The Online Journal of Peace and Conflict Resolution
OJPCR: The Online Journal of Peace and Conflict Resolution is a resource for students, teachers and practitioners in fields relating to the reduction and elimination of destructive conflict. It is a free, yet valuable, source of information to aid anyone trying to work toward a less violent and more cooperative world.
Issue 5.1
Experience
From Peacekeeping to Peacebuilding
From Violence to Peace: Terrorism and Human Rights in Sri Lanka
Personal Empowerment as the Missing Ingredient for a Resolution of the Israel/Palestine Conflict
Creating a More Peaceful Classroom Community by Assessing Student Participation and Process
Analysis
To Protect Democracy (Not Practice It): Explanations of Dyadic Democratic Intervention (DDI)
Why did the Colombia Peace Process Fail?
Truth and Reconciliation: The Road Not Taken in Namibia
Kant's Perpetual Peace: A New Look at this Centuries-Old Quest
The Jewish Group: Highlighting the Culture Problem in Nation-States
How Can I Teach Peace When the Book Only Covers War?
Cooperation in Pluralistic Societies: An Analytic Mathematical Approach
Publications of Interest
Books
Conflict Resolution | Ethnic Conflict | History | International Relations/Diplomacy | Reconciliation | General
Reconciliation
 Forgiveness and Reconciliation: Religion, Public Policy &
Conflict TransformationEdited by Raymond G. Helmick, S. J. and Rodney L. Petersen. 2001. Philadelphia, Templeton Foundation Press. 450 pp with index.  Religion and Reconciliation in South AfricaEdited by Audrey R. Chapman and Bernard Spong. 2003 Philadelphia, Templeton Foundation Press. 321 pp with index. Paper, $22.95. Both of these books are the product of projects funded by the John Templeton Foundation that examine religion and conflict resolution. The articles in Forgiveness and Reconciliation developed from a conference at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University in 1999. While reconciliation is more often the term heard in conflict resolution circles, Forgiveness and Reconcilation unabashedly focuses on forgiveness first, and forgiveness as a process of reconciliation second. The book is divided into four sections, examining the history of the concept of reconciliation, forgiveness and public policy, forgiveness and reconciliation, and post-conflict forgiveness. Along with a thorough discussion of the role of reconciliation and forgiveness in conflict resolution, this book includes a number of insights into the role of contemporary religion in conflict. These views move well beyond simple notions that a resurgence in religion is the same as a resurgence in religious-motivated violence. While the literature on forgiveness and reconciliation is growing rapidly, Forgiveness and Reconciliation deserves a place on any conflict resolution reading list. Religion and Reconciliation in South Africa is the product of a project of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, which conducted interviews with many participants in the truth and reconciliation process in South Africa. Since it felt the religious aspect of this process was especially important, many of these individuals represented various religious groups. The book itself is split into two sections. The first includes the interviews conducted by Bernard Sprong. These are separated by religion and each group is represented by a number of interviewees. This approach, with just a simple overview paragraph at the beginning of each chapter and a single sentence noting an important thought at the beginning of each interview, allows the reader to draw much from the speakers themselves. The second section includes two essays, one about the role of the church in the truth and reconciliation process and the second on the possibility of inter-religious reconciliation. While these are informative, it is the voices of the South Africans themselves that come through most clearly in Religion and Reconciliation in South Africa. |
 I Thought
We'd Never Speak Again: The Road from Estrangement to ReconciliationBy Laura Davis. 2002. New York, HarperCollins. 342 pp with index. In I Thought We'd Never Speak Again, Laura Davis examines reconciliation, primarily in interpersonal relationships. Davis alternates between stories of reconciliation and helpful guidance about seeking reconciliation in our own lives. Practitioners of conflict resolution will find interesting material, especially in the narratives Davis uses to illustrate her discussion, but this is not a book that is aimed at third parties in particular. Davis focuses instead on helping the individuals harmed by a damaged relationship themselves and this book may be of more interest as something passed to individuals in conflict. |
The Online Journal of Peace and Conflict Resolution is published by the Tabula Rasa Institute.