Monday, August 19, 2013

 

Johan Galtung’s view from Europe: Transcend At 20: And Then What?


 

Transcend is 20 years old! I can still remember Prof. Galtung’s classes at the University of Hawaii – the material, and the methodology, was available nowhere else.

Today’s world seems to be as troubled as ever. As I type this, continued killings are taking place in Egypt, the highest death toll in its modern history. This makes the work of Transcend and its creator, Prof. Galtung, all the more important and relevant.

Please consider supporting the organization (disclosure: I’m a member) by purchasing one or more of the books linked below. One (Book 11) is by Hawaii’s own Ramon Lopez‑Reyes.



Transcend At 20: And Then What?

19 August 2013

by Johan Galtung, 19 Aug 2013 – TRANSCEND Media Service

TRANSCEND: A Peace*Development*Environment Network was founded on March 1993 out of frustrations with a government-sponsored institute in Oslo, Norway–political direct and indirect interference–and a university chair with academic freedom–but all disciplines jealously guarding their academic turfs against inter-disciplinary intruders.

And one very positive experience with a conflict resolution proposal in 1967–a UN Security Commission for Europe like the UN Economic Commission–picked up in 1989-90 and implemented successfully by Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union. Exactly how and by whom, I was told at a conference in Luxemburg on March 1993 by the then Czech ambassador to Paris, in those years the deputy foreign minister, before that a Dubcek dissident, and in 1967 a 29-year old assistant in the Czech foreign ministry, present when the idea–an outcome of a project for the Council of Europe–was presented. Thanks indeed, Jaroslav Sedivy!

Transcend, go beyond, beyond contradictions, incompatibilities. Come up with constructive, concrete, creative proposals–they may work. Fumiko Nishimura and Dietrich Fischer joined; today there are 522 members invited from 80 countries; 40 percent are women.

From the beginning four tasks were defined for the network:

* action: mediation-TRANSCEND Peace Service-TPS, director Johan Galtung;

* training: university & workshops, onsite and online.

* TRANSCEND Peace University-TPU, Director Erika Degortes;

Publications:

* TRANSCEND University Press-TUP, Director Dietrich Fischer;

* dissemination: for media, with focus on solution-orientation:

* TRANSCEND Media Service-TMS, Editor Antonio C. S. Rosa;

* TRANSCEND Peace Channel-TPC, Manager (YouTube) Naakow Hayford;

* research: the Galtung-Institut G-I, Director Naakow Hayford, also the executive arm of TRANSCEND International. At present the research is focused on the Octagon World Project, managed by Dietrich Fischer.

So, twenty years later, what are the results?

TPS: the first 100 dialogue-based conflict-trauma-project proposals are in the TUP book #1, 50 Years-100 Peace & Conflict Perspectives. The next 100 as TMS editorials. Out of 100, about 30 have been quite successful–like the [Council of Europe] mentioned above–the other 70 not yet, but successes can turn into failures; and vice versa.

TPU: workshops; since year 2000 online: in 2011 16 courses-96 students; in 2012 11 courses-56 students; 2013 so far 6 courses-28 students; 5 through SKYPE.

TUP: started on June 2008. 14 books published in the TUP series (3 more coming), 8 books in the TUPP (pocket book series). All together, 22.

TMS: started on May 2008. 306 Monday editorials by Johan Galtung, 10,348 postings, around 800 visitors/day mostly from USA, UK, Germany, Russia.

TPC: every week, on editorials, with TRANSCEND experts from all over;

G-I (in Grenzach-Basel, Germany): 22 trainees in methods-epistemology of the TRANSCEND approaches; workshops, conferences, handling TPU-TUP, and the Octagon Project of Problems-Proposals for a globalizing world.

