| World peace seems ever more elusive these days with the war in Iraq worsening daily, the conflict between Palestinians and Israelis escalating and the so-called War on Terrorism now replacing the Cold War.
There’s plenty of work for those wanting to wage peace instead of war. Peace researchers from around the world will be converging in Calgary from June 29 to July 3 at an International Peace Research Association to share their insights and ideas on how to make the world a less violent, warlike place. It’s only the second time in the association’s 42-year history that it has held a conference in Canada.
"It’s a real opportunity for Calgarians and Albertans and Canadians to… see how much solid education and action and research is going on in other parts of the world and to appreciate that there are some amazing things happening in other countries that we can take some hope from and give some support to," says Larry Fisk, a retired professor of peace and conflict studies at Mount Saint Vincent University.
"Our common human future is dependent on finding ways to resolve conflicts, to move beyond that and to appreciate the importance of non-violence, which calls for great dedication."
The conference, which is open to the general public, includes plenary sessions on topics like peace and the environment, violence prevention and peace building, security "with a human face," and peace journalism. It will also include speakers such as Martin Luther King III, who has dedicated his life to furthering his father’s legacy and Shall Sinha, an expert on Mahatma Gandhi’s teachings of non-violence, who impersonates Gandhi during his presentations.
"We’re making a point of inviting the public to participate and to register and attend sessions. This is not just some kind of elitist academic thing…. We’re saying if you’re interested in some of these subjects, come and register for a day," Fisk says, adding that people will be able to learn about how to resolve conflict in their individual lives as well as how to promote peace on the world stage.
Fisk is hoping the conference will also help encourage Calgarians to celebrate our ethnic diversity and to focus on building bridges between communities.
"This city is fresh and young enough to learn ways of inter-ethnic co-operation and respect and appreciating, welcoming, celebrating cultural diversity and ethnic diversity," he says.
Majid Tehrarian, director of the Institute for Global Peace and Policy Research, will speak at the conference about the need for peace journalism. He describes it as journalism that provides a historical context for a conflict, presents all sides and doesn’t just focus on bloodshed, but also investigates the possibilities for peace.
Tehrarian says there’s currently a lot of journalism where journalists "portray one side as a goodie and another side as a baddie and take sides," and there’s also "muddled" journalism, which he describes as journalism that doesn’t pay attention to context or educating the audience about the genesis of the conflict.
He says it’s particularly important for journalists to not just report on what governments are saying, but also report on ordinary people caught up in the conflict.
"The idea is to report on all sides. When two elephants fight, the grass gets hurt. So report on the grass and tell people that. It’s a more complex way of reporting on conflicts," he says.
Tehrarian says a lot of journalism today is "motivated by revenues or by jingoistic, nationalistic motivations, so it demonizes one side of the conflict, one side is the paragon of virtue. It dramatizes the conflict into good and evil and then publicizes it." He says such journalism can "exacerbate" an already ugly conflict.
For more information on the conference go to http://ipra2006.com. |
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