The 1999 Research Symposium

The 1999 December launch of the Women Waging Peace Initiative included a three-day research symposium. Invited scholars participated in seminars, interviews with delegates, and took part in panel discussions and roundtable presentations of current and potential research related to women and peacemaking. The 1999 Symposium was led by Professors Jane Jaquette (Professor of Politics, Diplomacy, and World Affairs, Occidental College); Deborah Kolb (Professor and Director, Simmons Graduate School of Management); Jane Mansbridge (Faculty Chair, Women and Public Policy Program & Adams Professor of Political Leadership and Democratic Values, Kennedy School of Government); and Simona Sharoni (Professor, Evergreen State College).

The seminars and workshops were designed to provide a space for critical reflection on both research and practice, to identify gaps in the existing literature, and to highlight topics that require further research. A presentation on Participatory Action Research was organized, and potential areas for collaboration between delegates and scholars were explored.

The symposium brought together people from diverse disciplines and professions. The majority of participants shared worlds: many of the delegates were academics; a large number of academics were activists; and professionals in conflict resolution and mediation had frequently taken their work to conflict zones. In seminars and small group discussions, the participants shared the concerns and challenges they confronted in forging alliances with others in the process of creating and sustaining peace efforts in their communities.

They agreed on the following:

• Overwhelmingly, the participants felt that their peace building efforts, at the academic or activist level, were rarely recognized and integrated at the policy level.
• Delegates expressed their frustration that academics often came to their communities to conduct research without striving to make their work applicable to the needs of those in the conflict area. The delegates saw the need to formulate "research ethics," to encourage researchers to be accountable to the peace-builders in the community.
• Many of the delegates struggled to find a scholarly venue to document their experiences. They sought collaborative opportunities with scholars and academics.
• The majority of academics were challenged by the gap between scholarship and fieldwork. Confronted with traditional academic perceptions that activism did not fit with scholarship, they felt isolated and were unable to find a forum in the academic world to explore the issues they confronted on the ground.
• Professionals in conflict resolution and mediation felt that they needed partnerships with activists on the ground in order to gauge the relevancy of their work and to tailor it to the needs of the conflict situations.
• All participants agreed that to meet the needs of conflict situations on the ground, research in peace building must be transformed into a medium that is accountable, accessible, effective, and multi-disciplinary.

See also:

Leaders and Participants

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