Nonviolence and Peace work throughout our lives and work

I am speaking at several events this month to explain and explore how the power of nonviolence, and an unquenchable desire for peace and justice, impacts the way we think about the world.

The way I work is influenced by principles of nonviolence from Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr. and Barbara Deming. They include recognising that we are all inter-connected and by hurting one person we hurt us all, or that we separate the harming behaviour from the person, or that means should match the ends (meaning that if we want peace we should use peaceful means to achieve it).

At CIRCES at Leeds Beckett University I am opening a conversation on how the principles of peace and nonviolence relate to interdisciplinary research.

In research we might study peace and living non-violently, rejecting violence and coercion as effective means of social change, but we may also develop nonviolence as one of the lens’s that enable us to learn about the situation we are studying.

Whilst we might think that most people are motivated by individual reward or feel threatened by others, nonviolence provides tools for asking questions and studying society which looks for cooperation and evidence of people valuing community over individual gain. If we never ask about nonviolence we’ll never find it.

Gandhi made it clear that in nonviolence the means by which you achieve your aims makes a difference to the result. This is embodied in the phrase ‘you can’t achieve peace through war’. The debate we’ll be having as researchers is the extent to which our research design and research methods embody nonviolence, in the valuing of everyone and recognising forms of oppression in our research.

This all comes together when we use participatory research, recognising its emancipatory value. My research in Philippines is participatory and co-designed, meaning that people are able to share their life experiences and knowledge about the type of peace they want, how to achieve it, and the extraordinary actions they take to model nonviolence in their everyday lives.

They’re going to be fascinating conversations and you’re invited to join in!

Rachel Julian is a Professor of Peace Studies at Leeds Beckett University, UK. She is an internationally recognised researcher working on Unarmed Civilian Peacekeeping/Protection and the way we recognise the lives and voices of those affected by violence and crisis. Her work challenges the widespread acceptance of violence in International Relations and the assumption that peacekeeping requires soldiers.

Dr Michalis Kakos is a Reader in Education and the Director of the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Childhood, Education and Society (CIRCES), Leeds Beckett University, UK. Michalis’ research interests include citizenship and inclusive education, professionalism and institutionalisation in education and educational ethnography.

The online seminar: Using Principles of Peace and Nonviolence in Interdisciplinary Research: a discussion with Rachel Julian takes place on Tuesday 5 July 13.00 – 15.00. Find out more and register for this seminar here.

For more on Participatory Research see book by LBU Reader, Dr Louise Warwick-Booth. Policy Press | Creating Participatory Research - Principles, Practice and Reality, By Louise Warwick-Booth, Anne-Marie Bagnall and Susan Coan (bristoluniversitypress.co.uk).