Pioneers in Arts, Humanities, Science, Engineering, Practice 20 Dale T. Snauwaert Editor Exploring Betty A. Reardon’s Perspective on Peace Education Looking Back, Looking Forward Pioneers in Arts, Humanities, Science, Engineering, Practice Volume 20 Series Editor Hans Günter Brauch, Peace Research and European Security Studies (AFES-PRESS), Mosbach, Germany More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/15230 http://www.afes-press-books.de/html/PAHSEP.htm http://afes-press-books.de/html/PAHSEP_Reardon.htm Dale T. Snauwaert Editor Exploring Betty A. Reardon’s Perspective on Peace Education Looking Back, Looking Forward 123 Editor Dale T. Snauwaert Department of Educational Foundations and Leadership, Center for Nonviolence and Democratic Education The University of Toledo Toledo, OH, USA Acknowledgement: The cover photograph was provided by Berra Rearsdon who granted granted permission to use this photo as the cover photo for this book. Most other photos except one in this volume were taken from the personal photo collection of Betty A. Reardon who granted permission for publication in this volume. A book website with additional information on Karl W. Deutsch and his major book covers is at: http://afes-press-books.de/ html/PAHSEP_Reardon.htm. ISSN 2509-5579 ISSN 2509-5587 (electronic) Pioneers in Arts, Humanities, Science, Engineering, Practice ISBN 978-3-030-18386-8 ISBN 978-3-030-18387-5 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-18387-5 © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Copyediting: PD Dr. Hans Günter Brauch, AFES-PRESS e.V., Mosbach, Germany This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland To Betty on the occasion of her 90th Birthday Foreword Betty A. Reardon at 90: A Nonviolent Feminist Peace Educator Who Linked Feminism and Peace Education Betty Reardon was born into a family where her father was a military officer. During World War II, when she was 10 years old, she thought that war was a stupidity. There must be other ways to organize the world and to overcome the brutal violence and mass killing of innocent people, especially of women and children. She was also convinced that women must play an active role in peace- building; furthermore, she was attracted to future studies. She believed that only an authentic global approach may overcome violence, militarism, arms races, wars and promote a different world based on cooperation, equality, sustainability, and solidarity. Betty understood that the formation of gender identity entails a process of consciousness raising. She insisted that gender security is normally taken for granted and that social relations are linked to one’s gender status, as well as other social identities such as children, indigenous people, poor, minority, women, and all vulnerable groups who lack power. vii viii Foreword Equity and identity are values at risk. The source of threat comes in the first instance from a patriarchal hierarchical and violent social order, characterized by exclusive and authoritarian institutions such as non-democratic governments, churches, and élites, that launch war, violence, discrimination, and exclusion to reinforce their personal aspirations for power. The distribution of power was established over thousands of years in generic forms, where men exercised a hierarchical and vertical power of domination and superiority. Women were excluded for different social, political, ideological, and cultural reasons. Without any doubt, patriarchal systems were regionally adapted and expressed different cultural behaviors and values, while the dominant traits of violence, exploitation, submission, and exclusion can be found globally. Betty understood that women were systematically excluded for different social, political, ideological, and cultural reasons, and in this hierarchical exclusive and violent approach, she understood the role of violence, war, and destruction exer- cised by dominant men. Therefore, only education from the earliest stage of childhood could change these deeply rooted patriarchal beliefs and habits in the global society, where the distribution of power was established in generic forms over thousands of years. In her view, men exercise a hierarchical and vertical power of domination and superiority in their androgenic mindset. Education was a great passion of Betty throughout her whole life. As a pro- fessional teacher who was deeply involved with the Peace Education Commission at IPRA, she influenced worldwide peace education, peacebuilding, and conflict resolution from a gender perspective (Reardon/Snauwaert 2015a, b). In education for a culture or cultures of peace with a gender perspective, she developed a “Manual on the Rights to Freedom of Religion and Beliefs”. She was interested in different beliefs and peace experiences from various cultures. She also understood that the dominant androgenic control of international organisations, such as the United Nations and UNESCO, would never allow a deep critical questioning of the root causes of violence and exploitation. Therefore, she was convinced that only from an analytical perspective and though peace education and actions was it feasible to challenge the present world order and to promote an alternative world. During the 1970s, she analyzed different guerrilla movements and later she understood that both from the right and the left the same androgenic system pre- vented a structural transformation of the present capitalist system. When she saw the execution of one of the female top leaders by the guerrilla in El Salvador, she understood that this was not the way to achieve greater equality and justice, but that it was an alternative way from the left to maintain the dominant structures of male power, as were practiced by the so-called progressive groups. The recent history of Central America indicates that the suffering of poor people during decades of civil war did not improve their living conditions. The massive migrations of entire communities, due to the present conditions of violence, unemployment, disasters, and destruction of livelihood, are cruel testimonies to the continuation of dominant power structures. Betty also emphasized the point that gender security is normally taken for granted by the whole society, due to social relations being linked to gender status Foreword ix (caring, being for others), including other disempowered social groups, such as indigenous peoples, poor, minorities, and persons with disabilities. Equity and identity are the values at risk, and the mechanisms of domination constitute a systematic submission through undervaluation of their labor (unpaid, less paid, housewife, or slavery). The sources of threat emerge from the patriarchal, hierar- chical, and violent global order, that is characterized by exclusive and authoritarian institutions, such as financial and corporate élites, non-democratic governments, and churches, which cause active or ideological war, violence, and/or discrimina- tion. These global institutions are responsible for the present exclusion of four billion of people and maintain the status quo of poverty and misery of these social groups globally. Therefore, as a peace researcher, Betty Reardon studied system- atically emerging theories of feminist thinking and action. Her dual goal of understanding and analysis, in addition to transforming the present androgenic world, led her to different currents of feminism. We mention here four dominant currents: empirical, situated, standpoint, and postmodern feminism. Empirical Feminism in the Thinking of Betty Reardon From the perspective of empirical feminism, Betty participated in United Nation actions against gender violence. The United Nations is responsible for global data collection, confirming that violence toward women and girls is very frequent and has increased globally. At least a third of woman in the world are beaten, a fifth is raped, and almost all suffer from psychological and often economic aggression and discrimination. Normally, this violent behavior happens at home without any vis- ibility, but also in factories and public jobs. However, men who were responsible for these crimes and exploitation have often claimed that men from other cultural