Reducing Armed Violence: It Is More Than the Guns
By Ed Laurance
Prison gangs and the study of ethnic roots: When is the search for identity a criminal enterprise?
By Julie Reynolds
Collaboration: An exercise of humanity
By Sonja C. Koehler
By Kyrstie Lane, Managing Editor, Reflections Communities play a key role in resolving conflicts. In this field, we can accomplish very little alone, and we are always at our most effective when we unite with those who care about the same issues and devote themselves to the same work. Our ties with fellow conflict resolvers, read more
Every Step Counts By Pushpa Iyer The common and oft-repeated critique that the field of conflict studies is weak on literature and in the practice of resolving conflicts is most exemplified when discussing structural conflicts. Root causes of conflicts are almost always rooted in the system and therefore in order to resolve a conflict, one read more
By Ed Laurance Despite nearly twenty years of growing attention to the problem of armed violence in the world, the latest statistics and news headlines tell us it remains a critical impediment to achieving the Millennium Development Goals. The prestigious research institution Small Arms Survey in Geneva estimated in 2011 that “more than 526,000 people are read more
By Julie Reynolds Last year, hundreds of California prison inmates went on a statewide hunger strike to protest conditions in the system’s Security Housing Units, the most tightly controlled isolation cells known as the SHU. Among the occupants of the state’s two SHUs, which function as prisons-within-prisons, are those deemed to be members of any read more
By Sonja C. Koehler Collaboration: it is messy. We have to deal other people, and confront ourselves. It demands commitment, open mindedness, agility. Our higher-selves must be present, to be honest, engaged, diplomatic, empathetic. It is hard stuff. So why do we do it? Why do we collaborate? Humans, like other species, are social creatures. read more
Can you describe your artwork for us? The sculpture seen in this photograph is one of the “rockstacks” which I have been making for nearly twenty years. These rockstacks by and large consist of two or more natural stones, placed in proximity to or balanced on top of each other. They are a composition of read more
The conflicts that gain the most attention and media coverage tend to be those that are most sensational and violent. But there are many other conflicts we do not hear about, and those living through them must struggle to make their voices heard. This column seeks to bring attention to serious events, issues, and conflicts read more
Advocating for nonviolent change, the Center for Conflict Studies emphasizes research and practice to better understand conflicts and manage them effectively in order to bring changes to current inequalities and social injustices. Our quarterly magazine, Reflections, will be published in January, April, July, and October.