Thread by @keikoinboston

I came across this interesting piece by Séverine Autesserre (@SeverineA), a political science professor at Barnard College who specializes in international relations and African studies with a focus on civil wars & peacebuilding. ↓

https://twitter.com/PVGlance/status/1376943245486264320

Séverine’s piece outlines “three things US residents can learn from inhabitants of war-torn places that can help them to combat extremism and violence around them.” ↓

1: “[D]evelop informal relationships with our opponents, whether they be political, religious, or cultural adversaries. …

… It is by listening, talking, and bonding over shared interests that everyday residents have managed to keep violence at bay in parts of Congo, Israel, and Northern Ireland.”

2: “[W]e can use features of our own local cultures to help smooth out tensions."

She cites an example of mothers in Chicago who decided to sit on street corners in an effort to reduce bloodshed.

"And because nobody wants to kill someone in front of their own mothers, the number of shootings in their community has decreased."

3: “[W]e can support grassroots, bottom-up peacebuilding associations, with whatever time, money, and efforts we can spare.”

Top-down peacebuilding strategies do not work when they are not paired with bottom-up peacebuilding strategies.

We cannot rely on politicians and other powerful people to fix what’s broken in the US.

This is what Séverine learned working in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Timestamp for quote: 11:58 ↓

“[T]he story I just told you is a story about how a dominant peacebuilding culture shapes the intervener's understanding of what the causes of violence are, how peace is made, and what interventions should accomplish. …

… These understandings enable international peace builders to ignore the micro-level foundations that are so necessary for sustainable peace. …

… The resulting inattention to local conflicts leads to inadequate peace building in the short term and potential war resumption in the long term.”

This may help to explain why violence has continued to be an issue in parts of the United States and why national organizations don’t seem that effective in combatting it.

Séverine’s Autesserre’s website:
severineautesserre.com

MASK - Mothers/Men Against Senseless Killings
Founded by @TamarManasseh in 2015.
ontheblock.org/about

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@TamarManasseh Just found this powerful quote from @TamarManasseh.

"Being Black tells you something should be done. Being Jewish tells you it can be done. Being human brings it together and it gets done."

forward.com/culture/film-t…