To a culture of peace
from a culture of war
Peace is many things, from human security to
equality, but at its heart lies a culture; a culture
based on people, acceptance and dialogue.
This was the view advanced today by various participants at the first day of the Nobel Women’s Initiative conference here in Belfast.
If we see peace as a culture - one that is at once
deeply personal and also transnational in its
reach -it follows that the process of
deconstructing the ubiquitous culture of war
must be an aspect of moving beyond militarism
to a nonviolent world.
'we need to build another culture that supports peace and which refuses conflict, violence and
revenge...there is no way to build without
challenging bad customs and traditions.'
‘customs and traditions’. Indeed speakers today demonstrated that the culture of war is more like
a mangrove that takes root in our everyday lives
and institutions and, in doing so, comes to
occupy a dominant position in the field of
cultural reproduction. Culture is, of course, also
deeply linked to identity.
The way in which conflict everywhere targets
young men –and especially ‘alienated’ young
men. At the place in the UK since
the coldblooded slaughter of a soldier named
Lee Rigby on a street in London.
‘For someone who has lived in 14 years of war
I was shocked by the boldness with which
those young men took to the streets
and killed someone’.‘lslamites, gangs, the EDL
(English Defense League)-all target alienated
young men’. 'the very notion of masculinity has
been bastardized to the extent that in their code,
power and respect can only be achieved through intimidation and fear’. The key problem is also-in
part-one of masculinity.
War necessitates and reproduces a type of masculinity, that is prepared to go and fight –and even kill- for something. Dominant models of masculinity, in turn, commonly draw on a militarised idea of the nation. Simply perpetuated one violent masculinity after the other. But why is it,that most have viewed this episode through the lens of the nationalist identifications
which reproduced it rather than a woman on a nearby bus who got off to talk to the perpetrators one-to-one, advising them that it was unwise to ‘start a war’?
The militarization of everyday life. That the culture
of war pervades both countries experiencing
conflict and those experiencing relative peace on
their streets such as England was demonstrated
in a number of examples given today of
the militarization of everyday life, from popular
culture to education. It needs to tackle not only
violence and war, but the ‘glorification thereof’.
‘What the hell are those on active military duty
doing in Hollywood movies?’
Why is the Pentagon offering its machinery
of war to make Hollywood films more ‘realistic’?
Another field in which the culture of war is
reproduced, is that of education. In a breakout session on “Demilitarizing Education”, participants spoke
about the militarization of education both in countries where there is obligatory military conscription,
such as Israel, and in those where individuals are
invited and incentive to ‘sign up’, like in the US and
the UK. The education system in Israel is segregated along religious lines. As such, children are ‘trained’
for the military using different strategies in a way
that comes to reinforce identity politics.
The way in which militarism seeps into education is
also linked to the way in which gender identities are taught.Gbowee spoke critically about the way in
which her child had been taught that ‘daddies work’
and mummies in her native Liberia. She concluded: ‘children are being taught patriarchy and militarism
in a very mild form. How do we step into their world?’
Moving forward: towards a culture of peace
The culture of war is already being deconstructed
and replaced by a culture of peace.
Peacejam is a project that connects young people
in over 7 countries to work for justice in their
community and to address questions of identity and difference. Another educational initiative
which seeks to educate young people in a culture
of peace is Peace Boat, a Japanese educational organisation that works with students and activists
from conflict areas including Israel and Palestine,
India and Pakistan, Belfast, Colombia and the Balkans.
Explaining why she became involved in the project, Jasna Bastic, International Coordinator for Peace Education Programs, explained, ‘I grew up in
Sarajevo, Bosnia. I witnessed how the army can
change young men; what it means to get a union
or a sniper in the hand and a machine gun.
How it can twist the mind of the most optimistic
positive person in the world...we had cinema, boyfriends, summer holidays, music, optimism,
lots of ambitions for the future and that was gone
in a second. A big challenge of my life was how
that happened. A war dosen’t happen overnight.
I was interested in the structure of the military
mind and how to fight against it’.
These are not just examples, but methodologies of making a culture of peace. Indeed the first day of
the conference demonstrated the vast array of nonviolent tactics, syllabuses, movements and strategies for peace. It also demonstrated
the integrity and diversity of the peace movement.
Whilst ‘we’re very good at building the picture and building the map that has the potential to subvert
the tyrannies of our day. It’s the disconnect’.
Part of the next stage in tackling this ‘disconnect’
is perhaps,‘to tackle the denigration of those who
work for peace’. This means the practical work of continuing to protect human rights defenders on
the ground from death and violence. It also means continuing to elevate the culture of peace. Through events such as these, we can occupy the position currently occupied on our TV screens, buses, radios, schools and streets by the culture of war. We can
move from a culture of war to a culture of peace.
written by Jennifer Allsopp
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