“This is yet another publication from TFF – ‘Violence,
Postwar Reconstruction and Civil Society – Theory and
Yugoslavia.’ It’s main focus is civil society in war and
peace. It relates this concept to the economic
globalisation, to international conflict-management and to
the case of Yugoslavia and the Dayton agreement,” says Jan
Oberg, TFF director and author of the study.
It reflects the fact that everything TFF does is based on
triple-thinking: We have three types of activities –
academic analyses, field work and advocacy. We do three
things in conflict regions – conflict analysis/early
warning, conflict-mitigation and peace and reconciliation
education. We offer three perspectives – analyses, criticism
and constructive alternatives. We believe that conflicts
deserve three steps – diagnosis, prognosis and treatment.
And we work with three conflict regions – former Yugoslavia,
Georgia in the Caucasus and one more conflict,” says
Oberg.
The first chapter deals with civil society and
violence-prevention; the second discusses various concepts
of ‘civil society’ and relates it to various types of power.
It also treats civil society as a) government, as b)
democracy and institutions, as c) peacemaker and as d) a
global phenomenon. The third chapter looks at how civil
society can help prevent emergencies, survive them and
develop in post-violence reconstruction. The fourth chapter
deals with the political economy of conflict, the case of
ex-Yugoslavia and shows how the Dayton ‘peace’ agreement
completely ignores civil society.
In the final chapter Oberg optimistically says, among
other things, that “the above analysis is a plädoyer
for the view that we must learn to clash as civilised
creatures, not as conflict illiterates. I believe that
conflict-management can and should be learnt by many more.
If a lively debate could unfold over the nature and
legitimation of violence in our countries and civilisation
it would mark a great step for humankind, help prevent much
violence and prepare us to learn why the 20th century was
the most violent of all and how the 21st must be
different.”
This report can be useful to field mission staff who seek
a comprehensive perspective on what they do in
conflict-regions, to students, journalists, diplomats, NGOs
and economic institutions who would like to see how
mainstream thinking can be challenged. Just a little.
The analysis was written for a project on “The Political
Economy of Humanitarian Emergencies,” coordinated by WIDER,
the U.N-Affiliated World Institute for Development Economics
Research in Helsinki and co-sponsored by the Queen Elizabeth
House in Oxford and the U.N. Department of Humanitarian
Affairs. But, alas, THEY did not want to be challenged, paid
the study and decided not to publish it. Read it and you may
guess why…
Violence Prevention, Postwar Reconstruction and Civil
Society. Theory and Yugoslavia, by Jan Oberg, TFF 1998,
57 pp. Price: 125 Swedish kronor or US$ 16 plus postage.
How to order? Just send your order by “reply” to
this message, by fax, phone or e-mail –
TFF@transnational.org – we confirm it and tell you how to
pay. When we have received the payment, we send you the
report. You may browse our website publications catalogue
too
