mesoamerica

Starting in the 1980s, John Paul participated through the outreach program of Semilla (whose headquarters were based in Guatemala City), a popular education and extension program that worked primarily with grassroots and church-related leadership. This program was offered to all of the countries of Central America from Panama to Mexico. Semilla also developed a publishing arm that produced a number of his books and essays from this time period. Wendy and John Paul lived in Costa Rica during a significant portion of this period. The primary fieldwork for his dissertation emerged from his experience with local community understandings of conflict and its transformation, particularly in Puntarenas, Costa Rica. His most extensive direct work became the support for the conciliation and peace process in Nicaragua that led up and through the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Conflict Resolution in Cross Cultural Context

A chapter reflecting on the promises and pitfalls of conflict resolution in a cross-cultural setting.

The Growing Edge Podcast Unexpected Hope in Improbable Actions

John Paul provides thoughtful, sometimes surprising ideas and advice on how to navigate, disrupt and mitigate the patterns that lead to deeper conflict, with attention to what is happening in contemporary U.S. politics.

Starting Point for Implementing Large-Scale Social Change

In a podcast hosted by Rational Games, John Paul and Mark Young dive deep into the transformative power of negotiation, peacebuilding, and social change.

Accompaniment: Walking Alongside an Organizational Journey

John Paul shares reflections about accompaniment embedded in a story from his experience from the 1980s being alongside negotiations to end the war in Nicaragua.

The Meeting Place (Draft in Progress, Chapter 8, The Journey Toward Reconciliation)

A draft of a chapter that explores through story the social energies of reconciliation, namely Truth, Justice, Mercy, and Peace.

Of Nets, Nails, and Problemas: A Folk Vision of Conflict in Central America

John Paul's Ph.D. thesis for the Department of Sociology at the University of Colorado, Boulder.

Ponencia de John Paul Lederach

A lectured delivered for a conference entitled, “Desarme integral en América Latina y el Caribe,” organized by the Alianza por el Desarme.

Caminos y conversaciones de cuatro décadas

Conferencia de John Paul Lederach, con comentarios y reflexiones de Gastón Aín y Francisco Diez, en el marco del III Congreso Americano de Mediación, organizado por Fundación Mediar.

Talleres Especiales Transformación de Conflictos

A special workshop delivered at the XI Congreso Mundial de Mediación y I Congreso Nacional para la Construcción de la Paz held in Lima, Perú in September 2015.