Elle Feig's blog
Title: Peace Studies 1
This history, like all histories, is from one perspective. What is left out of this history of peace education?
What has always concerned me about peace education is that it has been written by men while the majority of those hurt by conflict are women and children. One of the most important books I read last year about conflict was by Ishmael Beah; although male, he wrote the books from the perspective of a child which gave the book greater import. During times of social upheaval, as evidence recently in Egypt, women are essential to the fight; we are the ones who run the home, bear the children and support the world. In order for peace education to be effective, one must be able to identify and tell all perspectives so there is equitable and fair discourse.
One of the areas that has always interested me is the feminist writers of the 1800s in America. Many of these women (Angela Haywood, Lois Waisbrooker) wrote about an utopian society where women either decided to strike and left men in chaos or ruled the land. Their points were clear - without women, society would fall its knees. Leaving out the perspective of women and their children leaves us with a half written history, one that is far from complete.
Hi Elle,
This is an important point, and one that is problematic for history books in politics - history is often written by men, leaving women out, and women have often been left out of political tables.
I'd like to point out, though, that many of the key figures of the peace education movement are women. Betty Reardon, Elise Boudling, Alicia Cabezudo, Monisha Bajaj, Birgit Brock-Utne, Virginia Cawagas...to name a few. I highly suggest checking out their work (all of them are referenced in this program at one point or another, and have written extensively in the field). All of them have also done gender-specific work. Reardon wrote a book called "Sexism and the War System" that I'm currently reading.
I also want to tell you about an exciting project of Abigail Disney, the acclaimed director of "Pray the Devil Back to Hell" (a documentary about the women's peace movement in Liberia - if you haven't seen it yet, I highly recommend it!). She has an upcoming series on PBS (to be released in the fall) called Women, War and Peace, which seeks to answer the question "What does war look like through women's eyes?" and also, what does peace look like? It's an exciting work and she's a very inspiring woman (I had the chance to hear her speak here in San Diego for Internation Women's Day).
Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
Best,
Stephanie