Conflict Transformation Journal: Lederach’s Four Dimensions and the Purdue Peace Project in Berekum, Ghana

Journal: Conflict transformation and the Purdue Peace Project

This journal combines reading and your response to the prompt below. After reading Ch. 5 and the excerpt from Lederach (2015), watch the brief introduction to the Purdue University Peace Project (PPP) (video). The PPP is an example of the work done by professional peace builders, and conflict transformation is a core part of its approach. Choose one PPP project from the list on their website.

• Part one: In one paragraph (4–8 sentences), briefly analyze the conflict along each of the four areas Lederach (2015) discusses: personal, relational, structural and cultural.
• Part two: In one paragraph (4–8 sentences), briefly analyze how the PPP project addresses, or doesn’t, each of the four areas.

Don’t feel like you’re judging the project’s merits or success; use the prompt to see how conflict operates on small and large scales, how Lederach’s theory is constructed and applied and how peacebuilding efforts approach their work.

Original example for study purposes (about 370 words). It uses the PPP’s work in Berekum, Ghana, as described in Purdue’s 2013 news release; check that the project appears on the current list you were given.

Part One: The Berekum Chieftaincy Conflict Through Lederach’s Four Dimensions

In Berekum, a Ghanaian municipality of about 84,000 people, a 13-year dispute arose after a chief was installed in 2000 through a process that some residents believed was improper, and with elections approaching in 2012, officials feared political violence (Purdue University, 2013). On the personal level, the dispute produced anger, distrust and fear, as residents worried that election tensions would turn into violence. Relationally, the community was divided between those who recognized the chief and those who did not, damaging communication among families, youth groups, religious leaders and political supporters. Structurally, the conflict involved how traditional authority is chosen and recognized; because the state had not confirmed the chief as paramount chief, his authority was limited, and the long dispute slowed development, education and infrastructure. Culturally, chieftaincy carries deep meaning in Ghanaian identity and tradition, so disagreements about succession were also disagreements about respect for custom and legitimacy. Lederach (2015) would see the dispute not as a single event but as an episode rooted in a longer epicenter of relationships and structures.

Part Two: How the PPP Project Addressed Each Dimension

The PPP’s approach was to provide “space and opportunity” for local citizens to resolve the conflict themselves rather than imposing outside solutions (Purdue University, 2013). Relationally, it convened community leaders, supporters of the chief, religious representatives and youth to identify issues and create an action plan, which rebuilt communication among divided groups. On the personal level, peace messaging, peace marches and dialogue helped reduce fear and encouraged individuals to commit to nonviolence, although the project did not appear to provide direct trauma or counseling support. Culturally, the locally formed Berekum Peace Committee used local media and community traditions to promote a norm of peaceful disagreement, respecting chieftaincy rather than challenging it. Structurally, the PPP did not decide who should be chief; the dispute was ultimately settled through the judicial process and the installation of a new, approved chief in 2013, and the project’s contribution was helping the community agree to accept that decision peacefully. This shows Lederach’s idea that transformation works on several levels at once, even when outside peacebuilders deliberately stay “in the background.”

References

Lederach, J. P. (2015). The little book of conflict transformation (Rev. ed.). Good Books.

Purdue Peace Project. (n.d.). An introduction to the Purdue Peace Project [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDFmu4JwOow

Purdue University. (2013, October 31). Purdue Peace Project helps resolve leadership conflict in Berekum, Ghana [News release]. https://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/releases/2013/Q4/purdue-peace-project-helps-resolve-leadership-conflict-in-berekum,-ghana.html

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