Educa&on, urban violence, and youth: exploring pathways or roadblocks for peace in the city

Transcription

1 Educa&on, urban violence, and youth: exploring pathways or roadblocks for peace in the city Introduc*on by dr Joost Monks, Managing Director, NORRAG Authors: Dr Jovana Carapic, Associate Researcher, Small Arms Survey Dr Mieke Lopes Cardozo, Assistant Professor Interna9onal Development Studies, University of Amsterdam

2 Outline and focus of presenta&on 1) the changing nature of violent conflict, from inter- state war, to civil war, to civic conflict in urban sehngs 2) historical and present understandings on educa&on in rela&on to (violent) conflict 3) Making the connec&ons: urbaniza&on, educa&on, and (violent) conflict Urbanisa&on and educa&on Urban violence, (non- ) formal educa&on, and youth Urban youth and civic conflict 4) An emerging agenda for research, policy and prac&ce: youth in violent urban contexts, roadblocks or pathways for peace?

3 Conflict, what is it? Conflict is always present and antagonis&c but is not always violent (Gould, 2003; Rodgers, 2010a). Conflict armed conflict or war Other types of situa&ons: post- conflict environments, cases of socio- poli&cal emergency or fragility, sehngs witnessing high rates of (urban) violence. Under what condi*ons does conflict turn violent? What role for educa&on mi&ga&ng and/or fostering conflcit? 3

4 A younger, more urban world The world is becoming younger 3.1 billion people that are under the age of 25 and more urbanized By 2050, two- thirds of the world s popula&on will be living in ci&es (UN- Habitat 2013) Extremely skewed transi*on nearly 2.7 billion youth are living in the rapidly growing ci&es of La&n America, Africa, and Asia (UN- Habitat 2013; UNDESA, n.d.). slums or favelas adjoining them the beaer off neighborhoods Urban Violence urban youth (and males in par&cular) are not only more likely to be the perpetrators of urban violence, but to also to be vic&ms of it

5 Evolu&on of Violent Conflict Source: Themnér and Wallensteen (2013), p Decrease in inter- state conflict = increase in intra- state conflict? Increase in non- state based conflicts Armed conflict is becoming less lethal Armed conflict is becoming more localized

6 Areas affected by conflict (2009), aaen&on on baale death (more than 1000 deaths/year) 1970s most wars were in Asia By the 1990s, it was Africa Post Middle East Source: Themnér and Wallensteen (2011). A wider conceptualiza&on of violent death ( ) Shii in areas characterized by high levels of lethal violence The trend is expected to con&nue Source: Geneva Declaration Secretariat (2014)

7 Civic Conflict violent expression of grievances (which may be social, poli&cal, or economic) vis- à- vis the state or other actors (Beall et al., 2013) diverse forms of violence such as organized crime, gang warfare, terrorism, religious and sectarian rebellions, or riots two things in common: urban seings, and they do not aim to take control of the state (Beall et al, 2013: 5). Urban violence par&cularly a problem in Central America and La&n America (GBAV, 2011: 70) especially in Brazil, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Jamaica

8 Evolu*on of educa*on in rela*on to (violent) conflict Historically, educa&on has played a key role in the transforma&on of socie&es however, educa&on alone is rarely the panacea for societal and conflict transforma&on paradoxically, the func&oning of educa&on available in violence- struck ci&es may render it to do more harm than good (à nega&ve face). Educa&on s nega&ve face Educa&on s posi&ve face

9 Galtung s violence triangle & Salmi s forms of violence in educa&on Source: Galtung (1969). Source: Salimi, in Seitz (2004).

10 Understanding conflict & educa&on a con&nuum Source: Davies (2006).

11 Urbaniza*on and Educa*on Urban life à educa&onal advantage but in reality à urban fragmenta&on and inequality undermine access to educa&on and training (UNICEF, 2012: 28; GBAV, 2011) Educa*on as key aspect of urbaniza*on educa&on à nurturing genera*ve civic engagement & aarac&ng investment, talent, and innova&on prosperous and produc&ve ci&es (UNICEF, 2012: 28; GBAV, 2011). Nega*ve effects of urbaniza*on on educa*on the rapid influx of popula&on à shortage of (public) schools and well- trained teachers /staff Increase in urban private schools and public- private partnerships à equal access? students as consumers or reflexive ci&zens? undermining of more indigenous no&ons of educa&on, oien derived from rural or indigenous forms of learning

12 Urban Violence and Educa*on Youth are most likely to be perpetrators and vic&ms of urban violence higher levels of homicide tend to occur in urban places that register lower levels of educa&onal aaainment/enrollment (GBAV 2011: ) socio- economic exclusion resul&ng from a lack of educa&on pushes youth towards entering the illicit economy, engagement in delinquent behaviour, and gang membership (GBAV, 2011: 156; Barakat & Urdal, 2009) high dropout rates and school delay in La&n and Central America are seen as key factors leading to the involvement of out- of- school youth in the perpetra&on or other indirect experiences of violence (UNESCO, 2014: 4).

