Reina Neufeldt | University of Waterloo (original) (raw)

Papers by Reina Neufeldt

Postcolonial Studies, Jun 29, 2021

The issues explored here were surfaced during work with colleagues from the Joan B. Kroc Institut... more The issues explored here were surfaced during work with colleagues from the Joan B. Kroc Institute of International Peace Studies and Catholic Relief Services (CRS) while working on a monitoring and learning toolkit (Lederach et al. 2007). The toolkit was generously supported by a grant from the United States Institute of Peace. Some of the issues in the article were further crystallised during a peacebuilding learning event hosted by Cordaid, in The Hague, November 2005. I would also like to acknowledge and thank my colleagues Susan Hahn, Mark Rogers and the Berghof editing team for their enriching and constructive feedback.

Oxford Research Encyclopedia of International Studies, Nov 20, 2017

The proliferation of international peacebuilding practice in the 2000s was accompanied by a serie... more The proliferation of international peacebuilding practice in the 2000s was accompanied by a series of questions that has produced a significant body of writing about peacebuilding ethics within International Relations. This growing body of literature has produced questions, debates and theoretical positions. As explored below, a limited set of meta-ethics considerations provide the foundation for normative theorizing, particularly the moral objectivist commitment to positive peace. The majority of theorizing is situated among normative ethics debates. These works respond to the questions: Who has agency or who ought to have agency in peacebuilding? What ends should peacebuilding pursue? And, what means will ensure that peacebuilding is done right? The related literature focuses on a broad range of conditions, from individuals working for nongovernmental organizations to state- and United Nations–sponsored interventions. It includes authors who write from cosmopolitan, consequentialist, postcolonial, virtue, critical, feminist, and Foucaultian perspectives, among others. Finally, there is nascent work in descriptive and applied ethics. Peacebuilding efforts to rebuild relationships and structures during and after conflict, violence and war present a series of ethical questions and challenges for international and national actors. Should the international community engage in peacebuilding? To what extent? Who ought to be involved? What constitutes good ends for peacebuilding? How can peacebuilding be done right? These questions identify the ways in which peacebuilding has been morally interrogated since its rise in prominence as a form of international intervention in the 1990s. The history of peacebuilding and peacebuilding meta-ethics must be considered with a view toward current normative ethics debates involving agency as well as the ends and means in peacebuilding.

Action Research, Apr 21, 2020

Participatory action research fits well with conflict resolution and peacebuilding; it is used by... more Participatory action research fits well with conflict resolution and peacebuilding; it is used by scholar-practitioners as part of field-based practice efforts that contribute to transforming conflict and add to scholarly knowledge. However, as Cynthia Chataway's analysis of a participatory action research project undertaken with the Mohawk community of Kahnawake indicated, there are considerable constraints on mutual inquiry when it occurs in settings marked by historical oppression, distrust of outsiders and internal division; these constraints require the model to respond to the community context. Drawing on this insight, this paper explores a recent collaborative, community-based research that was part of a larger youth-centered peacebuilding and security initiative in Haiti. The initiative involved partners from Canada supporting a non-governmental organization and youth in four communities to engage in action research, under the umbrella of community-based research, as part of the 26-month project. The article draws out insights on ways in which the community-based research

International Peacekeeping, Aug 8, 2014

This article explores the ethics of peacebuilding. It argues that the perspectives of two moral t... more This article explores the ethics of peacebuilding. It argues that the perspectives of two moral theories currently dominate peacebuilding discourse: duty-based and consequentialist thinking. While these moral theory perspectives possess merits there are also important limits, which are particularly important for peacebuilding. The article argues that if peacebuilding is genuinely to contribute to collective flourishing then we need to recognize and act upon a more holistic ethics of peacebuilding practice. Considerations drawn from ethics of care and virtue ethics are therefore proposed to expand considerations of what constitutes ‘good’ and ‘right’ within peacebuilding interventions.

