SOC466 Conflict and Peace Making in Divided Societies

Faculty of Social Studies
Spring 2005
Extent and Intensity
0/0. 12 credit(s). Type of Completion: z (credit).
Teacher(s)
Prof. Dr. Tony Oberschall, PhD (lecturer), prof. PhDr. Ladislav Rabušic, CSc. (deputy)
Guaranteed by
prof. PhDr. Ladislav Rabušic, CSc.
Department of Sociology – Faculty of Social Studies
Contact Person: prof. PhDr. Ladislav Rabušic, CSc.
Prerequisites
The course is aimed at students enrolled at sociology, political science, international relations, social policy, and journalism.
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.

The capacity limit for the course is 28 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/28, only registered: 0/28
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
Peace making and peace agreement implementation is at the core of peace and conflict management. The object of this mini course is to provide a primer on current thinking about conflict, peace processes and reconstruction in divided societies during and in the aftermath of destructive conflicts, insurgencies, and civil wars in the contemporary world. Particular cases discussed will include both more successful and less successful instances of conflict management, such as the Belfast Agreement and implementation in Northern Ireland, the Dayton Accords and their implementation in Bosnia, the Kosovo war and its aftermath, the breakdown of the Oslo process in Israel/Palestine, the Cyprus dilemma, and Macedonia. The themes and topics in this course are based on recommendations from a conference at the United States Institute of Peace for what a course of study on peace building should cover.
Syllabus
  • 1. The scope of peace studies and conflict management. Intellectual perspectives; major centers, institutes and programs; data bases and methodologies; websites. Literature: Croker, Chester et al, 2001 Turbulent Peace. The Challenge of Managing International Conflict , Washington D.C., United States Institute of Peace, introduction pp. xv-xxix. Marshall, Monty and Ted Robert Gurr, 2003 Peace and Conflict in 2003 University of Maryland, Center for International Development and Conflict Management www.cidcm.umd.edu. Darby, John and Roger MacGinty, 2000, The Management of Peace Processes, New York, St. Martin, introduction pp1-15.
  • 2. The causes of religious, ethnic and nationality conflicts: politics, economics, collective identities, crises. Literature: Kaufman, Stuart 2001 Modern Hatreds. The Symbolic Politics of Ethnic Wars Cornell UP. Chapts. 1 and 2, pp. 1-47 Collier, Paul 2003 The Market for Civil War Foreign Policy May/June pp.40-45 Hewstone, Miles and Ed Cairns, 2002, Social Psychology and Intergroup Conflict in Daniel Chirot and Adam Seligman eds. Ethnopolitical Warfare, Washington D.C., Am. Psych. Ass. Pp319-342
  • 3. Protracted conflict: the dynamics of conflict, the character of contemporary insurgencies, terrorism, conciliation amid violence. Literature: Oberschall, Anthony 2004 Conflict and Peacemaking in Divided Society pp. 1-10, chapter in forthcoming book on peace building Kaldor, Mary 2001 New and Old Wars. Organized Violence in the Global Era. Stanford UP. Chapts. 7 and 8 , pp. 138-165 Oberschall, Anthony 2004 Explaining Terrorism Sociological Theory 22 (1) March, pp.26ff Ignatieff, Michael, 2002 Human Rights, Laws of War, and Terrorism Social Research 69 (4), pp 1137-1158
  • 4. Peace processes: cease fires, negotiations, external intervention, mediation, peace keepers, constitutional design, power sharing, institutional reforms (police, non-discrimination in labor markets, schooling). Literature: Sisk, Timothy 1996 Power Sharing and International Mediation in Ethnic Conflict, Washington D.C., United States Institute of Peace. Chapts. 3 and 4, pp 27-75 Oberschall, Anthony 2004 Conflict and Peacemaking in Divided Society pp.10-22 Walzer, Michael 2002 The Triumph of Just War Theory Social Research 69 (4), pp.925-944
  • 5. Implementation of the peace agreement and of reforms, spoiler violence, truth and justice, decommissioning and demilitarization, international agencies, economic and civic reconstruction, reconciliation. Literature: Darby, John 2004 Violence: post accord problems during peace processes , chapter in planned book on peace building Muscat, Robert 2004 Aid and Internal Conflict: Relevance, Prevention, Exacerbation Ottaway, Marina 2002 Nation Building Foreign Policy Sept/Oct pp. 16-24
Assessment methods (in Czech)
The course will start in May 2 and will finish in May 13, 2005.
Students are expected to participate in class discussions, and for credits will write a ten page essay applying conceptual tools and analysis from the course to an instance of peace making.
Language of instruction
English
Further Comments
Study Materials
The course is taught only once.
The course is taught: in blocks.
  • Enrolment Statistics (recent)
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