Our lives and voices are important to understanding ‘what is peace’, and ‘how we build peace’.

…but our lives are not leading the policy decisions, and voices that are ignored lead to ongoing injustice and violence.

In every place where there is violence, there are people who know what to do and how to build peace. They build the creative places for listening, meeting and changing minds and hearts. They protect others, and create opportunities for dialogue and hope.

The hope that they keep alive, is a radical act of building peace, of not giving in to the darkness. Whilst nonviolence has been largely delegitimised by politics, in using it in communities, people demonstrate it’s power and the necessity of using it to generate change.

When we fail to include the voices of those who are marginalised and harmed, we lose the opportunity for the injustices to be resolved. This happens when the voices of women who have been raped are not included in the making of policy. The injustice they face can be ignored and inadequate steps framed as progress. This happens when we continue our belief that security equates to a strong military but ignores the daily struggles to house, feed and keep families warm.

The centralising of lives and voices humanises us. Nonviolence demands we see others as human and centralises our commonalities and shared experiences. This is directly in opposition to militarism which de-humanises people in order to persuade them to kill, threaten and believe that violence is a solution.

There is no place where the listening to voices and learning about lives will not make us more inspired, more interested in making things better and more hopeful about creating peace…peace in it’s broadest, more complex, beautiful and constantly changing way.

Are you interested in how Peace and nonviolence is used in some of the world’s violent conflicts?

Everyday, around the world, nonviolence is used to save lives and protect people in the midst of violence. The stories and everyday work of unarmed civilian peacekeepers are inspiring and show us the power of peace. We have a unique opportunity to hear from Tiffany Easthom, the Executive Director of Nonviolent Peaceforce, who run projects in South Sudan, Myanmar, Iraq and Syria, protecting people with nonviolence.

Come to Mayroyd Mill House, Mayroyd Lane, HX7 8NS (near the rail station) 5.30pm on Sunday 25th March to hear from Tiffany and how you can help. Donations will be collected for their work.

Enquiries by email to rachel.julian@gmail.com

Nonviolent Peaceforce www.nonviolentpeaceforce.org

My research on civilian peacekeeping has been selected in a new showcase of research at Leeds Beckett University

It’s important we show how locally led initiatives that empower and support people living in the midst of violent conflict. To do more research on civilian Peacekeeping join the Unarmed Civilian Peacekeeping Research Network, to study Civilian Peacekeeping join me on our MA Programme

My next seminar will be on March 14th 2018 3pm at Leeds Beckett University.

If you’re interested in a PhD in Unarmed Civilian Peacekeeping, I have space and opportunity for people to start in October.

Amazing piece and nonviolence speakers are being hosted by Peace Studies at Leeds Beckett in October. If you’ve got questions about peace and peace studies, this is an opportunity to meet, talk, and learn.

Firstly, Marie Power and Maria Stephan are presenting about their work on the joint Vatican/Pax Christi International  initiative on Nonviolence and Just Peace. Marie and Maria are leading international experts on Nonviolence and Resistance. A workshop for students will take place in the afternoon.

They will talk on:

‘Nonviolence Works! An opportunity for the Christian community to engage in creative peacemaking.’ October 3rd 6pm at Leeds Beckett University. You can sign up here.  

Secondly, George Lakey is giving the first Howard Clark Memorial Lecture on Nonviolence. George is a leading activist and educator on Nonviolence and resistance. In his new book he takes a radical view of how we approach division and inequality and the responses we can make.

The lecture is:

“A DIVIDED BRITAIN: WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM THE NORDICS?

George Lakey’s newest book has a provocative answer

In July 2017 Melville House released the paperback of “Viking Economics: How the Scandinavians got it right and how we can, too,” a book that was made “Book of the Week” in 2016 by London Times Higher Education.  The American activist-sociologist George Lakey speaks to the polarization now experienced in both Britain and his own country and predicts that it will become more extreme as inequality heightens.  What he has learned from studying the Nordic countries is that polarization may offer as much opportunity as anxiety. ”

You can sign up here 

Everyone is welcome, including A level or University students, members of peace, justice and other movements, members of the public, and anyone with an interest in nonviolence and social change.

