https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/38281 2026-04-24T08:11:51Z 2026-04-24T08:11:51Z Regan, Colm https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/38304 2019-01-12T02:50:39Z 2018-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: How many shoes…? Reflections on conflict, conflict resolution and environment Authors: Regan, Colm Abstract: Posing the question ‘How many pairs of shoes do you have?’ in any group setting, educational or otherwise routinely generates a number of responses - guilt being one of the most common as the style and branding of shoes has become a status symbol in many societies. Guilt also because so many of us have more shoes than we can possibly wear and because they then represent that other characteristic of society (especially in the West) - waste. A simple survey of the volume of water required to manufacture a pair of shoes (7,000 litres per pair of leather shoes1) reveals another dimension of that culture: continuing waste of key resources. If the initial question on shoes is extended to include daily behaviours based on waste (e.g. water, food, energy, clothes etc.), then the discussion moves up a notch. Why is waste such a core feature of our lives and why do we engage in it so readily and habitually? Is waste simply a matter of personal responsibility or does it have systemic relevance and meaning? Where does personal responsibility and culpability begin and end and how do we mediate the conflicts that arise accordingly? In what ways does our embrace of waste represent a deeper malaise or challenge in the context of climate change, environmental degradation and a globalisation based increasingly on inequality? In what ways are the resource or environment conflicts of today different or more urgent than those of previous colonial and imperial eras? Such questions and the debates they generate represent a fundamental challenge to both the theory and practice of conflict resolution, one that the discipline simply must address.

2018-01-01T00:00:00Z Hirsch, Susan F. https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/38301 2019-01-12T02:50:54Z 2018-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Experiential learning in conflict analysis and resolution education : an overview Authors: Hirsch, Susan F. Abstract: Across higher education institutions, the study of conflict and its resolution takes place under many programmatic and departmental labels. These include, among others, Conflict Analysis and Resolution (CAR), Peace Studies, Peace and Conflict Studies, Social Justice Studies, and Dispute Resolution as well as Anthropology, International Relations, Political Science, Legal Studies, Psychology, Sociology, and other traditional disciplines. The variety of institutional homes helps to account for what is a widely diverse set of approaches to teaching about conflict. Relatedly, conflict pedagogy is shaped by other aspects of institutional histories. For example, the current School for Peace & Conflict Studies at Kent State University in Ohio (USA) traces its origins to an infamous event in 1971, when four students who were peacefully protesting on the campus were killed by Ohio National Guard troops. The Kent State program’s long-standing curricular emphasis on peaceful forms of change reflects the institutional commitment made in response to the campus (and national) tragedy. Trends in conflict education can also follow from broader priorities, such as the post-9/11 proliferation of courses focused on preventing terrorism and countering violent extremism, and the new programs of study in social justice and human rights that take up longstanding concerns of the conflict field, such as structural violence, discrimination, identity conflicts, and inequality.

2018-01-01T00:00:00Z Dickson, Brice https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/38300 2019-01-12T02:50:43Z 2018-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Taking the politics out of human rights in conflict resolution : Northern Ireland and beyond Authors: Dickson, Brice Abstract: Although supporters of human rights are sometimes reluctant to admit it, the very concept of human rights is a contested one. People reasonably differ as to what qualifies as a human right and as to why that is the case. Consensus on these issues is reached within different societies, or at the international level, only through processes of political deliberation and negotiation. In recent years all sorts of claims have been wrapped up in human rights language in an attempt to make them more acceptable to voters and to candidates who seek those votes when standing for political office. Within large-scale conflict situations, such as have occurred in Northern Ireland, South Africa, the Balkans and Turkey, it is particularly tempting for different political factions to exploit human rights language in order to boost their own political claims. The challenge for human rights academics and theorists is to try to prevent the concept of human rights from being unduly distorted as a result of inappropriate politicisation of the traditional vocabulary used in this context.

2018-01-01T00:00:00Z Wohlfeld, Monika Jasper, Jack https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/38298 2019-01-12T02:50:40Z 2018-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Cyberattacks and cyber conflict : where is conflict resolution? Authors: Wohlfeld, Monika; Jasper, Jack Abstract: In this paper we analyse cyberattacks and cyber conflict and the challenges they pose to the field of conflict resolution. State and non-state actors alike are conducting cyberattacks in new and sophisticated ways that result in conflicts which are not readily addressed by conflict resolution approaches. Consequently, these developments in cyberspace take place without much input from conflict resolution scholars and practitioners. We suggest that these developments in cyberspace result in changing relationships between actors, and thus potentially different types of conflict, based around two key problems. First, there is the problem of attribution. Cyberspace is inherently linked with anonymity and attributing a cyberattack with certainty is almost never possible. In addition, it is difficult to distinguish the difference between various types of actors, which include a mixture of states, non-state groups, and individual hackers.

2018-01-01T00:00:00Z