The Moral Imagination The Art and Soul of Building Peace

by Lederach, John Paul

• ISBN13: 9780195174540
• ISBN10: 0195174542
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2005-01-20
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

John Paul Lederach's work in the field of conciliation and mediation is internationally recognized. As founding Director of the Conflict Transformation Program and Institute of Peacebuilding at Eastern Mennonite University, he has provided consultation and direct mediation in a range ofsituations from the Miskito/Sandinista conflict in Nicaragua to Somalia, Northern Ireland, the Basque Country, and the Philippines. His influential 1997 book Building Peace has become a classic in the discipline. This new book represents his thinking and learning over the past several years. Heexplores the evolution of his understanding of peacebuilding by reflecting on his own experiences in the field. Peacebuilding, in his view, is both a learned skill and an art. Finding this art, he says, requires a worldview shift. Conflict professionals must envision their work as a creative act -an exercise of what Lederach terms the "moral imagination."

Author Biography

John Paul Lederach is one of the world's foremost experts on peacebuilding and reconciliation. He is Professor of International Peacebuilding at the Joan B. Kroc Institute of International Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame and Distinguished Scholar at Eastern Mennonite University's Conflict Transformation Program. Among his many books are The Journey Toward Reconciliation (1999) and Building Peace: Sustainable Reconciliation in Divided Societies (1997).

Table of Contents

On Stating the Problem and Thesis	3	(4)
On Touching the Moral Imagination: Four Stories	7	(14)
On This Moment: Turning Points	21	(10)
On Simplicity and Complexity: Finding the Essence of Peacebuilding	31	(10)
On Peace Accords: Image of a Line in Time	41	(10)
On the Gift of Pessimism: Insights from the Geographies of Violence	51	(14)
On Aesthetics: The Art of Social Change	65	(10)
On Space: Life in the Web	75	(12)
On Mass and Movement: The Theory of the Critical Yeast	87	(14)
On Web Watching: Finding the Soul of Place	101	(12)
On Serendipity: The Gift of Accidental Sagacity	113	(18)
On Time: The Past That Lies before Us	131	(20)
On Pied Pipers: Imagination and Creativity	151	(12)
On Vocation: The Mystery of Risk	163	(8)
On Conclusions: The Imperative of the Moral Imagination	171	(8)
Epilogue: A Conversation	179	(2)
Glossary	181	(4)
Notes	185	(2)
Bibliography	187	(6)
Index	193