Maureen P. Flaherty – författare

The profession of peacemaking has been practiced by indigenous communities around the world for many centuries; however, the ethnocentric world view of the West, which dominated the world of ideas for the last five centuries, dismissed indigenous forms of peacemaking as irrelevant and backward tribal rituals. Neither did indigenous forms of peacemaking fit the conception of modernization and development of the new ruling elites who inherited the postcolonial state. The new profession of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), which emerged in the West as a new profession during the 1970s, neglected the tradition and practice of indigenous forms of peacemaking. The scant literature which has appeared on this critical subject tends to focus on the ritual aspect of the indigenous practices of peacemaking. The goal of this book is to fill this lacuna in scholarship. More specifically, this work focuses on the process of peacemaking, exploring the major steps of process of peacemaking which the peacemakers follow in dislodging antagonists from the stage of hostile confrontation to peaceful resolution of disputes and eventual reconciliation. The book commences with a critique of ADR for neglecting indigenous processes of peacemaking and then utilizes case studies from different communities around the world to focus on the following major themes: the basic structure of peacemaking process; change and continuity in the traditions of peacemaking; the role of indigenous women in peacemaking; the nature of the tools peacemakers deploy; common features found in indigenous processes of peacemaking; and the overarching goals of peacemaking activities in indigenous communities.

The twenty-­first century has brought with it a shift from the notion of human security being located in secure national borders to the need to secure the safety, freedom, and dignity of all. Despite efforts to equalize women’s status in the world evidenced by changes in many international projects requiring a gender focus, women and men experience most of the world in very different ways according to gender. Further, the reality is that humans who do not all fall neatly into one of these categories – male or female – often find their lives further challenged.In the 1980s, Peace and Conflict Studies first began to acknowledge and study the different experiences males and females have during war and peace. Since then, there have been books about women and war, women working at grassroots levels to build peace, women and transitional justice, women and peace education, and women’s views of human security. All of these works have contributed to the discourse of our changing world.This book brings together some of those themes and voices and adds more with the final product being more than the sum of its parts. We add to the conversation a book that considers foundational/fundamental issues that span from the interpersonal to the global. Many of the chapters describe empirical research completed with author and community, shared here for the first time. Part One is a collection of case studies, documenting challenges and responses to peacebuilding by women from various parts of the world. Part Two focuses on Peace and Conflict Studies (PACS) as a discipline, examining not only what is, but also what should be taught. This section critiques today’s efforts at teaching Peace and Conflict Studies and provides suggestions of how this important work might be shared in more open and equitable ways. Part Three enters territory found even less in the PACS literature. In this section our authors confront patriarchy, engage in a discussion about the contribution queer theory makes to PACS, and tussle with the notion of inclusivity with considerations of both gender and disability. It then ends with a discussion about the contribution feminist methodologies make to PACS.