Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution
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This collection contains ETD documents from the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution
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Browsing Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution by Author "Avruch, Kevin"
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Item A Discourse on Nonviolence as a Theory of Change for Peace and Conflict(2014-03-09) Mack, Johnny J.; Mack, Johnny J.; Avruch, KevinCan nonviolence as a collective ontological, epistemological, methodological, and ethical framework cohere as a theory of change relevant to today’s global, international, and cross-cultural conflicts? This thesis seeks to frame the discourse on that question, pursuing the answer by critiquing the philosophy of nonviolence, both its coherence and relevance, as a theory of change within the fields of peace and conflict. It will argue that comprehending any logic of nonviolence requires first understanding the dichotomous meanings of violence, and then comprehending them both (violence and nonviolence) as social phenomena impinging on a search for a relevant and responsive nonviolence theory of change. The goal here is to establish a paradigmatic framework to contextualize the study's objective, identify relevant terms for both violence and nonviolence, and argue that structural violence and conscientious nonviolence are the essential elements for building such a theory, particularly for the fields of peace and conflict theory and practice. Finally, it will make a case for the development of a nonviolence theory of change, and prescribing it as operative praxis for effecting positive and sustainable peace.Item Beyond the "Bear" Necessities: A Mixed Methods Analysis of the Conflicts Arising in Human-Black Bear Encounters(2013) Mazaika, Kathryn; Mazaika, Kathryn; Avruch, KevinHuman–black bear conflicts have been increasing over the last 25 years in the western United States. Conflicts arising in human–bear encounters involve both those between people and bears, and between people about bears and how to address them. Research focusing on the interactions between people and black bears is extensive, but few studies have focused on the conflict, or the progression from encounter to problem to conflict. Using concurrent mixed methods, this study examined the conflicts arising in human–black bear encounters in the Lake Tahoe Basin of California and Nevada. Through 70 semi-structured interviews and 119 surveys with community members and agency employees, and legal, policy, and document reviews, this research sought to learn more about the factors that influence the views participants formed about bears, and the alternatives they considered when an encounter became a problem. The interviews and background survey were administered concurrently, analyzed separately, and compared and integrated in a final interpretation. Background survey and Potential for Conflict Index (PCI) results supplemented the interview findings and created context and connections with earlier studies. Five themes organized the 12 findings that emerged from the semi-structured interviews through open and focused coding. Background survey analyses identified significant differences based on gender, and significant differences and highly mixed opinions on the importance of engaging an impartial facilitator. The research also found at least three distinct communities sharing the same physical space, but functioning for the most part independently until a problem black bear encounter occurred. Bears as provocateurs were both troublemakers and the catalysts for understanding the fractured community, how it addresses problem situations, and how their troublemaking could help to build a more connected community. Acknowledging the partitions in the larger community can create incentives to tailor conflict resolution systems that will reach individual communities based on their foremost needs and interests. It can also provide opportunities to explore areas most likely and fruitful for building bridges between the communities. These findings also provide insights into ways that existing systems for addressing problem encounters can be improved for greater harmony between people and bears and people about bears.Item Rents and Protests in the Sultanate of Oman(2015-03-24) Johnson, Eric B; Johnson, Eric B; Avruch, KevinThis thesis uses rentier state theory (RST) as a framework for understanding the origins of the protest movement in the Sultanate of Oman during the so-called Arab Uprisings. The discussion will focus on the evolution of RST, historic and cultural factors related to the Sultanate’s modern development, and the unique characteristics of Oman’s political economy, especially during the 2003 to 2013 timeframe. It will argue the rentier state model has led to dual dependencies: oil for revenue and expatriates for labor. These dual dependencies have created real economic conditions that differ substantially from the publicly stated goals of the Omani government and have led to the grievances expressed by Omanis during the 2011 protest movement. Using a mixed methods approach and relying on original in-country research conducted by the author from April to June 2014, the research will demonstrate the protest movement occurred not simply because of a region-wide contagion effect, but because of the underlying characteristics defining Oman’s political economy.Item The Critical Gap Between Local Versus International Perspectives on Security and Justice and Its Implications for the U.S.-Led International Intervention in Afghanistan, 2001-2006: Between State-Building and the Global War on Terrorism(2012-09-13) Nojumi, Neamatollah; Nojumi, Neamatollah; Avruch, KevinThis research examines the differences between the perceptions of the U.S.-led international intervention actors and the Afghan population, particularly in the area of security and justice over the period between 2001 and 2006. Understanding these perceptions was instructive in assessing their possible implications for U.S. engagement, and in evaluating the relationship of the U.S. engagement to the attitudes of the Afghan population. This study concluded, among other factors, that the critical gap between international and local perspectives of security and justice suggest that the failed and failing state notions as argued in the literature and enshrined in key U.S. national security documents proved too narrow to guide the intervention in Afghanistan. Lessons from Afghan history suggest that Afghan monarchs‘ and presidents‘ visions of centralization were more a romantic understanding of a modern nation-state. Recent historical accounts, as briefly stated in this study, suggest that Afghan leaders and their international backers often failed to understand the population, map their resources, and invest in the Afghan human capital. This tendency led the Afghan state elite to look outward to manipulate the environment that was available within the Great Game played between the Soviets and the U.S. during the Cold War as well as during the first six years of the post-Taliban era. The difference of perspectives on security and justice between international forces and the local populace during the first six years, as was assessed in this study, suggests that the inclusion of local narratives of host nations‘ cultures and politics may be a critical requirement for any future U.S.-led international intervention. This study concludes that relying on a narrow and highly generalized notion of failed and failing states was intellectually too thin of a basis upon which to wage an international intervention. In this direction, military interventions without a clear political strategy and adequate civilian resources will likely not win the war. A reasonable balance between the stated interests of the intervention actors and the basic needs of the locals must be attained, with the following points considered: (a) The U.S.-led counterterrorism objectives, without being transformed toward accommodating the basic needs of the local populations, failed to attain its objectives during the first six years of intervention; (b) A state centralization program in the area of security and justice is a failed model of polity and produces cultural violence, insecurity, and injustice; and (c) insurgency, corruption, and ethnic violence can be viewed as symptomatic outcomes of structural flaws that can be reinforced by cultural violence.Item The Spirit and Insights of the Axial Flowerings: A Paradigm for Conflict Resolution?(2013-08) Ahamed, Zaherali K.; Ahamed, Zaherali K.; Avruch, Kevin; Rubenstein, Richard E.ABSTRACT