September 22-24, 2016
Selkirk College
Nelson and Castlegar, British Columbia, Canada
Obstructing the Old or Constructing the New? Embracing the Tension to Build the World We Want
As peace scholars, educators, and activists, we are often torn between opposing, challenging and resisting what we don’t want, and visioning, creating, and constructing what we do want. But knowing when and where to do one or the other, or how much emphasis to put on one, at the expense of the other, can be tricky, for individuals, organizations, and social movements alike. How much, or when, do we try to work with intransigent governments, police, and abusive or exploitative corporations? How much, or when, do we abandon cooperation, dialogue and engagement in favor of protest, civil disobedience, and peaceful coercion? Are contrasting approaches within a movement more complementary than not? Is a hybrid approach possible — and at what scale? What considerations animate our decisions to choose one approach over the other or to combine them as we do? At this year’s conference, we will explore methods and strategies that not only address the challenging attributes of our relationships and our world, but also showcase the success of visionary projects and movements that have built new ways of being and doing (that is, building the world we want) from the interpersonal to the global.