Summary of the first Conflict Ideas Forum on peacebuilding in Europe

 

 

 

 

On 10th December, 23 representatives from civil society, academia and Whitehall met informally at the Royal Commonwealth Society to discuss the relevance of peacebuilding for Europe. The same day as the European Union received the Nobel Peace Prize, the Conflict Ideas Forum discussed whether it was timely to scale up peacebuilding efforts within European countries struggling in particular with the shocks and ramifications of the global financial crisis. 

 

The European Union has for over 60 years been a singular model of peaceful economic, political and cultural integration. But recent developments and changes have given rise to a number of complex and arguably new forms of conflict and violence, from England’s riots to anti-immigrant sentiments in Greece. The threshold of violence and peace has changed and the extent to which Europe can be considered peaceful today needs to be revisited. 

 

The Forum discussed a number of fractures that indicate that the contract between citizens and their states is under duress. In particular:

 

- Politics is professionalised and in most countries is ever more distant from growing segments of the population, especially the poor and the young. This leads to a general detachment from traditional politics.

 

- The recession and austerity measures have led to anti-immigration and anti-integration sentiments, youth unemployment and feelings of alienation. In today’s landscape, ordinary people’s sense of social belonging and engagement seems to be weakening.

 

The Forum discussed the situation in the UK and in Greece, where a number of conflict trends were identified

 

- Public faith in democratic institutions is decaying and reforms aimed at restoring public confidence have been ineffectual and even counter-productive—politicians are trusted less and less and parliament is increasingly seen as irrelevant. 

- Trends in voter turn-out have been declining consistently. Voter turnout amongst the top two social classes in the UK is 19% higher than in bottom two - richer people feel more ownership of politics.

- A decline in the transparency of arrangements between political leadership and powerful media corporations has also contributed to a general detachment from traditional politics. While representative democracy indicators are in decline participation is not, and there appears to be growing interest in forms of direct and participatory democracy, e.g the Occupy movement. 

- Government promotion of the Big Society and the policy of localism is an attempt to encourage people to be active in their local areas and be involved in volunteering, running local services and holding local authorities to account. However, there is considerable scepticism of the viability of the Big Society given cuts to services, particularly those that promote active citizenship. 

- The financial crisis is contributing to a widening of the gap between rich and poor. The deregulation of employment and finance sectors has led to a rise in low skilled jobs and numbers of working poor.

- Conflict trends include Islamaphobia, anti-immigration/assimilation sentiments, a division between the perceived deserving and undeserving poor, democratic deficit, lack of social mobility and youth involvement in gangs.

 

- There is a lack of trust in the authorities combined with anti-establishment rhetoric and sometimes violent action. Violence does not only occur in connection with demonstrations and riots. There are also attacks against politicians and embassies as well as a number of internal conflicts between various political groups. Other expressions of violence are also increasingly evident, including school based violence, verbal abuse, and sexual and racial violence. Integration has seemingly become a luxury. 

- GDP has declined by 25%. Unemployment is now at 25%, and 55% amongst young people. The gap between rich and poor is increasing and there is an acute sense of social injustice. People are looking for someone to hold accountable. The rise of fascist movements, including Golden Dawn, is indicative of a desire to punish those politicians responsible for the crisis. 

- Greece may be headed for a situation of supervised sovereignty. Their EU-presidency in 2014 will be challenging. 

- The social contract has always been missing in Greece. Whilst Europe is built on a strong sense of political homogenisation, this is not so apparent in Greece. Issues such as democratic participation and elections are still thorny in Greece. The political project is in serious problems in Greece as voters no longer trust their rulers. The fascist groups are claiming to be the only defenders of the rule of law – and are to some extent replacing the state and eating into the democratic project.

 

Whilst some of these trends are likely to be shared across other European countries there will also be country-specific differences. In Spain, for instance, protests have been directed against the capitalist project and a globalisation that creates inequality and is not accountable. Despite high levels of immigration, there has not been widespread violence and no fascist movements have emerged. This may have to do with Spain’s colonial past and experience in managing immigration – which Greece does not have. But further research on these sorts of differences is called for. 

 

The Forum identified two key issues for further research and action. 

