While academics often postulate and write about the necessity for new approaches in hybrid peacemaking involving locally led peacemaking efforts while outsiders play an accompanying or even submissive role, these conclusions often finish with the reader and the practitioner still asking, “how?” Our new approach to peacemaking steps out from the “why” hybridity, into practicing and testing just “how” to go about it. These efforts are breaking new ground in locally led peace efforts while better defining the role of the outsider not just in theory but in practice as well. This talk will highlight our latest efforts at accompanying peacemaking among former child combatants and current armed group members to the D.R. Congo as they advance toward peace with their community. This talk is especially pertinent for today as many scholars have reached the conclusion that locals should lead peacemaking efforts with outsiders working behind them, but few scholars have approached just how to go about such newly defined efforts. The conclusions of the talk will illuminate how the listener can apply these concepts to everyday peacemaking for their own lives. Dr. Charles Davidson serves as Research Faculty at the Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution at George Mason University and is the Director of their Political Leadership Academy. He is also a longtime international peacebuilder who is passionate about the intersection of peace theory and practice. He is the founder and President of Innovations in Peacebuilding International, an organization which works to creatively accompany peace in war-torn countries. His current peacemaking pursuits are working toward sustainable peace and demobilization efforts among active fighters in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He has also worked and/or researched in Iraq, Afghanistan, Uganda, Burundi, Colombia, Lebanon, Jordan, Tunisia, Indonesia and across Europe. He lives in Washington, D.C. with his wife Abby, an international development research director. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at [ Ссылка ]
