locally-led peacebuilding

The majority of John Paul's peacebuilding initiatives came through accompanying people and communities working at the grassroots level. This has led to a key lesson and ethical stance: Believe in the unique knowledge of local communities about their own context and in their capacity to engage and innovate.

Locally-led peacebuilding centers the knowledge, skill, and vision of community-based individuals and organizations as the foundation of networks and processes that create durable change. In John Paul’s writing and practice, this approach been referred to under various names: elicitive, bottom-up, grassroots, and now more commonly locally-led. The content in this section includes stories, reflections, and insights gathered through John Paul's accompaniment of local peacebuilding leaders and processes across diverse areas of protracted conflict.

interview

The Moral Imagination

A video interview with Robert Wright for The Wright Show, a production of meaningoflife.tv.

2016

interview

Professor John Paul Lederach’s Views on Conflict Transformation Movement in Nepal

A short video of reflections on a conflict transformation initiative and movement in Nepal.

2013

document

Comments on Strategic Peacebuilding from Below

Notes for a conference presentation delivered at the Joan B. Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame.

2006

document

Mennonite Central Committee Efforts in Somalia/Somaliland: A Brief Overview

A paper outlining Mennonite Central Committee peacemaking involvement in Somalia/Somaliland between 1989 and 1993.

1993

document

10 Lessons Learned Wandering in Peacebuilding

A top ten list of things that the international arena, especially the many settings of struggling with protracted and violent conflict, has taught John Paul about life and the vocation of peacebuilding.

2006

paper

Pacifism in Contemporary Conflict: A Christian Perspective

A commissioned paper articulating a Christian pacifist perspective on nonviolent approaches to contemporary conflict.

1993

forward

Foreword, The Technology of Nonviolence

The foreword to The Technology of Nonviolence, which offers a creative and innovative exploration into the theory and practice of violence prevention.

2012

forward

Foreword, Acting Together

The foreword to the first volume of Acting Together: Performance and the Creative Transformation of Conflict, which describes peacebuilding performances in regions beset by violence and internal conflicts.

2011