Exclusive conference coverage from openDemocracy 50.50: Jennifer Allsopp writes about nonviolent tactics, syllabuses, movements and strategies in place to build a culture of peace for our Women Beyond War conference.
Peace is many things, from human security to equality, but at its heart lies a culture; a culture based on people, acceptance and dialogue. This was the view advanced today by various participants at the first day of the Nobel Women’s Initiative conference here in Belfast. If we see peace as a culture – one that is at once deeply personal and also transnational in its reach – it follows that the process of deconstructing the ubiquitous culture of war must be an aspect of moving beyond militarism to a nonviolent world. In the words of Yemeni Nobel Laureate Tawakkol Karman, speaking this morning, from the ‘culture of hating and fighting…we need to build another culture that supports peace and which refuses conflict, violence and revenge…there is no way to build without challenging bad customs and traditions.’
Read the complete article on openDemocracy 50.50.
openDemocracy 50.50 has been covering the Nobel Women’s Initiative biennial conferences since 2007 in articles written by participants and openDemocracy’s own authors. Visit their website for more coverage of our 2013 International Conference: Women Beyond War.