John Paul Lederach

A good book for those who are uneasy at the increased bureaucratisation of peace and the influence of the ever more technocratic peace industry. Although Lederach is one of the leaders in strategies for peacebuilding from a Christian perspective, here he calls for a move beyond skills and techniques to explore stories and metaphor, intuition and serendipity, relationships and context, art and soul, in peace-building.

Lederach says, “I am uneasy with the growing technique-oriented view
of show more change in settings of violence that seems to dominate much of
professional conflict resolution approaches”. He speaks of “invoking
the moral imagination... which is not found in perfecting or applying the techniques or the skills of a process... My feeling is that we have overemphasized the technical aspects and political content to the detriment of the art of giving birth to and keeping a process creatively alive". (pp 52 and 70) show less

This book aims high and, in my opinion, largely fails. When I began this book, fellow classmates told me that I would appreciate it as I am a student of conflict transformation and the creative practices.
While I did enjoy Mr.Lederach's unique take on the importance of the arts and the undervaluing of intuitive elements within peacebuiding, I found the writing style almost unreadable. Mr. Lederach wanders from place to place, mentioning everything from spider web watchers to rock-hounding in show more theories that he himself continuesly undercuts. This, combined with a loose writing structure and an impressive vocabularly, made the book quite difficult to get through. I appreciated the ideas, not their execution. It was however, a good attempt at a field rich with possibility. Better luck next time. show less

John Paul Lederach blends a special training tradition in mediation with a tradition derived from his work in development. Throughout, he uses anecdote and pertinent experiences to demonstrate his resolution techniques. Preparing for Peace is the most innovative and comprehensive guide available for training and working across cultures and will be of value to those involved in resolution activities through development, relief, and nongovernmental agencies.

Building Peace is John Paul Lederach's definitive statement on peacebuilding. Lederach explains why we need to move beyond "traditional" diplomacy, which often emphasizes top-level leaders and short-term objectives, toward a holistic approach that stresses the multiplicity of peacemakers, long-term perspectives, and the need to create an infrastructure that empowers resources within a society and maximizes contributions from outside.