Journal of peacebuilding and development, Sep 1, 2005

Linking peacebuilding and development is an emerging area of specialisation. Changes in the polit... more Linking peacebuilding and development is an emerging area of specialisation. Changes in the political, social, and economic contexts, the intangible dimensions of attitudinal and relational change, and the need to take a long-term perspective in order to capture the effects of programming all pose substantial challenges to peacebuilding programming for development agencies. This article provides a series of guiding questions for evaluation which can also be used in the planning and monitoring stages of a peacebuilding or conflictsensitive development programming. 1 Drawing upon the work of scholars and practitioners working in the fields of development and peacebuilding, the article presents a process to generate strategic building blocks for a comprehensive approach to evaluating peacebuilding programming. The Challenges of Evaluating Peacebuilding In recent years the international community has devoted significant attention and resources to 'peacebuilding' in post-settlement societies. United Nations agencies, the World Bank, national and international non-governmental organisations, and donor agencies now use the language of peacebuilding to describe their work. Peacebuilding covers a wide and amorphous set of activities at different stages of conflict, leading some to wonder what it actually is. To complicate matters, the literature on peacebuilding offers differing interpretations of the concept. The variation usually centres on the stage at which peacebuilding occurs and the range of actions it comprises. A sampling of three definitions by Evans (1993:9), Lederach (1997:20) and Boutros-Ghali (1992:11) illustrates these distinctions. Evans' and Lederach's definitions include efforts before and after an outbreak of conflict, whereas Boutros-Ghali's definition focuses on actions following the outbreak of violent conflict, emphasising the post-accord nature of peacebuilding. One definition refers to peacebuilding as strategy (Evans), another as action (Boutros-Ghali), and the third as processes, approaches, and stages (Lederach); the latter being the most comprehensive in scope. We define peacebuilding broadly in this article to refer to actions taken to prevent violent conflict from erupting and efforts taken to end violent conflict and subsequently to transform relationships, interactions, and structures after the violence subsides. 2 Peacebuilding activities can be undertaken on many 'tracks' (Diamond & McDonald 1996) and in many sectors, whether by development agencies, community-based organisations, the media, business or political leaders. The goal is to create, support, or enhance healthy and sustainable interactions, relationships, and structures that are tolerant, respectful,

De Gruyter eBooks, Sep 6, 2021

Faith-based peacebuildinghas al ong history.While the nomenclature of peacebuilding mayberecent-i... more Faith-based peacebuildinghas al ong history.While the nomenclature of peacebuilding mayberecent-its contemporary deployment often attributed to Johan Galtung(1976)-manypioneers who engaged in the peace activism, research and practice that shaped and produced contemporarypeace and conflict studies programs and peacebuildingwerefaith-basedactors motivated by their convictions. Lookinga tt he 20 th century,this ranged from earlyc ontributions by Leo Tolstoy and MahatmaGandhi, to mid-century voices such as Martin Luther King Jr., and later scholar-practitioners like EliseB oulding,J ohn Paul Lederach, and the list goes on (e. g. see Boulding 1998, Miller 2000). Yeti nt he late 20 th century,i t seemed that faith-based peacebuildingwas either radicallyn ew or not credible. Researcha nd practice in mediation, negotiation, alternative dispute resolution, problem-solving workshops and other conflict resolution and transformation expanded and the religious or faith dimension of such work faded. In the 1980s and 1990s it became asmall part of textbooks in peace and conflict studies, typicallyw ith respect to principled nonviolence, peace movementsa nd just war theory (Barash and Webel 2002), religious militancy (Crocker,H ampson, and Aall 1996), or as part of understanding the culturalcontext in which an intervention occurs (Avruch 1998). Then came the 21st century,with its rising spectre of religiouslym otivated terrorism and conflict that crossed borders.E xplorations of the relationship between religion and statecraft,h eralded by the work of DougJ ohnston and Cynthia Sampson (1994), expanded. The rise in attention to religious peacebuilding was concomitant with concerns about religion and violent extremism. It included scholarlya nd practitionerw ork exploring fundamentalism (e. g. Appleby 2000,J uergensmeyer 2000), excavatingp articularr eligious traditions and their contributions to peacebuilding(e. g.

Oxford University Press eBooks, May 6, 2022

This chapter investigates how individual unwillingness to examine core values can provide unmerit... more This chapter investigates how individual unwillingness to examine core values can provide unmerited justification for certain policies and prevent important and thoughtful deliberation with affected parties. It offers several recommendations for promoting ethical reflection and humility in peacebuilding, which in turn can democratize leadership opportunities. In particular, the chapter proposes an “action-reflection” model to help peacebuilding practitioners think clearly and ethically about the implications of their good interventions. Critical self-reflection along these lines is also necessary within peacebuilding organizations, especially if these organizations want to avoid falling into patterns that have been shown to limit individual members' ability to reflect ethically. This includes, for example, groupthink scenarios and a focus on procedures and process over substantive outcomes. Without a mechanism for such action-reflection, it becomes exceedingly difficult for the peacebuilder to avoid co-optation, to balance donor demands with local integrity, or to decide how to formulate, prioritize, and change goals in shifting contexts.

Peace & Change, Jun 17, 2011

Interfaith dialogue garnered considerable positive attention and derision after September 11, 200... more Interfaith dialogue garnered considerable positive attention and derision after September 11, 2001. This article critically examines expectations of interfaith dialogue by clarifying explicit and implicit suppositions of how and why things will change because of dialogue. Three broad approaches to dialogue are identified: theological, political, and peacebuilding. Hypotheses about change within each approach are identified and explored through case examples. The article argues that while interfaith dialogue can contribute to personal, relational, and structural change, each of the three approaches does not do so equally. The article concludes that proactive reflection on theories of change within dialogue is necessary for interfaith dialogue to achieve its potential to build peace.

Springer eBooks, Dec 2, 2021

Journal of Mennonite Studies, 2009

The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this p... more The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.

Wicked Problems

Postcolonial Studies, 2021