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Commander Rott: International Peace Missions
Lieutenant Colonel Rott is the Commander of the 24th “infantry” battalion in Lienz (photo by Inasa Bibic)
Upon the arrival from the Native Spirit camp, our participants yesterday spent two three-hour-long sessions with Commander Rott – on the topic of Peace Support Operations.
Lieutenant Colonel Bernd Rott, our lecturer and Commander at the Lienz military camp, started by presenting the war situation in Afghanistan (as a case-study) – through a series of images and stories that were covered by different media channels in this region. His goal was to incite the participants to discover different realities and layers in the war zone by themselves – from who the major players in the war are, to different needs of the population there. What is the story that lies behind an image? (more…)
Introduction to Peace and Conflict VI
Introduction into Transrational Peaces and Elicitive Conflict Transformation
UNESCO Chair for Peace Studies
University of Innsbruck
Wolfgang Dietrich
Elicitive conflict transformation
One of the most important peculiarities of the MA in Peace Studies at the University of Innsbruck is “elicitive” conflict transformation. What exactly does that mean? “Elicitive” refers to extraction of something that is already there. The main idea behind the elicitive conflict transformation is that the energy for transformation is already within the relation of the parties.
Conflict, on the other hand, is the dysfunction in that relation. The problem is NOT in the conflicting parties, but in what is between them. The parties feel uncomfortable with what they have. Peace-makers are there only to help them develop the already existing relation (elicitive) – however, the decision of whether they want to change it remains solely on the parties. Conflict workers are always visitors, and should never become a third party in the relation.
Trans-rational Peaces
transgress the limits of Modernity and Post-modernity. They are rational and so much more: (1) sexual-familial, (2) emotional-communal, (3) mental-societal, (4) spiritual-policital.
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Introduction to Peace and Conflict V
Introduction into Transrational Peaces and Elicitive Conflict Transformation
UNESCO Chair for Peace Studies
University of Innsbruck
Wolfgang Dietrich
Axioms of Trans-rational Peaces
The universe is an interwoven net of connectivity.
There are no “things” but only networks and interrelations.
In nature there exist no static structures.
Peaces are a dynamic equilibrium.
We are energy (Einstein): E = MC²!
That the whole universe is a changing, interconnected structure is a concept that can be found across different disciplines. We are energy, and energy cannot be made or destroyed – only converted, or changed into a different type of energy. The concept of humanity as one living organ is in fact a universal one: from science and Einstein, to the South African humanist philosophy UBUNTU – “I am because we are.” How can this beautiful idea not invite for humanity towards others?
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Introduction to Peace and Conflict IV
Introduction into Transrational Peaces and Elicitive Conflict Transformation
UNESCO Chair for Peace Studies
University of Innsbruck
Wolfgang Dietrich
Postmodern Peaces
Postmodernity does not relate to an epoch but to a state of mind, in which people do not believe in the great narration built upon Hobbes, Descartes and Newton.
The postmodern approach to peaces is largely based on observation – a lot of peace work consists of being present and observing the situation, as well as the parties involved. This in itself can adjust the behavior of the parties, now aware that somebody is watching them.
A Modernist Spaniard Antonio de Nebrija, for example, gave grammar to the world. He came up with the outline of introduction grammar into language, therefore standardizing it as the national treasure – and a tool of controlling. This story will become more relevant later on, but for now, let’s just say that this approach gave the ruler a “weapon” of controlling the people, which also led to the limitation of human meaning within the constructions of language.
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Patterns of Communication
Norbert Koppensteiner
by Norbert Koppensteiner (Program Coordinator of the MA in Peace, Development, Security and International Conflict Transformation at the University of Innsbruck)
Koppensteiner’s workshop on Patterns of Communication in Conflict was focused on “direct communication” – or the face-to-face interaction. He also referred to other types of communication: Dysfunctional Communication Styles (Virginia Satir, one of the founders of humanistic philosophy) and Functional Communication Styles (Marshall Rosenberg). In two blocks (14:00-17:00 and 19:00-22:00), Koppensteiner worked with our participants, both theoretically and practically, in explaining what it means to have a successful communication, and in what ways we can convey that which we wish to convey.
Direct communication, according to Koppensteiner, is the greatest single factor contributing to conflict and its transformation. “The problem is not the problem” – the problem is our way of engaging and communicating in relation to what we think is the problem. Another important factor in this is that people are often not aware that communication processes involve the whole person:
We get to know each other based on our commonalities and grow together because of our differences. – Virginia Satir.
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