While I earlier posted about neoliberalism and economic structure opening new markets for environmentally friendly products that will propagate strong environmental action, I feel compelled to present the ‘other’ argument. The one that argues that nature holds dignity and needs to be viewed through value-based outlook. So here it is. Climate change presents us an […]
Last two weeks of the Summer Peacebuilding Program have been a whirlwind of knowledge, experiences and personal growth. As I continue to figure and process the information that I am fortunately being provided with, I am starting to make connections and links to my area of study, which is Environmental Action. One particularly interesting session […]
The last week of lectures and activities were in all in one way or another related to justice, reconciliation and restoration. Approaching these subjects from so many different angles naturally made me reflect on my own experience that I had with the ICC last fall.The world of international justice was in all honesty a complete […]
I’ve been egging to write this blog post for longer than a week now. Unfortunately, an airline (not to be named) has lost my luggage for a while so I wasn’t able to access my laptop, but salvation is finally upon me. Anyway, here it goes. The words macro and micro describe the lens used […]
As we came up the windy path to the center, my car sickness quickly subsided as we entered the gates into this heavenly place in the mountains: we are lucky enough to call this home for the next 5 days. Of course, we all made the connection quickly: to study peacebuilding and discuss the topics […]
Dr. Christopher Mitchell’s two-day lecture on the topics of reconciliation, restoration, restitution and translation justice was very informative and valuable. I learned the impacts of these processes on the different parts of the world which previously encountered episodes of war and violence. The lecture also gave me the right tools to reflect on my personal […]
Dr. Mitchell’s talks with us about reconciliation and transitional justice were quite moving. I quickly found myself curious and then a bit determined to learn more about the process of reconciliation in a post-agreement environment. Through several case studies of violent conflicts, I kept on looking for some sort of “formula,” like a “how-to” guide […]
Earlier in the program, Paolina commented briefly on the impact of Reagan’s “War on Drugs.” Her comment made me consider how we think and talk about distribution and purchasing power of drugs. Typically, one hears about those that are distributing and selling drugs and associated violence, but we often forget about those that purchase and […]
Dr. Christopher Mitchell, a renowned historian and voice of influence in the scholarship on reconciliation, in our session on reconciliation warned us that no one says that this is going to be easy. He soberly and impactfully regaled us with long and painful tales of unimaginable horror, before prompting us to think about substantial efforts […]
A lot of people in our class have blogged about our couple days of focusing on gang violence in the local area. I believe that the visit to the Salinas Valley State Prison plus our talks with Salinas Police Chief Kelly McMillin and those about Ceasefire brought out a lot of emotions and opinions about […]
