What is Ownership of
Peace.
In this article, the idea of peace ownership will be
discussed. For the purpose of this article, ownership are the roles/actions
each individual person and/or organization acknowledges and works towards to
ensure peace. Ownership is linked with responsibility and are cornerstones of
peace. As an example, ownership is illustrated with this phrase by Judi
Chamberlin, “Nothing about us, without us”. That simple phrase is seeking ownership
and involvement. The simplicity of that quote holds a very complex reality
about the efforts of ownership needed for peace.
One complicated area of peace ownership is the reality of a
person who has been a child soldier. The life of Dominic Ongwen is one such
example. Dominic was forced into the Lords Resistance Army as a child. He lived
many years as a member of that group which is known for committing crimes
against humanity. He was brought to the International Criminal Court and found
guilty of such crimes. His story is well documented as he lived as a victim and
a perpetrator. The questions that are debated in the example of Dominic Ongwen
reach deep into the complexities of peace. One such question asked by Renée
Nicole Souris (2023), concerns the issues of passive victim, political actor
and, moral character. Souris states that we need to “construct a new narrative
that accounts for the coexistence of agency and vulnerability”, (2023, pg.
696).
The two words, agency
and vulnerability stand out as important markers of peace ownership. As in the
quote “nothing about us, without us” there are elements of agency and
vulnerability. In the case of child soldiers or youth gang members, they
experienced a cycle of vulnerability and agency.
In the case of Ongwen, the reality of forced events and
choices made is the area of question where ownership of peace is concerned. The vulnerability portion is being made to
commit crimes or be punished. As the experiences and time in such an
organization, a person can become numb to the disintegration of peace. Each of
us also have such realities take place, perhaps not to the degree of a child
soldier yet realities none the less. As we comprehend the disintegration of
peace, those are the moments of most need to be aware of agency, vulnerability
and what ownership of peace will be.
What is provided here is an example of the complexities
involved in peace ownership. Questions of personal survival and societal
survival are all involved in this example. In another similar example are the
youth who endure gang violence in Central American, (Moreno, 2023).
In the article written by Moreno, the question of peace
ownership is dealt with through understanding, “how youth morally deliberate
about conditions of gang violence shaping their communities”, Moreno, 2023,
pg., 1). The reality that youth “deliberate on the shaping of their
communities” provides evidence of ownership. Also. The similarities between these
youth and Ongwen are relatable. Decisions of survival and moments of forced
actions would be present in each situation. As the forced actions reality
evolves, at some point the argument will be made that a person was “just
following orders”. In such circumstances the consequences of not “following
orders” is physical harm and perhaps death.
In the two examples of child soldiers and youth gang members,
the individual is met with an organizational force based on violence. This
shows the importance of societal/organizational ownership towards peace. These
organizations span communities and the world. To have a look at the complexity
mix of global peace and community peace scale, ownership rings loud in this
quote, “More often than not, stakeholders and official agencies do not give
proper attention to community members to become central in the processes of
peace”, (Idebe, 2023). The term “proper attention to become central” is echoed
in the Judi Chamberlin quote, “Nothing about us, without us”. In those two
quotes, the systems that are built to provide peace have become systems that
hinder peace. The hinderance of peace is not only criminal organization. There
are systemic factors in organizations that are built to protect and maintain
peace.
Perhaps the top of the heap of organizational peace is the
United Nations Security Council. To that point, The Carnegie Endowment for
International Peace (CEIP) sponsored a discussion concerning global
perspectives on United Nations Security Council Reform. Now, this has been a
topic of great discussion for years. It is noted in the CEIP work that the
United Nations General Assembly formed a working group concerning equitable
representation in 1992, “More than three decades later, that body continues to
meet—with no tangible results”, (Patrick, 2023, pg., 1). Further to that quote are
more remarks of peace ownership, “The permanent members have stymied progress.
Each of the Permanent 5 (China, France, Russia, United Kingdom and, the
Republic of the United States) are determined to maintain its permanent seat
and veto - power”, (Patrick, ed, 2023, pg., 4). This reality puts the question
of ownership of peace in a global complex cycle. This are more sparks of debate
when we equate the individual person as though that individual were a member
state of the United Nations.
To live in peace and to build peace so we share ownership is
what we strive to accomplish. There exist are responsibility of actions and,
those actions either builds or destroys peace. For example, going back to the
gangs “gang membership seldom provides the supportive, family type advantages
that entice youth into belonging”, (Beare and Hogg,
2013, pg.,421). In this quote the “family advantages” speaks to the peace
that a youth is seeking. The organizational composition of the gang sells that
family yet, “are characterized more by tension, violence, and betrayal, both
from rival gangs and from fellow gang members”, (Beare and Hogg, 2013,
pg.,421).
These elements of selling family and delivering much less is
a path of many. Such paths are destructive yet those who sell it prosper from
the destruction, and thus a cycle of violence begins. To stop such cycles,
those who take great ownership of peace battle against the cycle. That battle
is a direct reality for the quote, “nothing about us, without us”. The battles
of racism, hatred, injustice, inequality, etc… rage on as we seek the answers
to questions such as, what is ownership of peace.
Bibliography
Beare, Margaret E., and Chris Hogg. "Listening in to
Gang Culture." Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice, vol.
55, no. 3, July 2013, pp. 421-452.
Moreno, Franklin. “Moral reasoning about gang violence in context:
A comparative study with children and adolescents exposed to maras in Honduras
and not exposed in Nicaragua.” Child Development, Wiley. 2023.
Souris, Renee Nicole. “Child Soldiers, Agency, and
Aristotelian Virtue Ethics”. The International Journal of Children’s Rights.
Brill, 31(2023), pages 698 – 728.
Patrick, Stewart. Editor. UN Security Council Reform: What
the World Thinks. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. 2023.
