative Learning Projects
  1. Focusing on working with Key People (leaders, influencers) or Many People (larger community)
  2. Trying to change Attitudes & Behavior or Policies & Systems?



    • Why did we not include more people? Fear of loss of confidence/ slow decision?
    • Boys' and girls' schools wanted the other to change their attitude/ behavior.
    • Systemic issues didn't rise to the table.
    • Get to peace with justice by making the conflict worse (bigger, messier, more public, more intensive/ transparent)
    • Yet not enough time for girl school leaders to reshape their identities into movement leaders.
    • In our righteous anger, did we not see we're taking students away from inner-city schools?


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