From Pacification to Peacebuilding - book review
From Pacification to Peacebuilding: A Call to Global Transformation
By Diana Francis
Pluto Press, 2010, 193 pages (paper),
Reviewed by Richard Deats
Diana Francis, British Quaker and former president of the International Fellowship of Reconciliation, is that rare combination of careful scholar and committed activist who is certainly one of the premier leaders in the growing field of conflict resolution and peacebuilding. Her previous books, People, Peace and Power (2002) and Rethinking War and Peace (2004) and this one, From Pacification to Peacebuilding, establish her importance as a thinker whose scholarship is grounded in work in areas of conflict in many places in the world. Her visionary perspective was in evidence in the 15 years she served as chair of the Committee for Conflict Transformation Support.
Francis challenges the reader to think deeply and radically in dealing with the harsh and difficult areas of conflict in the world today. We must be more than firefighters rushing from scene to scene: the violence and militarism that beset us must be uprooted. Pacification only perpetuates the structures of domination. Francis calls for nothing less than “changing the political, social and ideological contexts in which we live and work …. We must ensure that we are not co-opted into an agenda founded on values very different from our own, and do everything in our power to change those values and the systems that embody them.” Only such a radical approach is sufficient for the crisis facing humanity today.
In most thinking about long-standing, hardened conflicts, one usually hears that one side or the other is incapable of understanding anything but brute force, and that peace can only come through defeat of “the enemy.” But, counsels Francis, “The theory (and I believe the reality) of conflict transformation is that the process of negotiation, when it is conducted in a respectful and cooperative atmosphere, can tap into the humanity of the military leaders who are involved and transform their relationships through some kind of political accommodation. How long will it be before the recognition that this is so will lead to acknowledgement that there is a need also to use a conflict-resolution approach with those labeled as terrorists, or at least with the communities from which they come?”
Drawing on her long experience in the women’s movement, the author comments, “There is a global women’s movement that refuses to see strength and autonomy as male prerogatives, and that brings a different energy into the world of civil action for change, whether that is focused on the human rights of liberty and participation, on economic justice, on environmental protection, or on ending the wars that threaten all of these. This all-too-slow but still considerable and exciting shift brings new energy, perspectives and possibilities.”
The concluding chapter of this profound book is labeled “Agenda for Humanity.” Francis says that we need a new political movement that advances peaceful relationships and processes, economic well-being, environmental protection, and democracy. She sees the seeds for change already taking root: global solidarity and the power of humanity point us to the future. This book deserves wide reading and discussion.
Richard L. Deats is editor emeritus of Fellowship magazine.