13 Urban youth and civic conflict: roadblocks to peace? Low educa&onal aaainment à exacerbated segrega&on and exclusion à increased grievances à civic conflict But: we need to avoid all too simplis&c views Ø youth bulges armed conflict Ø violence in the city a simple by- product of a large youth popula&on Ø educa&on only solu&on to urban violence Ø lack of educa&on only driver of urban violence

14 Emerging insights: pathways to peace in the city? Educa&on as part of a boaom- up peacebuilding in the city (Jütersonke and Krause, 2013) ü forms of learning as a poten&al part of innova&ve approaches to building peace in the city with a focus on social sectors and social movements moving away from a focus on the state- level, market and security sectors only (liberal peace) ü need to address root causes that drive civic conflict in ci&es à one of the root causes of exclusion, marginalisa&on and frustra&on is a lack of available, accessible, acceptable, and adaptable (Tomaševski, 2004) educa&on ü primary aim of peacebuilding in the city is to foster (non- violent) genera&ve civic engagement or what Davies (2004) would call posi&ve (non- violent) conflict i.e. to transform power and resource (re)distribu&on in the urban environment by encouraging wider socio- economic and poli&cal change that is demanded by younger (and older) genera&ons through (new) forms of educa&on

15 Educa&on, Urban Violence & transforma&on? While acknowledging the need to solve problems quickly there is a need to pay aaen&on to educa&on s loca&on as part of processes that foster and mi&gate violence and to move beyond the no&on of do no harm to do good towards a more transforma&ve approach to educa&on in rela&on to building peace. Source: Novelli, Lopes Cardozo & Smith (2015), PBEA Research Consor&um

16 Educa&on, urban violence and youth: a new agenda for research, policy & prac9ce ü Need for rigorous, longitudinal, evalua&ve data on the role and func&on of (formal and non- formal) educa&on for youth in violent urban sehngs ü More aaen&on should be paid to specific marginalised youth cons&tuencies, including: girls/young women; those with low socio- economic status; disabled popula&ons; ethno- linguis&c- religious minori&es; LGBT; urban (and rural) youth; and those living in situa&ons of armed violence/conflict (UNESCO, 2013; Lopes Cardozo et al, 2015) ü need for serious engagement with youth voice and building on youth- led ini&a&ves ü Aaen&on needed for mul&scalar nature of complex rela&ons between educa&on, social (in)jus&ces and violence (Lopes Consor&um)

17 Thank you Comments are welcome Dr Jovana Carapic Dr Mieke Lopes Cardozo Dr Joost Monks 17

18 References Barakat, B., Urdal, H. (2009) Breaking the waves? Does Educa9on Mediate the Rela9onship between Youth Bulges and Poli9cal Violence?,World Bank Policy Research Working Paper No Available online: hap://econ.worldbank.org/external/default/main? pagepk= &thesitepk=469372&pipk= &menupk= &en&tyid= _ Beall, J., Goodfellow T., and Rodgers D. (2013) Ci&es and Conflict in Fragile States in the Developing World, Urban Studies, 50 (15): Davies, L. (2004) Educa9on and Conflict: complexity and chaos. London: Routledge Falmer. Galtung, J. (1969) Violence, Peace and Peace Research, Journal of Peace Research, 6 (3): Geneva Declara&on Secretariat (2011) The Global Burden of Armed Violence: Lethal Encounter, Cambridge University Press Gould, R. V. (2003) Collision of wills: How ambiguity about social rank breeds conflict. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Jütersonke, O., Krause, K. (2013) Peacebuilding in the City: SeHng the Scene, Brief No. 9. Geneva: Geneva Peacebuilding Pla{orm. Available online: hap:// %20Peacebuilding%20and%20the%20City%20final_1.pdf Lopes Cardozo, M.T.A., Higgins, S., Maber, E., Brandt, C.O., Kusmallah, N., Le Mat, M.L.J (2015), Literature Review: Youth Agency, Peacebuilding and Educa9on, University of Amsterdam, available online: hap://learningforpeace.unicef.org/partners/research- consor&um/research- outputs/ Novelli, M., Lopes Cardozo, M.T.A., Smith, A (2015) A Theore9cal Framework for Analysing the Contribu9on of Educa9on to Sustainable Peacebuilding: 4Rs in Conflict- Affected Contexts. University of Amsterdam, available online: hap://learningforpeace.unicef.org/partners/research- consor&um/research- outputs/ Rodgers, D.( 2010a) Urban violence is not (necessarily) a way of life: towards a poli9cal economy of conflict in ci9es. Working Paper No. 20, World Ins&tute for Development Economics Research. Themnér, L., Wallensteen P. (2013) Armed Conflicts, Journal of Peace Research, 50(4): Tomaševski, K. (2004) Manual on rights- based educa9on: global human rights requirements made simple. Bangkok: UNESCO Bangkok. UNDESA (United Na&ons Department of Economic and Social Affairs ) N.D. World Popula9on Prospects: The 2012 Revision. Available online: hap://esa.un.org/unpd/wpp/unpp/panel_indicators.htm UN- Habitat (2013) State of The Worlds Ci9es, 2012/2013. Prosperity Of Ci9es. New York: UN- Habitat. UNESCO (2014) UNESCO Statement - Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Integra9on Segment on Sustainable Urbaniza9on. Available online: hap:// UNESCO (2013) Educa9on for All Global Monitoring Report: Policy Paper 06: Educa9on for All is affordable by 2015 and beyond. February. UNICEF (2012) The State of The World s Children Children in an Urban World. New York: UNICEF. 18