Peacebuilding Online: Dialogue and Enabling Positive Peace

Description

This study takes the work of transforming violence and conflict online and offers insight into the practice of dialogue in virtual settings for peacebuilding purposes. In the field of peace and conflict studies and peacebuilding practices, a significant amount of literature has dealt with the theory and practice of dialogue in face-to-face settings. This project is unique as it takes the peacebuilding practice of dialogue and explores it within an online context. The research is framed and analyzed through the dialogue theories of Martin Buber and Paulo Freire. This project is distinct in its exploration of the connection between dialogue encounters and positive peace, the practical linkages of which are often difficult to articulate or identify. As such, this book offers unique contributions to the knowledge and understanding of dialogue-based peacebuilding in online settings and provides an understanding of how dialogue practices enable outcomes within the construct of positive peace. This book is aimed at academics as a presentation of research into a relatively unexplored field of inquiry. However, it is also relevant and applicable for peacebuilding practitioners who want to navigate taking their practices into online settings and provide a framework for linking practices to intended positive peace outcomes. Preface References Acknowledgements Contents List of Figures List of Tables 1 Introduction 1.1 Background 1.2 Why Online? 1.3 Research Design 1.4 Reflexivity & Cogitatio 1.5 Book Structure References 2 Positive Peace and Dialogue: A Theoretical Framework 2.1 Positive Peace 2.2 Dialogue Theory Martin Buber Paulo Freire 2.3 Qualities of Dialogue Dialogic Moments and the Sphere of Between Presentness Awareness Authenticity Mutuality 2.4 Dialogue as Humanization 2.5 Dialogue as Transformation Conscientization 2.6 Critiques Positive Peace Theory Dialogue Theory 2.7 Summary References 3 Community-Based Dialogue and Online Peacebuilding Practice 3.1 Dialogue in Peacebuilding Practice Characteristics of Dialogue in Community Peacebuilding Outcomes of Dialogue in Community Peacebuilding Critiques & Limitations of Dialogue in Community Peacebuilding 3.2 Online Dialogue-Based Peacebuilding Online Peacebuilding Models Critiques of Online Dialogue for Peacebuilding 3.3 Gaps 3.4 Summary References 4 Bringing Into 4.1 Introducing the Participants 4.2 “Journey to Soliya” “A Marriage Between Two Worlds” “Try Something New with Different People” “An Experience Issue” “Was Not Voluntary for Me” “Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Little Constructive, Positive Thing” 4.3 “I Expected To…” “The Muslims, the Americans, and Us” “Disagreement Is Natural” 4.4 “The Source of My Knowledge” “Of Course, the Media” “Like a Taboo” 4.5 Cogitatio 4.6 Summary References 5 The Setting 5.1 Connect Program and Characteristics of Dialogue in Community Peacebuilding Encountering Other and Exploring Identity Safe Space Examination of ‘Truth’ Relational Movement 5.2 Program Design: Influencing Factors The Facilitator The Curriculum 5.3 ‘The Water’ “We Thought the Group is Stuck” “An Expression of International Power Dynamics” 5.4 Benefits “There Are No Barriers of Borders, or Religion, or Anything.” “You Can Make It a Very Inclusive Environment” “I Think That This Makes People Brave to Speak” 5.5 Limitations “Technology Tends to Fail Us” “We’re in the Car!” “There Is a Kind of Spirit that You Miss” 5.6 ‘The Setting’ and Positive Peace 5.7 Cogitatio ‘Insider’ Power 5.8 Summary References 6 The Encounter 6.1 Individual in Encounter Distinctiveness “Think About My Identity and My Values and Beliefs” 6.2 The Sphere of Between Presentness Awareness Authenticity Mutuality 6.3 Cogitatio 6.4 Summary References 7 Potentialities 7.1 “New and Beautiful Friends” “Not Friends in Reality.” 7.2 “To See Something Different” “I Never Thought of Myself as…” “These People Are Not Monsters.” 7.3 How’s the Water? “The Circumstances and the Situation and the Differences.” “I Won’t Hold My Tongue.” 7.4 “I Don’t Change Easily” 7.5 Cogitatio 7.6 Summary References 8 The Conditions of Positive Peace 8.1 Positive Peace: The Conditions Condition: Friendship Findings: Friendships & Changed Perceptions Condition: Love Findings: Emergence & Intervention 8.2 Critiques of the Findings Dialogue Without Emergence Emergence Without Intervention Friendships Without Emergence or Intervention Ideal Setting Variations in Potentialities 8.3 Can Online Dialogue Enable Positive Peace? 8.4 Summary References 9 Conclusion 9.1 Contributions to Knowledge 9.2 Recommendations & Future Directions Practice & Policy Future Research Directions References Index