Reflections

By Pushpa Iyer, Director

The field of conflict studies teaches us that there can be no peace without justice being served. It suggests a variety of ways in which justice may be delivered to victims of violence once a conflict has been resolved. Understanding the complexities of justice can come from the study and review of the many cases of post-violence societies. Even more effective would be to speak to victims of conflict. Ideally, we learn that justice must be negotiated between victims and upholders of justice.

An extension of this is social justice, which is based on principles of equality and human rights for all. Social justice involves ending all forms of structural violence. Social justice is a difficult concept to grasp for some future conflict resolvers. The primary difficulty comes from trying to find ways to reconcile a neutral conflict resolver with an activist conflict resolver who can take a position and, if necessary, take sides.

In an earlier issue (Vol. 2 Issue 1) I discussed the difficulties of teaching and learning neutrality. Now comes an opposite difficulty: that of learning the importance of advocating for social justice in order to bring about positive peace, for which we need to be anything but neutral. Johan Galtung defines positive peace as more than the absence of violence: it requires the correcting of structural imbalances in society. However, in advocating for social justice, how do we know to negotiate around cultural and moral relativity? Should one accept justice as utilitarian, where some must sacrifice their freedom for the greater good of all? Either way, delivering social justice in an attempt to build peace in any society requires taking a stand on issues. And in order to take a stand, one needs to be free of all cultural and moral trappings and very certain about one’s ethical values.

An interesting example of conflicts that generate these conversations in class is when discussions center around the discrimination of marginalized communities such as women or religious and ethnic minorities. In my experience, I find that these discussions quickly turn to outrage against injustices committed against some marginalized communities in some cultural contexts. This outrage often comes from an assumed morally superior standpoint that is often not very well-informed or helpful in translating into action.

Having and acknowledging ethical values will help one to take a critical stance, irrespective of culturally moral arguments. Ethical values are acquired over a person’s lifetime through a wide variety of experiences, and cannot be taught or learnt in a traditional classroom. In order to have experiences that challenge or build on one’s values, it is important to get real-life knowledge of the world, to meet both perpetrators and victims of injustice. It is important to move beyond that outrage to think strategically about what action must be taken to seek justice for victims. Not only that, but it helps articulate one’s stand in terms that do not polarize those who are already in the midst of a conflict.

Another important aspect for conflict resolvers in advocating for social justice is the need to overcome fear: the fear of becoming vulnerable due to taking a stand, fear of becoming a target of future attacks, fear of being challenged about one’s ethical values, and fear of taking on the powerful. This leads me to conclude that one can only be as strong as one’s passion is for a particular issue – again, something that cannot be taught or learnt. And once again, as I have highlighted in a previous issue, courage is the X-Factor that conflict resolvers must possess.

A final important aspect for conflict resolvers seeking social justice is the ability to persevere. Perseverance and staying committed to the cause is key. Social injustices are usually deeply rooted in societal structures and it takes years, in fact decades, for change to happen. The inability to persevere on an issue for a prolonged period of time and to instead seek quick solutions will invariably contribute negatively to the existing injustices.

The field of conflict studies has evolved enough to include advocating for social justice as an important task of the conflict resolver. By initiating discussions on all of these aspects in the classroom, the potential conflict resolver will be more aware when experiencing real world injustices through the lives of the people amongst whom they work. Hopefully, this will lead them to be more passionate, courageous, and ethical in persevering and pursuing social justice.