TRANSCEND in the Arab World has mediated in 12 conflicts, like Muslim clerics vs Denmark over dialogue refusal[i]. TRANSCEND Latin America has moved judicial mediation forward and published 12 books in Spanish. TRANSCEND Norway runs SABONA–TRANSCEND in family-school-work–and the Hardanger Academy for Peace*Development*Environment in Jondal. TRANSCEND Japan does reconciliation training for Northeast Asia, numerous courses, a journal, and theory. TRANSCEND Germany runs courses, many meetings, training, intercultural relations. TRANSCEND Canada-New Zealand, a huge project for high self-reliance and equity and low ecological footprint for villages all over. TRANSCEND Ghana, a permaculture experiment. TRANSCEND USA, workshops in Washington and mediation from California. TRANSCEND Italy, all of the above; and it was the link to the Italian Senate for a presentation on alternative defense for Europe. TRANSCEND Caucasus makes progress for peace, so do Russia and Nepal; TRANSCEND India struggles nonviolently against nuclear power plants. Etc.

The program for the coming years includes:

TPS: with about 30/100 mediations working well time has come to revisit the others–like Nepal February 2013, Caucasus September 2013–for exhibitions promoting solution-orientation; or more popular handbooks.

TPU: explore more niches like USA, asking participants, more SKYPE; onsite Peace*Development*Environment for the Arab world in Geneva.

TUP: massive reviews, advertising, possibly Amazon for e-books;

TMS: even more focus on solutions, particularly for USA-Israel;

TPC: involving the expertise of the whole TRANSCEND network;

G-I: develop the executive arm of TRANSCEND also in Norway, Spain.

Who pays for all this? Self-financing, by course fees and book sales, and this has worked for almost 20 years. But with the economic crisis, demand is down. There is e-book competition; and free courses. Professors Fischer and Galtung receive retirement benefits, however; and the countries are also self-financed.

TRANSCEND now needs outside support to survive. We are talking about Euro $94,000 for one year. Any amount contribution is welcome, for general support or for specific projects; and will be well publicized on our websites https://www.transcend.org/ and http://www.galtung-institut.de/.

Dear Reader: you can help us by buying something we can offer in return. Take one of our TPU courses this coming term, 23 September-20 December, on Advanced Conflict Transformation Around the World or Mediating at the Micro-Meso-Macro-Mega levels–we get the fee, you get knowledge and skills. And-or buy any number of our 22 TUP books at 25% discount, 50% discount beyond that, postage free. You keep or resell. We get money, you get books; or sell at a profit. You will find the necessary information about courses and books below. But donations are also most welcome, to our bank account:

Galtung-Institut Kto. Nr. 01088509 Sparkasse Lörach-Rheinfelden
BLZ 68350048 BIC SKLODE66 IBAN DE76683500480001088509.

NOTE:

[i]. See 50 Years: 100 Peace & Conflict Perspectives, TRANSCEND University Press, 2008, Ch. 87.

**************************************

Books on peace and development published by the TRANSCEND University Press (TUP):

Book 1: “50 Years: 100 Peace and Conflict Perspectives” by Johan Galtung, 2008, 263 pp.
Book 2: “Democracy ‑ Peace ‑ Development” by Johan Galtung and Paul D. Scott, 2008, 303 pp.
Book 3: “50 Years: 25 Intellectual Landscapes Explored” by Johan Galtung, 2008, 250 pp.
Book 4: “Globalizing God: Religion, Spirituality and Peace” by Johan Galtung and Graeme MacQueen, 2008, 254 pp.
Book 5: “The Fall of the US Empire ‑ And Then What?” by Johan Galtung, 2009, 268 pp.
Book 6: “Peace Business: Humans and Nature Above Markets and Capital” by Jack Santa Barbara, Fred Dubee and Johan Galtung, 2009, 222 pp.
Book 7: “A Theory of Conflict: Overcoming Direct Violence” by Johan Galtung, 2010, 320 pp.
Book 8: “A Theory of Development: Overcoming Structural Violence” by Johan Galtung, 2010, 283 pp.
Book 9: “A Theory of Civilizations: Overcoming Cultural Violence” by Johan Galtung, 2013 forthcoming.
Book 10: “A Theory of Peace: Building Direct, Structural and Cultural Peace” by Johan Galtung, 2013 forthcoming.
Book 11: “Archetypes of War and Peace“, by Ramon Lopez‑Reyes, 2011.
Book 12: “Reconciliation: Clearing the Past, Building a Future“, by Joanna Santa Barbara, Johan Galtung and Diane Perlman, 2012, 213 pp.
Book 13: “Deep Culture, Deep Structure, Deep Nature” by Johan Galtung, 2013 forthcoming.
Book 14: “Peace Economics: From a Killing to a Living Economy“, by Johan Galtung, 2012, 240 pp.
Book 15: “The Quest for Peace in Islamic Tradition” by Abbas Aroua, 2013, 153 pp.
Book 16: “Peace Mathematics: Mathematics of, by and for Peace“, by Johan Galtung and Dietrich Fischer, 2012, 197pp.

