TWO-DAY REGIONAL WORKSHOP

CONCEPT PAPER

TWO-DAY REGIONAL WORKSHOP
THEME: CONFLICT TRANSFORMATION AND THE CHALLENGE OF PEACE*
DECEMBER 6-7, 2010

ORGANIZED BY: PROGRAM ON PEACE STUDIES AND CONFLICT RESOLUTION,
DEPARTMENT OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS, UNIVERSITY OF KARACHI IN COLLABORATION WITH HANNS SEIDEL FOUNDATION, ISLAMABAD.

ABOUT DIR KARACHI AND HSF

Department of International Relations, University of Karachi
The Department of International Relations at the University of Karachi is the oldest and the biggest Department in the field of International Relations in Pakistan. The Department was established in 1958 and has the honor of offering Bachelors of Studies (BS) and Masters of Studies (MS) programs. Since its inception, the Department of International Relations has been active in organizing seminars, conferences and workshops. A number of books and reports have also been published under the Department and several research projects funded by foreign and national foundations have been completed. The syllabus of the Department was revised in 2008 and new courses focusing on the conceptual and regional studies have been offered. In 2008, the Department signed MoU with the UN mandated University of Peace Costa Rica to start MS in Peace and Conflict Studies. Under the Department, Program on Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution is functioning since the year 2000 (www.ppscr.org).

The Department of International Relations
Faculty of Arts
University of Karachi, Karachi, 75270

Hanns Seidel Foundation

“In the service of democracy, peace and development” – Since its establishment on April 11, 1967, the Hanns Seidel Foundation has been practicing political education work with the aim of supporting “democratic and civic education of the German people with a Christian basis” – as the foundation’s statues say. Hence, the political education work of the Hanns Seidel Foundation is based on the human ideal that includes free personality development and autonomy as well as social responsibility and solidarity. Today, this mission is more important than ever, since requirements for more autonomy, a new “culture of independence” and an “active society of citizens” are increasingly evolving.

Based in Munich, Germany, the Hanns Seidel Foundation is a state-financed, non-profit and political foundation committed to promoting the values of humanism through educational activities. We are represented in more than 65 countries worldwide providing specific country-based projects. Its offices in Pakistan was founded in 1985 and has since then implemented numerous educational activities.

F-6/3, Margalla Road 34
Islamabad Pakistan
Tel: +92 (51) 8438095
Fax: + 92 (51) 8356079
Islamabad@hss.de
www.hsf-pak-afghan.org

INTRODUCTION

According to a renowned practitioner of conflict transformation (CT), JP Lederach “conflict transformation must actively envision, include, respect, and promote the human and cultural resources from within a given setting. This involves a new set of lenses through which we do not primarily see the setting and the people in it as the problem and the outside as the answer. Rather we understand the long-term goal of transformation as validating and building on people and resources within the setting.” Kumar Rupensinghe, an icon in the field of conflict resolution and early warning examines CT in the context of “peace building at the grassroots’ level and across the parties at the civil society level.” He views conflict transformation “as a broad approach incorporating conflict resolution training and Track 1 interventions including diplomatic interventions and peacekeeping.”

The field of conflict transformation, although in its formative phase as compared to conflict management and resolution became a source of attraction because it tries to understand and examine change(s) in the shape of conflict and scope of its peace resolution.

In the last thirty years or so, conflict transformation emerged as a useful technique in the developed world for primarily studying the changing nature of conflicts in various developing countries. Relevant both for the study of inter and intra-state conflicts, conflict transformation is different from conflict management and resolution. While conflict management tries to control and regulate the intensity of violent conflict and conflict resolution aims to terminate the state of conflict, the theory of conflict transformation ties to analyze a conflict from sociological, political, economic and other perspectives. Conflict transformation can have positive and negative connotations. A conflict can transform from peaceful to a deadly conflict and vice-versa. What is important to know is how the process of conflict transformation takes place and to what extent if monitored properly by the practitioners of conflict resolution, one can expect change in the interests, attitudes, actors and their roles in a conflict situation. Certainly, transformation of a conflict means there are some underlying currents which cause a major change in the nature of conflict.

There are so many examples to examine how the process of conflict resolution led to either aggravation or resolution of a conflict. Conflict in South Africa which caused enormous bloodshed witnessed transformation when there was a change in the attitude, approach, thinking and role of the white community leading to the dismantling of apartheid. Yet, in post-apartheid South Africa, one can observe the transformation of race conflict into conflict of interests within the black community. In Pakistan, the Sindhi-Mohajir conflict saw marked transformation when overt hostility, antagonism and violence which remained quite obvious for a long period of time changed and ethnic conflict between the two communities of Sindh became relative accommodative and peaceful. Likewise, conflict in Balochistan has also witnessed transformation from a low intensity to high intensity conflict.

In view of the importance and scope of conflict transformation, a two-day workshop to examine in depth conceptual and practical aspects of CT, a two-day regional workshop is being held by the Department of International Relations, University of Karachi in collaboration with the Hanns Seidel Foundation, Islamabad.

Mission statement

The rationale of holding two-day regional workshop on Conflict Transformation and the Challenge of Peace is to enter into a meaningful discourse on the conceptual, theoretical dimensions of CT and relate it to the South Asian conflict predicament.

Objectives

To examine the emergence of CT as a field of study.

To contribute significantly in the field of conflict transformation by examining in depth important factors which shape CT.

To examine the difference between CT, Conflict Management and Conflict Resolution.

To discuss the gaps in the conceptual and theoretical paradigms of conflict transformation.

To examine the application of CT in the context of inter and intra-state conflicts in South Asia.

To publish the findings of the workshop in the form of a book.

How such objectives could be achieved?

The proposed workshop will be first of its kind in Pakistan and it will contribute significantly in creating a better understanding as far as the field of conflict transformation is concerned. More so, the objectives mentioned above will be achieved by following an incremental approach by systematically discussing the themes of the workshop and then by presenting the findings in a panel discussion.

Questions

What is conflict transformation and how it evolved as a field of study?

To what extent, conflict transformation helps the conflict resolution practitioners in seeking a better understanding of the nature of conflict?

How a better understanding of conflict transformation can help the process of conflict management and resolution?

To what extent conflict transformation changed the shape of major inter and intra-state conflicts in South Asia?

What is the future of conflict transformation with particular reference to South Asia?

Major themes of the Workshop

The emergence of conflict transformation as a field of study

Conceptual and theoretical dimensions of conflict transformation

The role of societal and state actors in conflict transformation

The role of individuals research think tanks

Case studies of conflict transformation in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka

The future of conflict transformation

PROF. DR. MOONIS AHMAR
DIRECTOR
PROGRAM ON PEACE STUDIES AND
CONFLICT RES0OLUTION
DEPARTMENT OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
UNIVERSITY OF KARACHI
www.ppscr.org

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