In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

humanities 289 than a century by governments using it to visit manifest injustice on the vast majority of people be transformed into a system that can undo that injustice?' A Russellian question if there ever was one! (JANET AJZENSTAT) Larry Fisk and John Schellenberg, editors. Patterns of Conflict, Paths to Peace Broadview. 222. $22.95 Patterns of Conflict, Paths to Peace aims to introduce readers to the field of peace studies. It is well written and edited, and, unlike many texts on peace and conflict studies, it does not overwhelm the reader with technical jargon. Undergraduates will find the often breezy style of writing engaging. The volume begins with an excellent chapter on the nature of peace studies by Conrad G. Brunk. Brunk tackles important issues such as the arguments for and against devoting a field of study to `peace studies,' and the political and normative implications of such a field. He then introduces some important concepts in peace studies, such as negative and positive peace, conflict and its relationship to violence, and power. Brunk concludes with an overview of various approaches to peacemaking, such as conflict management and conflict transformation. Loraleigh Keashly and William C. Warters have contributed the second chapter, on conflict in interpersonal contexts. Although Keashly and Warters claim to be writing about interpersonal conflict, their observations are relevant to those interested in organizational and international conflict as well. The chapter begins with a useful overview of the theories regarding the sources of conflict. It then surveys different approaches to dealing with conflict, paying particular attention to negotiation and mediation . Keashly and Warters conclude by raising interesting questions about the masculine and Western assumptions embedded in these traditional styles of conflict management. The third chapter, by Alex Morrison, focuses on the role of the United Nations in managing international conflicts. Morrison argues that there should be an umbrella framework for international conflict resolution, and that this framework should be centred upon the UN. Such a framework would require states and individuals to cede greater degrees of sovereignty to the UN. Morrison also compares and contrasts peacekeeping , peacebuilding, and preventative deployment, and argues that the UN must increasingly contract out these activities, as it does not have the resources or the political will to undertake them itself. Jo Vellacott has written the subsequent chapter, on non-violence. The style of this section is rather different from the preceding chapters in that it begins with seven case studies on the use of non-violence, and encourages the reader to raise her own questions and draw her own conclusions. In order to facilitate such critical thinking, Vellacott surveys eight bodies of 290 letters in canada 1999 theory pertaining to non-violence: works by Henry David Thoreau, Leo Tolstoy, Mohandas Ghandi, Catherine Marshall, Dorothy Day, Martin Luther King, Gene Sharp, Ursula Franklin, and various feminist writers. This chapter is innovative in approach, and would stimulate much discussion in an upper-level seminar on the subject. Chapter 5, by Nigel Young, focuses on peace movements. More specifically , it focuses on how we study peace movements. It briefly considers the origins of peace movements, and then moves on to discuss how such movements should be classified. Young points out that peace movements are fluid, changing in composition and intent over time. Such changes make classification difficult. Larry Fisk has written the subsequent chapter on peace education. This chapter grapples with how to best teach `peace studies.' Fisk notes that peace studies is not frequently taught in a formal manner B often in a university classroom, in which the professor's knowledge and experiences are more highly valued than are the knowledge and experiences of the students. Such a setting disregards and devalues indigenous, non-formal, and everyday knowledge. Moreover, it treats peace education as a datagathering enterprise, in which students passively accumulate facts and ideas. Fisk seeks peace through education instead. In such an approach both students and teachers would take part in the learning process. This approach would employ a problem-posing approach, in which participants question and consider real-life problems. The volume concludes with an epilogue in which the authors each express their thoughts after having read the other chapters...

pdf

Share