How peace studies helps us build political enquiry in a General Election campaign.

Peace, nonviolence and peacebuilding are underpinned by values of listening, acknowledging the ‘other’ and seeking creative solutions that support everyone to have their needs met. In diverse communities in the UK, countries struggling to reduce violence and those engaged in peace processes, people have worked long and hard to show the importance of dialogue and conversation, of inclusivity, and how to create ways of acknowledging the continued existence and worth of the ‘other’. They do this because we know that these are processes which encourage participation, willingness to build relationships and can lead to long term change. These are the same values we profess to want from politicians.

By contrast, a General Election is typified by politicians, media and political parties wanting to make clear their differences, by creating an ‘us’ and ‘them’. Whilst this is a feature of a the electoral system and political parties want to be seen as separate from one another, it doesn’t mean everyone has to follow. 

The UK is already a conflict ridden country. The very close referendum results on Scottish independence and leaving the EU, the increase polarisation in the media and physical attacks, and increase in inequality all indicate the depth and breadth of the conflicts. The General Election, whatever the outcome, will add to these conflicts. So what do we do?

Firstly, we need to have conversations and understand that everything is more complex than can be explained through an ‘us’ and ‘them’ lens. A contribution of peace studies is to show the complexity, the web, the many perspectives on every problem and issue. The General Election reporting or questioning will be trying to find out the exact policies and differences between parties but we, the people, can refuse to accept that simplicity and we can ask about their alliances (who else do they work with), their perspectives (how have they formed these views), how do they think healthcare relates to education, or how international aid relates to security. We can examine and question their statements in the light of the many existing conflicts – are they likely to bring us solutions to the conflicts, or fan the flames of dissent?

Secondly, change and influence is an uncertain process. Peace studies shows us that where there is conflict there is no single route or path through it, that it exists in cycles, and that everyone plays a part. Peacebuilder John Paul Lederach gives us the concept of ‘critical yeast’ when exploring ways to reduce and transform conflicts. His work has shown him that we need to be alert to the opportunities, conversations or people where the actions may seem small, but they have a huge impact. He uses the idea of yeast because the small contribution of yeast in baking creates a huge change. For example in this General Election time, someone with good community relationships, or a role in the media, or able to connect voters over a single issue may have a disproportionate effect on the campaigns, but yeast needs to be nurtured and have the right conditions to do it’s job. By being open to the uncertainty, being open to nurturing those who can transform conflicts, and being reflective on our own role in how conflict is expressed, we can use the power of uncertainty to 

We are living in a country with high levels of conflict. We don’t have to follow the path of division and we do know how to creatively manage the conflict so that relationships are maintained or built (through talking to one another and accepting our differences). There is no certainty in conflict, regardless of the confidence of the parties, the people who are the yeast that can create dramatic shifts live and work among us – we can nurture and support them.

The first step – to Talk About Politics everywhere. 

If you like listening and talking about politics then offer an hour of your time at the local food bank or community centre as a start.

Dr Rachel Julian

The next 6 weeks – what should we do?
The most radical action you can take right now is ‘Talk About Politics‘.

Talk to those who don’t agree with yours well as friends and colleagues – open the conversation.

Find out what they think as well as telling them what you think. There is great power in conversation. 

Talk about voting – persuade people to vote. Whoever you vote for you are using some political power that has been given to you by the state.

Talk about oppression – how are poor people treated? what do minorities think about politics? Do you think it’s right that some people control all the money? What rights should workers have? Oppression is real and all around us, and talking about it might help us realise what we want the Government to do. It might help you decide what sort of Government you want.

Talk about the NHS – if you want to keep ‘free at the point of use’, then talk about how its’ being sold off. Talk to workers in the NHS and find out what they think they need from a Government.

Talk about education – What do our schools need, what do our teachers think…and what do our children know about General Election.

Talk about security and the arms trade – Are you happy with us keeping nuclear weapons, with selling arms to regimes that kill their people or neighbours? What security would like us to have?

