Just had an article published in Conciliation Resources most-recent issue of Accord. The issue focuses on “Pioneering peace pathways: Making connections to end violent conflict” and they asked me to write about the various roles that nonviolent action movements can play in shaping peace processes. In my piece I highlight three particular ways that nonviolent movements can shape the ground for peace processes: through mitigating violence, pressuring armed actors to resolve conflict, and sometimes coordinating with one armed actor to shift the balance of power in a conflict.
I wrote the original draft of the piece over a year ago, before I was in my current role at USIP, and so while it certainly draws on some of the themes in USIP’s work (and I mention our SNAP Curriculum), it doesn’t draw on as much of USIP’s work as I would bring up if I were writing the piece again now. Nevertheless, it was a really interesting opportunity to think through the links between nonviolent action and peacebuilding, something that has become very central to my work since then.
You can find the complete issue of Accord for free download here. My article is on pages 21-29.
Jonathan Pinckney, PhD 