by Stephen Gray One expects to encounter challenging situations when researching peace and conflict in developing countries. But I wasn’t prepared for what I encountered today when I visited an Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp in Kachin State in Burma, the country where we have been researching for the past fortnight. For me, witnessing such… read more
by Stephen Gray The experience of researching in Myanmar over the past two weeks has borne witness to a country in rapid transition. The rhetoric of Thein Sein’s reformist military government is embodied in real changes for ordinary Burmese citizens. Whereas 3 years ago pictures of Aung San Suu Kyi were banned and she could… read more
by Nikolas Katsimpras “You can either do real peacemaking work or you can get credit for it.” Those were the words of David, a leading figure of the Myanmar NGO community who has been working with the ethnic groups for twenty years. Our meeting came to an abrupt end when news came that a relative… read more
Mapping Peaces: Ethos of Peace and Conflict in Israel/Palestine By Taly Harel-Marian and Peter T. Coleman Last fall, while planning a longitudinal study on attitudes toward peace and conflict in the Middle East, a colleague of mine asked the hard question. Larry Leibovitch, Dean of Mathematics and Natural Science at Queens College, asked, “Do you… read more
Stephen Gray Addressing the East Asia Economic Forum last week, democracy icon Aung Sung Suu Kyi’s comments hinted of the systemic shift currently underway in Burma, or Myanmar as it’s otherwise known. Speaking of her experience of flying over Bangkok on her first trip outside of the country in more than twenty years she said… read more
Muli Peleg We didn’t come there to impose any fancy solutions or magical panaceas. We arrived to elicit their stories and their perceptions of the reality they live in. We simply encouraged them to talk by asking them simple questions: “What does it mean to be a Ramlian from your perspective”, and “How would you… read more
Muli Peleg Ramla is truly a microcosm of the Israeli society. Despite its small population (65,000), Ramla is home to several ethnic, religious, lingual and national entities, which endeavor to coexist under a municipality of scant resources and occasionally biased priorities. This is an ideal location for social research: it is relatively small and hence,… read more
Early Spring, 2012. A private residence in Ramla, Israel. Twenty participants representing disparate identities engaged in a conversation of the issues facing their town. The environment is relaxed but the discourse is passionate. The conversation evolves as each participant is offered the chance to speak, and the current subject is prospects for social mobility embedded… read more
After severe floods last October, a woman from the Woman’s Cooperative in Les Anglais, southwestern Haiti, found herself and her family with nothing to eat and no possessions to her family’s name, save one: her parcel of land she inherited upon the death of a family member. She took the title to her land to… read more
The Culturally Relevant Urban Wellness (CRUW) Program: Aboriginal Diversity and Sustainable Holistic Urban Wellness in Vancouver, BC Jeffrey J. Schiffer, PhD Candidate Special Projects Officer, Vancouver Aboriginal Child and Family Services Society 11 April 2012 I. Acknowledgements The Culturally Relevant Urban Wellness (CRUW) program has been developed through a partnership between Vancouver Aboriginal… read more