Pocketbooks by the TRANSCEND University Press Popular:

Pocketbook 1: “Launching Peace Studies: The First PRIO Years – Strategies Findings Implications“, by Johan Galtung, 2010, 96 pp.
Pocketbook 2: “Hva var det du prövde å få til? En dialog om politikk og kold krig“, by Johan Galtung and Arne Treholt, 2010, 96 pp.
Pocketbook 3: “Peace Plays“, by Johan Galtung, Vithal Rajan and S.P. Udayakumar, 2010, 95 pp.
Pocketbook 4: “Global Leadership and Global Systemic Issues: South, North and the United Nations in a 21st Century World”, by Boutros Boutros‑Ghali and Branislav Gosovic, 2011, 96pp.
Pocketbook 5: “Peace Journalism: 80 Galtung Editorials on Peace and War“, Antonio Carlos da Silva Rosa, Editor, 2010, 191 pp.
Pocketbook 6: “Stories to Inspire You“, collected by Dietrich Fischer, with original illustrationsby Altynay Baihodjoeva, 2013, 226 pp.
Pocketbook 7: “SABONA: Searching for the Good Solutions – Learning Solving Conflicts“, by Aase Marie and Synøve Faldalen, Vigdis R. Faldalen and Lars Thyholdt, with a Preface by Johan Galtung, 2011.
Pocketbook 8: “Korea: The Twisting Roads to Unification“, by Johan Galtung and Jae-Bong Lee, 2011.

Prices: Books 1-6, 11-16: 20 Euro each. Books 7-10: 25 Euro each. Pocketbooks: 10 Euro each.

Please click here to order books from TRANSCEND University Press.

Courses offered by TRANSCEND Peace University in the third Term 2013:
(12 weeks: 23rd September – 20th December 2013)

Advanced Conflict Transformation Around The World (Prof. Dr. Johan Galtung)
African Resources and obstacles to Peace (Rais Neza Boneza)
Conflicts at the Micro Level (Prof. Dr. Kees Van der Veer)
Democracy and Development (Prof. Paul D. Scott)
Economic-Development-Conflict:The Indian Experience (Vithal Rajan)
Education for Peace (Prof. Dr. H.B. Danesh)
Gender and Peace (Yotam Ben Meir, Dr. Gal Harmat (Ph.D))
Just War / Just Peace (Prof. Paul D. Scott)
Methods of Analysis and Research for Peace (Prof. Dr. Alberto L`Abate)
Peace-based Leadership (Prof. Dr. H.B. Danesh)
Security Studies: Theory of Human Security (Dr. Bishnu Pathak)
Social and Political Transformation in the digital age (Prof. Paul D. Scott)
The Arab Spring and the use of Nonviolence (Dr. Jørgen Johansen)
Theoretical introduction to Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding (Antonino Drago)
Transcend International 20th Anniversary Mediating at the Micro- Meso-Macro-Mega level (Prof. Dr. Johan Galtung)

Please Click Here to Enroll!

__________________________

Johan Galtung, a professor of peace studies, dr hc mult, is rector of the TRANSCEND Peace University-TPU. He is author of over 150 books on peace and related issues, including ‘50 Years-100 Peace and Conflict Perspectives,’ published by the TRANSCEND University Press-TUP.

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a CC BY-NC 3.0 United States License.

Join the discussio


Comments:

Post a Comment

Requiring those Captcha codes at least temporarily, in the hopes that it quells the flood of comment spam I've been receiving.





<< Home

This 

page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?

Newer›  ‹Older