Talk in the work clubs and the community centres – what do you think the General Election is about, what do you care about. Any idea how to make your views clear to politicians. Invite people in, get cups of tea brewing and a safe place to talk.

Talk in the food banks – is everyone registered to vote – does everyone even know there is going to a be a General Election? 
For the next 6 weeks we are living in a political space. The decisions we make on June 8th will have a big effect on us for decades to come. Giving people the information to make a decision is one of the most powerful and radical acts we can do today.

This is a time when party political messages will dominate the media…but real people – us – have real concerns, the things that affect our daily lives, and through talking with one another we will share them, and find out that other people feel just as interested, frustrated, inspired, tired, thoughtful, questioning or fearful as ourselves…and there is power in that sharing.

Why is a conversation going to help?

The political elites (including media) will try to restrict the topics and the issues that we talk about – but it’s not just Brexit and the economy. The everyday things in our lives are part of this General Election as well – the NHS, the need for social welfare benefits, security and nuclear weapons, education – the funding and the value of teachers.

Talking, discussion, sharing our views about politics is something that we are discouraged from doing. In the 1970’s when women started sharing experiences about their lives they created a movement and a momentum that changed the social structures of the UK – People talking together creates power and changes the way we live.

Let’s put oppression in the conversation. Let’s make the UK a political space.

Let’s ‘Talk About Politics’

Dr Rachel Julian

Senior Lecturer in Peace Studies, Leeds Beckett University

Oxford Research Group invited me to write a short article on Unarmed Civilian Peacekeeping for their ‘Sustainable Security’ programme.

You can find the article here sustainablesecurity.org

November 2016

We are curious to find out what we can learn about conflict and peace through culture…what does it look like if we start from the clothes we choose to wear, the films we make, the music we listen to and the places we memorialize? In Myanmar we are finding multiple conflicts which look different across the country, the complexity is mind-blowing, and in the future I will be reading reports of ceasefires and agreements with a new understanding. 
Culture can be the everyday meaning we give to the way we construct our world. Our thinking today has been on the importance of narrative – what is the story which is being told? We have been asking (others and ourselves) ‘how did you first know about conflict, whatever that may mean to you’. We hear messages and stories from our parents, elders, teachers, media and friends – sometimes these become narratives – a message so powerful that we accept it as true. These narratives can tell us that there is an ‘other’ someone or some group who is different to us, or has characteristics we don’t like, or who can even threaten us. The narrative runs in our head and affects our attitudes and behaviour….which then can contribute to conflict. 

The overall narrative that ‘going to a war is a heroic act’ (different to the reality that we know, which is that war is horrific) is prevalent in most societies and one accepted by many and used to support violent intervention and the arms trade. What we’re learning about the importance of narrative is not just revelation to direct violence, but is making me think about the politics in the UK (and now the USA). I am wondering how much the UK Leave campaign and the Trump campaign used narrative to win – how much is politics is now about the stories you tell, not the facts or policies you propose.

Here in Myanmar the narratives are as strong as they are in the U.K., and just like in the U.K. there are many who are creatively challenging them and creating new narratives about the importance of peace.

Life is certainly lived on the streets in Yangon. Food stalls, markets, books, teashops and meeting people all happens as you walk along the busy and crowded streets. As well as stray dogs, bicycles and lots of cars! I walk through these streets and travel the roads as we go to meet those who are willing to share stories about living here. I am meeting with local people who work for peace in different ways and listening to them talk about their lives and their work. 

We have met a storytelling organisation who write and produce books for children about peace, friendship and tolerance. They send them out to children and libraries and schools so they can think and discuss about the way we want to live with other people. Some children have written their own illustrated stories about peace and conflict. We have met some amazing artists who use their skills and work to talk about peace, who sing about peace, organise festivals and are making magazines where people can discuss their hopes and visions.
I am struck by the huge change that people living here have faced. The difference that in Yangon they can now organise for a peace in a way which was not possible, before means that the people we meet are talking about different kinds of conflict and violence and how it affects their lives.

It is so interesting and I am learning so much from people, and about the ways in which violence and conflict and peace are present in our everyday lives.

Thursday 10 November