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Building Relationships: Quaker Peacebuilding in a Pacific Context

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Building Relationships: Quaker Peacebuilding in a Pacific Context Building Relationships: Quaker Peacebuilding in a Pacific Context Peni Connolly A thesis submitted for the degree of Master of Arts at the University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand December 2013 Abstract The Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), have a long history of involvement as unofficial third party conciliators in world conflicts. Speaking truth to power, they walk the delicate line between advocating for the disempowered whilst building relationships with the adversary. Considerable scholarly ambivalence exists regarding religion’s dual agency in contributing both to violence and to peace. While a large number of studies on religion and violent conflict have been undertaken and the realities of religious extremism are well recognized, the good done by faith-based actors is not so well researched. This study responds to the call for empirical in-depth evaluation of religious peacebuilding practice. It explores peacebuilding approaches in two Quaker reconciliation initiatives in the Pacific region from a sustainable Peace Studies perspective. Eight in-depth 70-minute interviews with four interviewees (two from Australia and two from Aotearoa New Zealand) were conducted and 22 Yearly Meeting Epistles were also examined. This data was analysed by using a responsive interviewing formal coding model and a grounded theory model. Resulting themes were then examined from Lederach’s transformational perspective of conflict, which argues that constructive change must occur across four dimensions—personal, relational, structural and cultural—for peace to be sustainable. The over-arching theme that emerged from this study on Quaker peacebuilding was a transformative approach to peacebuilding that fitted strongly with the sustainable peacebuilding literature. In contrast to the traditional western-centric peacebuilding paradigm, the four Quakers’ approaches to peacebuilding put social reconstruction to the fore, embracing universal humanitarian ideals. These findings illustrate the peacebuilding processes of a lesser-known non-proselytizing religious movement—the Quakers—whose tradition is rooted in personal, social and political transformation. This study contributes to the mounting body of evidence that religious actors, given certain constraints, have the potential to contribute towards the constructive and peaceful resolution of conflict. ii Acknowledgments My heartfelt gratitude: To Karen, my supervisor, for your insightful comments and gently guiding me through the research process; a role model in the personal, professional and political; for ‘doing’ peace and ‘being’ peace. To Kevin, for your love of people and peace, life and everything creative; you light up even the dullest of Dunedin days; you never minded being interrupted and questioned. To Richard, your sense of humour, your home door-always-open and your inspirational lectures made my masters’ journey survivable. A born nonviolent resistance leader! To Rosemary, burgeoning playwrite, the person who makes it all happen; the centre of the Centre. To Charles and to Heather in-her-previous-life dancer, thank you for your sound comments. And I miss the dancing. To Valerie, Clerk of Dunedin Monthly Meeting, a tireless and generous peace person; generous host of student/teacher parties; organizer of the Alternative to Violence Workshops, nurturer of everyone. To Paul, Amie, Courtney, Celeste, Robby, Leilana, Angel, Rachael, Johno and Jen, Lolly-bat, Anna, Tom and Patrick; your light spirits and collective buzz; I hope our paths cross. To everyone at The National Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies, it was such a privilege to be in a place where ideas flourish. To the librarians Charlotte, Thelma, Abby and your team; for your patience, kindness and dexterous help. To Sandi and your colleagues at ITS. Thank you both departments for guiding me through the IT chasm. Without your help, I couldn’t have made the leap. To Suzie Q, Kirst, Helie and Cath, fabulous Pats and Dragonettes; for your fun and love and good times; still a few more mountains to climb! To Jenni K, and M, for your strength, pragmatism and support. We got those babies born! To Janie W, for your emotional support and believing in me. To my interviewees; Jillian, David, Chris and John. Thank you for sharing your lives with me: analytical, loving, humble, committed peacemakers—your lives truly do speak. Suz and Atu, my greatest inspirers and dearest old friends, pragmatic peace people and lovers of life; selflessly working for Fiji’s marginalized and voiceless. iii And to Helen K, for carrying me over the finishing line. Like the Zimbabwean conciliators, and together with humour, you too were a bundle of unconditional and uncomplicated goodwill. Thank you. To Harps, forever my rock and soul mate on every hazardous journey, selfless and loyal. Endless meals. Love on a plate! And finally, to Ben and Zar, to your uniqueness and your pure goodness, who like Gran, inspire me when the chips are down, I dedicate this work to you. To you all, a huge thankyou. Through the ideas that we have shared, my world is a richer place. So now, on this new path in life, I hope, like you, I too can make a small bit of difference to a more peaceful world. iv Table of Contents Abstract ..................................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgments ................................................................................................................... iii List of Tables ............................................................................................................................ ix Key Terms ................................................................................................................................. x List of Acronyms ................................................................................................................... xiii Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 1 Overview ............................................................................................................................................. 2 Thesis Purpose .................................................................................................................................... 5 Research Question ............................................................................................................................. 6 Limitations .......................................................................................................................................... 6 Phraseology ......................................................................................................................................... 7 Thesis structure .................................................................................................................................. 7 Chapter One: Colonization, the Social Context of Conflict in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand, and Two Quaker Reconciliation Projects ..................................................... 9 1.1 Chapter Outline ..................................................................................................................... 10 1.1.1 Social Context of Conflict in Australia ............................................................................. 10 1.1.2 Introduction of the Quaker Reconciliation Project in Australia and Introduction of the Interviewees ................................................................................................................. 12 1.1.3 The Social Context of Conflict in Aotearoa New Zealand ............................................... 13 1.1.4 Introduction of the Quaker Reconciliation Project in Aotearoa New Zealand and Introduction of the Interviewees ....................................................................................... 15 1.2 Summary ................................................................................................................................. 15 Chapter Two: Sustainable Peacebuilding ............................................................................ 17 2.1 Chapter Outline ..................................................................................................................... 18 2.2 An Introduction to Peacebuilding ........................................................................................ 19 2.3 Part One: Sustainable Peacebuilding: A Search for Sustainable Peacebuilding Approaches Building ............................................................................................................. 20 2.3.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 20 2.3.2 Relationships, Fostering positive attitudes towards the Other and Persistence. ............... 21 2.3.3 Awareness of Context, Awareness of Culture and Local Empowerment ......................... 23 2.3.4 A Socio-psychological Perspective of Conflict: Fostering Positive Attitudes towards the Other ............................................................................................................................ 26 2.4 Part Two: Religious Peacebuilding ...................................................................................... 28 v 2.4.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................
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