Peacebuilding &conflict transformation A ... - Peaceworkafrica

the fear of the one’s personal potential for violence and what it requires todevelop alternatives.▶ Acquiring cooperative and social skills means acquiring the ability to liveand survive in a given social environment. This involves working in and withgroups and being aware of the effects of one’s own actions towards others andthe surrounding environment.▶ Acquiring the ability to express one’s own opinion. Voicing one’s own thoughtsand ideas is not restricted to the space of family or friends, but extends toopenly expressing one’s opinion in the community, in the street and even to theauthorities.▶ Civil courage is inconceivable without taking personal responsibility forone’s own actions, its effects and consequences towards oneself and others. Itmight be that the individual’s actions have negative effects on other people andresult in personal disadvantages. This has to be taken into account and consciouslyrisked. This could also mean disobedience or refusing to delegateresponsibility to the authorities. Civil courage should not be understood asrudeness, but as an expression of growing independence and the readiness toconfront authority in a nonviolent manner.Ability for peace activityAn inseparable part of peace education is to become active, to use the knowledgeand skills acquired and transform them into nonviolent actions. Peace educationhas the task of encouraging the political commitment of citizens with the aim ofpositively influencing political decisions and development at community, state andinternational levels towards a more just society.This being the case, peace activity in everyday life must try to give opportunitiesto as many people as possible and can therefore take various forms at the differentlevels of societies. The kind of intervention must be carefully selected to fit thecontext, level and content. This might range from passive acts of civil disobedience,like refusing to vote, to active methods, for instance public speeches, blockading,striking or refusal to pay taxes. It may involve gathering information on a specificissue or multiplying the peace education acquired amongst family, groups, associationsor religious groups; it could mean organizing public prayer or peaceful demonstrationsagainst an unjust system; it could be the identifying of unjust structures orprejudices at church, at school or in the workplace, or be demonstrated by opposingviolent acts whoever the perpetrator.3 . P e a c e e d u c a t i o n 41