Rajendram 2005lit - 1 RESEARCH DESIGN LITERATURE REVIEW PEACE BUILDING: AN APPROACH UTILIZING SENSE-MAKING METHODOLOGY by Christlin Rajendram Eastern University of Sri Lanka cprajen@sltnet.lk CITATION AND COPYRIGHT INFORMATION: Cite as: Rajendram, C. (2005, May). Peace Building: An Approach Utilizing Sense- Making Methodology. Paper presented at a non-divisional workshop held at the meeting of the International Communication Association, New York City. © Christlin Rajendram (2005). 1. THE PHENOMENON Peace building, some times called capacity building is a popular term in many parts of the world where efforts are made to put a stop to fighting or to rebuild a country devastated by conflicts and war. These efforts center mostly around rehabilitation and resettlement of displaced people, find them livelihood etc. All these commendable efforts fail to put communication as a central component in their processes or take it for granted that it is there, and thus often fail to accomplish what they set out to do. In the early 1990s the concept of peacebuilding received a boost when the UN Secretary General explicitly made peacebuilding a core concept for the UN to work with. Post conflict Peacebuilding was defined as: “…action to identify and support structures which will tend to strengthen and solidify peace in order to avoid a relapse into conflict.” (Boutros Ghali 1992) “Considering that nonviolent action is above all a struggle for loyalties, it is surprising that communication has such a low profile in theories about it. Gandhi assumed that principled nonviolent action would speak directly to opponents, helping to convert them. Most theorists and activists, though, have taken pragmatic approach, using nonviolent action to pressure or coerce opponents, with conversion an optional bonus. Yet in all cases it is essential to build support both among those subject to attack or oppression and among third parties, and, in building support the process of communication is vital” (Brian Martin and Wendy Varney, Nonviolence Speaks 2003) 2. THE DISCOURSE COMMUNITIES Though most of the scholars on peace-building and nonviolent action acknowledge the importance of the preparation and attention to strategies it is not explicitly spelt out in terms of communication and the centrality and importance of communication is still missing in the literature. The ‘Great Chain of Nonviolence’ model of Johan Galtung is the closest to a communication perspective. Though Galtung considers the gap between the oppressed and oppressor as one of social distance it can also be interpreted as a communication gap. (Johan Galtung: Principles of Nonviolent Action: The great chain of nonviolence hypotheses) “Nonviolent movements have been merely reactive, often relying on spontaneous mobilizations and tactical countermoves….With such neglect to the role of strategy in