December/January 2004-2005

Views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of the AFSC.

Peacebuilders Make Connections

Penn Garvin is a long-time mediator, nonviolence trainer, and community worker based in Managua, Nicaragua.

Nonviolence Training in Kenya, 2004. Photo courtesy of International Peacebuilders.

In my many years of community work and my training in mediation and nonviolence, I have seen the power of teaching social change skills: for example, how to facilitate a meeting, how to commit civil disobedience, how to organize a community. As our world became more interconnected with our struggle against corporate globalization and its effects, I began to look for ways that trainers around the world could share experiences, exchange our "best practices," discuss the issues that face us as trainers, and become more accessible to new people in the movement.

In my search I found many trainers who wanted more communication between global north and global south. Many of us in the north need the support of the wider global view that so many in the global south offer. Conversely, I was told by a Pakistani friend: "We in my part of the world are looking for training in mediation, nonviolence, civil society building. You should start something." And so International Peacebuilders was born.

Our web site, www.internationalpeacebuilders.org, invites trainers and organizations that provide services in mediation and peacebuilding, nonviolent action, and civil society building to be listed, to become part of a network of trainers, to contribute resource ideas, and to post upcoming trainings. The site also serves groups who seek information and trainers. As International Peacebuilders grows, we will increasingly provide a forum for communication among trainers through an e-newsletter and on the site.

I have been honored to "meet" many trainers around the world who are doing amazing work. From my own experiences both in the US and in Latin America and in communication with trainers who are working for social change, I see a number of important issues emerging.

There has often been tension among providers in the three areas of mediation/reconciliation, nonviolent action, and civil society building. I have heard disparaging remarks by one group about another:

"Those mediation people just teach communication skills";

"Those nonviolent trainers just want people to be in the streets";

"Civil society builders just get people to be part of the system."

Sometimes, providers in one arena will actually undermine, usually through their own lack of vision, the work of those in another field. For example, a well-trusted mediator had facilitated healing of family feuds in a village for many years. However, at the request of the government, he talked the community out of a planned action of civil disobedience in their struggle for electricity. Although motivated by his desire to "protect" those he loved from violent repression, he also undermined the community's efforts and they remain without electricity.

Those of us who have worked in all three fields know the need for all these skills and their interweaving. As providers and trainers in the three areas, we need to discuss our different approaches and find ways to work together effectively or we shall weaken the struggles of the people with whom we profess to stand.

Those of us committed to nonviolent change need to articulate the use of nonviolent action as the most effective strategy for social change. Many, including trainers, come to the idea of nonviolence from a moral standpoint -- which can be very powerful on a personal level. However, in an increasingly violent and poverty-stricken world, people are desperate for ways to stop the oppression they experience and change the balance of power in any way they can. If people don't have effective nonviolent strategies, they will turn to violence. There are organizations, books, and other resources that present a political analysis of nonviolent power and of ways to wage a strategic nonviolent campaign. In addition to our personal moral or religious beliefs, we must present nonviolent action in the context of strategic social change so that this kind of action is accessible to all and viewed as a better strategic option than violence.

We as trainers have a role to play in preparing people for the collision course between neo-liberal economics and democracy. When people refuse to accept the increasing poverty and degradation, repression will come in the name of fighting "terrorism." People in the struggle need all the skills they can muster to think strategically and long-term, to build ongoing coalitions that cannot be "divided and conquered," and to fortify themselves for the long haul. Each individual campaign can lose touch with the fact that it is a part of a larger struggle within the "another world is possible" movement.

We are a product of our cultures and it is often difficult to see other ways of organizing society. We trainers can fall into the trap of providing services and training that promote dependency upon our organizations and impose our viewpoints on others. We must seek out and promote new models.Those of us working to build civil society are often faced with the question of how to build new models that are more equitable and empowering. We can learn from people who are experimenting with new models, like the Zapatista movement.

I am only touching on some of the issues. I would very much like to hear your reactions and ideas. I hope that International Peacebuilders can provide a forum for discussion of these and other topics that define our movement.

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