International Fellows' Dialogue Breakfast |
Voices From the Field: Stopping Bloodshed in the 21st Century:
Approaches to Historical Conciliation
Written by Cathi Stewart
Over bagels and coffee on Friday, February 27, 2009, visitors to the International Center for Conciliation (ICfC) engaged in a powerful conversation about modern conciliation efforts with experts from the front line.
The breakfast reception was held to spotlight two of ICfC’s International Fellows who were visiting Boston. Dagmar Kusa and Jina Moore discussed the roles of ethnic identity in conflicts throughout the world. The Fellows shared their observations and experiences from the communities where they have lived, worked, and studied. The event also showcased the unique role of ICfC’s Fellowship program and the extraordinary opportunity for young scholars looking to lead the next generation of the international peacemaking efforts.
According to Anuradha Desai, ICfC’s first Executive Director, the Fellowship program is the core of the Center’s efforts on building peaceful communities. “The Fellows are the intellectual backbone of ICfC,” says Desai. They are also the Center’s eyes, ears, and hands on the ground. Dr. Hillel Levine, the founding president of ICfC envisioned the Fellows Program with a clear desire to offer these young scholars a real responsibility to execute projects in the field. They develop programs and implement techniques in Historical Conciliation. The experience includes leadership and management training and real-world, hands-on experience.
Ms. Desai also talked about the role of the Fellows in the future of ICfC. “We’re ready to ramp up. ICfC is poised to expand its work in all our program areas and to build intellectual networks between conflict “hot spots” throughout the world.” At the center of this intensification, of course, are the Fellows. This summer, ICfC plans to launch a new and improved Fellowship program. The new program will include more systematized recruitment to attract the best scholars in the field, a beefed-up training manual, and the introduction of an all-new “Alumni Network” to provide support for Fellows in the field and innovative collaboration between the best minds in the business of sustainable peacemaking.
And when it comes to the best minds, two of the top were in the room. Ms. Moore, who spends a lot of her time in Rwanda studying national conciliation measures, spoke about the role of identity in post-conflict politics. Moore pointed out that in post-colonial nations; group identity is often a construct, and a rather fluid one at that. Since Rwanda became independent, it has been troubled by conflict between the two major ethnic groups of the area: Tutsis and Hutus. The history between the two groups is long and complex, but in attempts to minimize conflict, the government has assigned great significance to the effects of and changes in ethnic identities throughout post-colonial history.
Ms. Moore’s observations on (constructed) ethnic identity in post-conflict Rwanda picked up global significance in the light of ICfC’s Senior Fellow Dr. Dagmar Kusa’s studies on the role of ethnic identity in multi-generational conflict. Dr. Kusa’s perspective on collective memory starts with her personal narrative. Raised in Slovakia by a family therapist and a human rights activist, young Kusa was surrounded by Slovaks and Hungarians embroiled in conflict. While this conflict was generally not violent, it was clearly a defining factor in the lives of many residents. As she studied political science and the concepts of ethnic identity, Kusa still couldn’t grasp what in ethnicity could bring people to violence. Conventional wisdom couldn’t “explain how people get moved to do things or why.” Dagmar became involved with ICfC due to its devotion to recognize the role of history and collective memory in conflict and conciliation. Collective identity feeds individual identity and provides individuals with security about their place in the world. This sense of security hangs on the validity of that group identity, and individuals will protect it like their own bodies. There is also a great power of emotions that comes attached with these concepts.
But, as Dagmar pointed out, collective identity is fluid and situational. “[E]thnicity does not exist…on it’s own as a thing,” Kusa says, “Ethnicity is being done, it’s an action. As much as it is a cognition, it’s an action. People ‘do ethnicity’ rather than ‘have ethnicity’ and collective memory is crucial in that sense.”
Jessica Bangs, ICfC volunteer, contributed to this article.
To apply for a position of a Fellow/ Senior Advisor to Justice and History Outreach Project in Cambodia, click here