Education, Peace & Social Justice in Conflict- Affected Contexts: Beyond Negative Peace and Peace Education Keynote Prepared for the Georg Arnhold Symposium on Sustainable Peace 2015 Education and armed conflict in sub-saharan africa October 29-30, 2015 New York, USA Professor Mario Novelli Centre for International Education (CIE) University of Sussex, UK
6 November, 2015
Critique of the Global Governance of Education and Peacebuilding 1. Education is largely marginalised from UN and International Community led peacebuilding approach (Security Peace vs. Social Peace) 2. When education is featured in mainstream PB/Security it is reduced to DDR, counter-insurgency, or more recently De-Radicalisation (Pacification Agenda) 3. Education Sector s major engagement with conflict issues is through peace education (orthodox approach individualises violence, blames victims, avoids structural underpinnings of war & peace) 4. Broad education approach of International Actors in education is mish-mash between neoliberal/rights based agenda (efficiency over justice/equity, generic over context & conflict based policy) 5. Obstacles are technical, financial, intellectual, political, institutional Outcome of the above processes undermines education s potential to promote peace with social justice, avoids addressing structural inequalities, supports a neo liberal security peace in education & beyond
Outline 1. Background to education/conflict/peacebuilding 2. Security vs. Social Peace & Education therein 3. Education: Between Peace Education and Neoliberal Reform 4. PBEA, the 4 Rs & opening up potential of education for PB 5. The Challenges: Technical, Intellectual, Political, Institutional
1.Background to Practice & Research In Education, Conflict & Peacebuilding Since 1990 Jomtien Education For all Conference, there has been a global push to promote access to education, particularly at basic level In 2000, EFA follow-up meeting. Half of the world s out-of-school children live in conflict-affected countries (2013/4 EFA Global Monitoring Report). In parallel we saw post-cold War increase in UN humanitarian interventions, which meant Education (and humanitarian and development assistance) was being delivered in contexts of conflict rather than around the borders During this period we have seen increased international development assistance directed towards conflict affected contexts Since 2000 we have seen a series of initiatives: INEE Minimum Standards; UNICEF PBEA; INEE/USAID conflict sensitivity; PEIC, GCPEA Since 9/11, interest has expanded beyond war affected states to low level violence, gang violence, extremism and de-radicalisation
1.Education, Conflict & Peacebuilding: As a Field of Practice & Research - Research on the role of education as both catalyst and obstacle (education for peace and for war) Bush & Salterelli, Davies, Smith etc - Research on attacks on education and their effects- O Malley, Novelli, HRW - Governance, Policy and implementation of education in conflict settings (education for refugees, IDPs, safe schools, finance, governance etc). Papers and toolkits UNICEF, INEE, UNESCO, Third area has driven the research, lack of independent and critical research engagement
2. Mainstream Peacebuilding and Education: Post Conflict & Negative Peace Security first (negative peace) Political (establish, liberal democracy, multiparty elections, accommodate elites) Economic (free market reforms) Social development, often not a priority Negative Peace But does little to address root causes Education not seen as a core priority Education policy makers marginalised form broader peacebulding engagements & processes Education seen as something that can wait until later Little funding and support from PBSO, PBF etc Some emphasis around DDR (TVET and Speed Schools) - often framed around male youth security threat
3. Does Education matter, in relation to war & peace? Education is a core public service/good and at the heart of most social contracts between citizens & the state Many armed non-state actors mention education in foundational statements (RUF, SPLM; FARC:EP; ELN) as a demand, and draw on popular education as a mechanism for building identity/ideology Education can often be a driver of war (alienates, marginalises, excludes) Education can be a target of war (attacks on education have become a common act of war) Education systems can promote peace (through curriculum, through equity and inclusion, through promoting skills and training, through breaking down barriers between groups) Education systems can promote reintegration, (training, speed schools, TVET)
3. Peace Education & Depoliticisation Long tradition of peace education within education community Dominant mode of PE rooted in idealistic tradition as opposed to intellectual, ideological, political approaches (see Bajaj, 2005) Dominated by schools of thought focussing on inter-personal and psycho-social (contact theory) and classroom based: - Putting people together can bring peace Avoids exploration of education systems contribution to war/peace Often tends to blame victims Often overly generic/avoiding particularities of context
3. Between Negative Peace & Peace Education Education & Educators marginalised from mainstream peacebuilding Draw on broader global education policy resources (post-1990 Jomtien/Dakkar agenda) UPE, PPPs, Decentralization, SBM, CCP dominated by economics of education often aggravate inequalities/differences Weak on Nation Building/Social Cohesion Often very generic un-related to conflict/context issues Between the two, there is a tendency to reinforce a negative peace, a neo-liberal peace, a peace that does not begin to address the social injustices that underpin conflicts.
4. Beyond a Liberal Peace to a Peace with Social Justice UNICEF PBEA (peacebuilding, Education & Advocacy) programme, operates in 14 conflict affected countries, promoting peacebuilding and education policies and practice, emergent from national conflict analysis UNICEF PBEA Research and 4 Rs Framework (Novelli, Lopez-Cardozo, Smith, 2015) Research underway in Pakistan, South Africa, Myanmar, Kenya, South Sudan, Uganda Core Argument: 1. A more sustainable approach to peacebuilding places an emphasis on social development that addresses underlying causes of conflict such as political, economic and social inequalities and injustices. 2. Education has a significant contribution to make to sustainable peace building by contributing to political, economic, environmental, social and cultural transformations within conflict affected societies 3. Transformation is defined in terms of education policies and programmes that promote redistribution (equity), recognition (of diversity), representation (engagement) and reconciliation (dealing with grievances and injustices both the drivers of and legacies of conflict)
4. Sustainable Peacebuilding in Education: An Analytic Framework Recognition of diversity in the structures, processes and content of education in terms of gender, language, politics, religion, ethnicity, culture and ability in conflict transformation Addressing the legacies of conflict Transitional justice,, Truth, Justice, Reparations Developing social cohesion Building new relationships of trust Ensuring equitable participation In decision making Developing a Democratic and participatory culture Right to organise, protest, engage with decisions that effect them
5. Challenges to a greater and more progressive role for education in post-conflict environments Technical, Financial, Intellectual, Political, Institutional: - Victors peace and the balance of national social forces (SL & TRC) - International Community & stabilisation vs. transformation - Temporal short term focus of peacebuilders vs. long term PB needs and education reform slow speed - Education s position vis-a-vis other sectors - Hegemony of Human Capital thinking versus more holistic approaches to education (social cohesion/identity/justice) - Capacity of education personnel to see and implement a broader vision for education policy and practice beyond EIE
Education s Role in Peacebuilding In 2015, the world is faced with huge political, environmental, military, social challenges (rising inequality, migration, wars, climate change) Education systems can be part of the problem or the solution to all these things Lets join together for progressive, socially just, development policies and public education systems that bring people together rather than drive them apart.. 6 November, 2015