South Africa's Role in Conflict Resolution and Peacemaking in Africa


Book Description

This collection is a product of a research workshop conducted on behalf of the Nelson Mandela Foundation by the Democracy & Governance (D & G) Research Programme of the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) and the Africa Institute of South Africa, which was held in December 2004.




Peacemaking in South Africa


Book Description

A political memoir by an internationally known peacemaker. H W van der Merwe has been described in the media as 'the man who brings South Africa's enemies together'. Here he tells his own story, which is also largely the story of the South African 'miracle' negotiated settlement.




Picking Up the Pieces


Book Description

In the last ten years of the 20th century, the world was twice confronted with unbelievable news from Africa. First, there was the end of Apartheid in South Africa. Who would have thought that such a change would be possible without bloodshed? But the miracle happened, due to responsible political and Church leaders and as a result of the unique processes organized through the Truth and Reconciliation Commission under the leadership of Archbishop Desmond Tutu. The second unbelievable experience from Africa was of a rather different and awfully shocking nature: the mass killings in Rwanda. This event soon developed into a real genocide and created a wave of horror around the world. There, political and Church leaders had been unable to prevent this crime against humanity.




Religion and Conflict Resolution


Book Description

This book examines the ambiguous role that Christianity played in South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). It has two objectives: to analyse the role Christianity played in the TRC and to highlight certain consequences that may be instructive to future international conflict resolution processes. Religion and conflict resolution is an area of significant importance. Ongoing conflicts involving Palestinians and Israelis, Muslims and Hindus, and even radical Islamic jihadists and Western countries have heightened the awareness of the potential power of religion to fuel conflict. Yet these religious traditions also promote peace and respect for others as key components in doing justice. Examining the potential role religion can play in generating peace and justice, specifically Christianity in South Africa's TRC, is of utmost importance as religiously inspired violence continues to occur. This book highlights the importance of accounting for religion in international conflict resolution.




The Resolution of African Conflicts


Book Description

"These two volumes clearly demonstrate the efforts by a wide range of African scholars to explain the roots, routes, regimes and resolution of African conflicts and how to re-build post-conflict societies. They offer sober and serious analyses, eschewing the sensationalism of the western media and the sophistry of some of the scholars in the global North for whom African conflicts are at worst a distraction and at best a confirmation of their pet racist and petty universalist theories." --From the introduction by Paul Tiyambe Zeleza This book offers analyses of a range of African conflicts and demonstrates that peace is too important to be left to outsiders.




Elections and Conflict Management in Africa


Book Description

Elections have emerged as one of the most important, and most contentious, features of political life on the African continent. In the first half of this decade, there were more than 20 national elections, serving largely as capstones of peace processes or transitions to democracies. The outcomes of these and more recent elections have been remarkably varied, and the relationship between elections and conflict management is widely debated throughout Africa and among international observers. Elections can either help reduce tensions by reconstituting legitimate government, or they can exacerbate them by further polarizing highly conflictual societies. This timely volume examines the relationship between elections, especially electoral systems, and conflict management in Africa, while also serving as an important reference for other regions. The book brings together for the first time the latest thinking on the many different roles elections can play in democratization and conflict management.




Conflict and Peace Research


Book Description

This report resulted from a national workshop held September 5-6, 1995, near Johannesburg, South Africa. The theme of the workshop, "Reflections on Conflict and Peace," was chosen to echo the nature and purpose of the workshop. The major papers presented include: (1) "Conflict and Peace Research Methodology" (Louise Nieuwmeijer); (2) "Research Capacity Building among Practitioners" (Jannie Malan); (3) "Forging a New Bureaucracy: Guidelines for Research on Conflict Resolution" (Fanie Cloete); (4) "African Methods of Resolving Disputes" (Jannie Malan); (5) "Mediation of Family Conflict" (Hugo van der Merwe); (6) "Resolving Conflict in Communities in South Africa" (Gavin Bradshaw); (7) "Violence and Conflict" (Jabulani Mabasu); (8) "A New Approach to National and Regional Security" (Laurie Nathan); (9) "Security and Peace" (Mark Shaw); (10) "The South African Police Service in Transition: Attitudes, Perceptions, and Values of Police Personnel in an Eastern Cape Community" (Rob Midgley; Geoff Wood); (11) "Conflict in Education" (Rejoice Ncgongo); (12) "Conflict and Empowerment of the Youth" (Johan Olivier); (13) "Development and Conflict" (Theledi Sebulela); (14) "Labour Conflict" (Renee du Toit); (15) "Conflict, Co-operation, and Change in South Africa" (Peter Cunningham); and (16) "Conclusion: The Realities and Challenges of Conflict and Peace Research" (Louise Nieuwmeijer; Anita Burger). (EH)




Peace and Conflict in Africa


Book Description

Nowhere in the world is the demand for peace more prominent and challenging than in Africa. From state collapse and anarchy in Somalia to protracted wars and rampant corruption in the Congo; from bloody civil wars and extreme poverty in Sierra Leone to humanitarian crisis and authoritarianism in Sudan, the continent is the focus of growing political and media attention. This book presents the first comprehensive overview of conflict and peace across the continent. Bringing together a range of leading academics from Africa and beyond, Peace and Conflict in Africa is an ideal introduction to key themes of conflict resolution, peacebuilding, security and development. The book's stress on the importance of indigenous Africa approaches to creating peace makes it an innovative and exciting intervention in the field.




Watching the Wind


Book Description

A compelling, inspiring account of peacemaking in action, Watching the Wind takes us to the front lines of South Africa's struggle to manage the tempestuous transition from apartheid to democracy. When Mandela, de Klerk, and other political leaders launched the 1991 National Peace Accord in a far-reaching effort to staunch political bloodshed and promote consultation and cooperation between bitter adversaries, Susan Collin Marks was one of thousands of South Africans who committed themselves to making the peace process work where it mattered most--at the local level. Over the next three years, Marks and other leaders of the conflict resolution movement adopted and adapted a vast array of tools and techniques: they mediated, facilitated, and counseled; they created forums for open discussion and trained community leaders; they fostered community policing; and they anticipated crises and stood between demonstrators and security forces. And, as Marks explains, "something extraordinary happened." The international community had expected a bloodbath, but what it saw instead was a near-miraculous process of negotiation and accommodation. With passion and eloquence, the author captures the drama, the personalities, and the heroism of this grassroots peace process.




Constitutions and Conflict Management in Africa


Book Description

Presenting the first database of constitutional design in all African countries, and seven original case studies, Constitutions and Conflict Management in Africa explores the types of domestic political institutions that can buffer societies from destabilizing changes that otherwise increase the risk of violence.