Description
The ethics of changemaking and peacebuilding may appear straightforward: advance dignity, promote well-being, minimize suffering. Sounds simple, right? Actually acting ethically when it really matters is rarely straightforward. If someone engaged in change-oriented work sets out to "do good," how should we prioritize and evaluate whose good counts? And, how ought we act once we have decided whose good counts? Practitioners frequently confront dilemmas where dire situations may demand some form of response, but each of the options may have undesirable consequences of one form or another. Dilemmas are not merely ordinary problems, they are wicked problems: that is to say, they are defined by circumstances that only allow for suboptimal outcomes and are based on profound and sometimes troubling trade-offs.Wicked Problems argues that the field of peacebuilding and conflict transformation needs a stronger and more practical sense of its ethical obligations. For example, it argues against posing false binaries between domestic and international issues and against viewing violence and conflict as equivalents. It holds strategic nonviolence up to critical scrutiny and shows that "do no harm" approaches may in fact do harm.The contributors include scholars, scholar practitioners in the field, and activists on the streets, and the chapters cover the role of violence in conflict; conflict and violence prevention and resolution; humanitarianism; community organizing and racial justice; social movements; human rights advocacy; transitional justice; political reconciliation; and peace education and pedagogy, among other topics. Drawing on the lived experiences and expertise of activists, educators, and researchers, Wicked Problems equips readers to ask--and answer--difficult questions about social change work.
Table of Contents
AcknowledgmentsContributorsIntroduction: Wicked Problems - The Ethics of Action for Peace, Rights, and JusticeAustin Choi-Fitzpatrick, Douglas Irvin-Erickson, and Ernesto VerdejaI: VIOLENCE1. The Ritual of Black Armed Resistance: Police Abolition through the Eyes of the Black Radical TraditionTony Gaskew2. Building a Movement to End Poverty through Nonviolent ResistanceLiz Theoharis and Noam Sandweiss-Back3. Is Violence the Answer? A Pragmatic ApproachKirssa Cline Ryckman4. How Is It to Be Done? Dilemmas of Prefigurative and Harm - Reduction Approaches to Social Movement WorkAshley J. BohrerII: LEADERSHIP AND ORGANIZATIONS5. The Paradox of Survivor LeadershipMinh Dang6. Allies Out Front: Dilemmas of LeadershipDaniel J. Myers7. Organizing Dilemmas across U.S.- Based Social Justice Movement Spacesalicia sanchez gill8. The Ones Who Walk Away to Stay and FightPhilip Gamaghelyan9. From Righteous to Responsive: Rethinking the Role of Moral Values of PeacebuildingReina C. NeufeldtIII: SYSTEMS AND INSTITUTIONS10. Dilemmas in Action Where Rule of Law Conflicts with JusticeDeena R. Hurwitz11. Establishing an Ethics of Post-Sanctions PeacebuildingGeorge A. Lopez and Beatrix Geaghan-Breiner12. Threading the Needle: Ethical Dilemmas in Preventing Mass AtrocitiesErnesto Verdeja13. Whither the Villains? The Ethical Dilemma in Armed ConflictLaurie Nathan14. "A Different Kind of Weapon": Ethical Dilemmas and Nonviolent Civilian ProtectionFelicity Gray15. The Ethics of Transitional JusticeTim Murithi16. Why the Peacebuilding Field Needs Clear and Accessible Standards of Research EthicsElizabeth Hume and Jessica Baumgardner-Zuzik17. Consent, Inclusivity, and Local Voices: Ethical Dilemmas of Teaching Peace in Conflict ZonesAgnieszka Paczynska and Susan F. HirschBibliographyIndex