- The first one was ‘the paradox of the European peacebuilding narrative’. This paradox centres on the notion that the purpose of the EU as a peacebuilding model has to a large extent been forgotten. It is often referred to as a model for economic cooperation and growth, but its original purpose as a collaborative venture aimed at preventing a repeat of the violence of the Second World War has to a large extent been lost. Given the difficulties Europe is facing in dealing with the consequences of the current financial crisis, there is a need to revisit the nature of the contract between Europe and its citizens. If not, the very same levels of integration that were created to maintain peace between countries may rather exacerbate conflict as feelings of injustice and unfairness deepen. 

 

- The second key issue discussed during the forum was ‘voice’. Traditional mechanisms for mediating voice within societies in Europe – in the form of traditional electoral politics – are arguably inadequate for expressing the opinions of populations that are increasingly diverse and interconnected through globalisation. This is creating feelings of marginalisation – particularly amongst young people - and has led to the formation of alternative forms of voicing opinion. These alternatives (for example, the Occupy movement, gangs, and other forms of organised protest) may or may not lead to greater levels of inclusion within European societies. In certain contexts, violence becomes a mechanism for obtaining voice. The forum discussed the need for more conversations around this issue and for awareness-raising amongst politicians.  Timing is of the essence as apathy will set in if people have no avenues for expression.

 

The Forum confirmed the need to “keep talking” about the above issues. More country-specific analysis was recommended which would allow for the identification of commonalities and cross-Europe trends as well as for a discussion of differences. International Alert will follow up during the coming months to identify potential partnerships and processes to take forward this initiative. 

 

 

 

1. Lord Alderdice: Convenor of the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Party in the House of Lords; Senior Research Fellow at Harris Manchester College, University of Oxford; President ARTIS (Europe) Ltd; former Leader of the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland; former Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly; Past President of Liberal International. 

2. Jo Broadwood: Director of Talk for a Change, a UK-based organisation that works alongside individuals and communities to tackle tough local issues and build good relations.

3. Phil Champain: Director of Emerging Programmes, International Alert.

4. Rebecca Crozier: Head of Development, Department for Emerging Programmes, International Alert.

5. Lisa Cumming: Dialogue practitioner rooted in Peace Studies, University of Bradford working on participatory peacebuilding.

6. Shelley Deane: Senior Middle East Advisor, International Alert.

7. Jonathan Dudding: Director of International Programmes & Interim Chief Executive at ICA:UK (Institute of Cultural Affairs).

8. Juan Garrigues: Research Fellow at CIDOB, the Barcelona Centre for International Affairs.

9. Canan Gunduz: Member of the core team at the European Forum for International Mediation and Dialogue (mediatEur). 

10. Katrien Hertog: Senior Peacebuilding Trainer and Facilitator, International Alert.

11. Katrine Hoyer: Senior Research Consultant ( 21st Century Violence) International Alert.

12. Huw Illingworth: Freelance practitioner based in Leeds and Bradford and with a focus on community relations and group work. Currently studying for an MA in Migration Studies.

13. Shilpa Jindia: Assistant Editor, OpenSecurity.

14. Maja Korac: Reader in Migration and Refugee Studies at University of East London specialising in gender, conflict and development, as well as gender, migration and integration in Europe.

15. Jeffrey Stevenson Murer: Lecturer on collective violence at the University of St Andrews. Recently principal investigator of the British Council-funded European study of youth mobilisation, which examined the motivations of young people involved in radical political and social movements.

16. Barry Navarro: Senior Programme Officer – UK Programme, International Alert.

17. Abdul Rahim: Director of Centre for Good Relations based in North West England, working on ‘civic mediation’. 

18. Dan Smith: Secretary General, International Alert.

19. Despina Syrri: Director of Symbiosis, an organisation based in Greece that focuses on information and education, freedom of expression, public debate and active civic participation.

20. Sam Tedcastle: Director of Centre for Good Relations based in North West England, working on ‘civic mediation’.

21. Jo Tyabji: Editor of openSecurity, an online comment and analysis platform, and theatre practitioner with an interest in the arts in situations of conflict.

22. George Tzogopoulos: Bodossakis post-doctoral fellow at ELIAMEP (Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy).

23. Stuart Wroe: Global learning specialist and Associate Lecturer in International Development at The Open University, Stuart is leading on a global youth work project (in partnership with International Alert) with young people in the East Lancashire diasporic community on the structural causes of poverty and conflict in Pakistan.