This thesis investigates the use of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) mapping in UN Peace Operations. On the one hand, GIS use has been assumed to increase the efficiency and coordination of multi-dimensional peace missions. On the other, the Western universalist epistemology underlying GIS is thought to render its application, particularly in non-Western contexts neo-colonialist. These two framings of GIS as either inherently scientifically progressive or politically oppressive are over-deterministic. I argue that the politics of GIS use is contingent upon the ways in which understandings of the map are negotiated in practice. As an ethnographic study of three UN GIS mapping sites (a field mission in Timor-Leste, the Cartographic Section at the UN headquarters, and the GIS Center at the UN Logistics Base), drawing on interviews with practitioners, the thesis gives an account of a) the role of GIS in the field mission, b) GIS practitioners’ management of the technology and their everyday interaction with their clients, and c) its organization within the United Nations. In the thesis I conceptualize an epistemological fault between the professional communities of mappers and their clients which organizes GIS use. This fault separates those who understand the map as political abstract model from those who see it as a mere image of the world. As a consequence, it also separates those who understand mapping as a political practice from those who see it as mere matter of logistics. The meaning and organization of GIS use is thus contingent upon how these different understandings are contested or affirmed in the interaction between mappers and clients. Overall, this thesis emphasizes the role of understanding technology, space and logistics in the context of the politics of Peace Operations.

This dissertation examines the methods, influence, and effectiveness of clergy peacebuilders in Northern Ireland during the violent conflict known as "The Troubles," through the signing of the peace agreement and the first decade post-agreement. Twenty-one clergy, all committed to ameliorating the conflict, were interviewed once for approximately ninety minutes regarding their theological motivations, activism efforts, constraints, and perceived effectiveness. Interviewees include eight Methodist, eight Church of Ireland, three Roman Catholic, one Presbyterian, one ecumenical order, and one evangelical parachurch clergy. Analysis of the interviews revealed strong theological similarities of inclusivity and dedication to living one's beliefs despite denominational differences; however, clergy expressed a range of views on Manichaeism and pacifism/Just War theory. They also experienced a range of direct and indirect violence. These factors increased their perceived risk of activism and shaped their ministerial approach and effectiveness. The context of conflict, which predisposes parishioners to prefer certain leadership styles, and clergy access to expert, referent, and legitimate power also affected clergy influence and activism. The study argues that, as a whole, activist clergy possess a particularly favorable platform for successful outgroup exposure due to high group salience and boundary de-emphasis. Typical clergy peacebuilding activities influence individuals, structures, and communities. Also, clergy influence through indirect outgroup contact, ripple effects, and synergism, decreases hostility and increases the possibilities of achieving peace. Clergy use of "soft power" lets them operate in a democratic deficit, helps build trust, improves the quality of negotiations and agreements, ameliorates identity conflict, and enhances stability. This study, the first conducted among a range of activist clergy in Northern Ireland, concludes that in order to optimize peace efforts, secular interest groups should cooperate with clergy peacebuilders. Moreover, denominations and seminaries should consciously augment clergy expert, referent, and legitimate power and reduce clergy fears of perceived professional risk resulting from activism. The thesis adds to Peace/Conflict studies by providing in-depth insight into the various capabilities, constraints, and the significance of civil society/religious peacebuilders.

Mexico is not a country at peace. Despite the government's fight to restore stability, violence has erupted since 2006 in several areas of the territory. According to Vygotsky's social constructivism and to Galtung's integral perspective of peace, some elements of peacelessness are informed by values, perceptions, and conceptions about violence and peace. These topics have not been qualitatively investigated in Mexico. The purpose of this case study was to explore the process involving the social construction of values, perceptions, and conceptions in regard to organized criminal violence and peace possibilities in Mexico. Research questions focused on the role of mass media and oral conversations in the social construction of perceptions about the government, criminal organizations, and peace. This study employed semistructured interviews of 15 residents from a neighborhood in a large Mexican city. A purposeful sample stratified by gender, age, and profession, according to the neighborhood demographics, was used. Data from the interviews were coded for patterns using preexisting theory-based categories along with new emerging categories. Findings showed that among these residents, the process of social construction of perceptions was primarily formed through individual experiences and observations, and nurtured by conversations. Social constructors, such as traditional mass media, were much less important. Residents constructed their perception that the basic causes of criminal violence are rooted in the structures of the political and economic system, which, if correctly addressed, would foster peace. This study contributes to positive social change.by informing regional policymakers about the need to design local policies directed towards mediating structural and systemic transformations that are respectful of experiences and needs of citizens.

Peace education offers potential for transforming violent conflict into peace between groups in conflict. The research literature on conflict transformation theory and peace education has identified key assumptions for building long-term peace following violent conflict. The extent to which peace education programs have incorporated these theoretical notions, however, is not well known. This thesis explored the extent to which key theoretical insights from the literature on conflict transformation theory and peace education are incorporated in a prominent peace education program, Seeds of Peace. Data collection consisted of interviews with ten program staff members and written documentation produced by Seeds of Peace. Employing the analytical framework developed from a review of the literature, a comparison between theoretical notions and Seeds of Peace programming was done. Findings of this study highlight the extent to which there are gaps between theory and practice, and a case is made for the establishment of a more explicit connection between theory and practice. Furthermore, the thesis highlights the importance of further studies to address the research gap.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Washington State University, December 2009. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on Jan. 22, 2010). "Department of Teaching and Learning." Includes bibliographical references (p. 234-245).

This thesis examines the complex interplay between violence and concepts of masculinity using the case study examples of former members of pro-Indonesian militia groups and current members of gangs, martial arts and ritual arts groups in Timor-Leste. Thirty-eight former and current members of these groups were interviewed in both Timor-Leste and Indonesian West Timor. While the members of these groups and their violent acts are often cast in relatively simplistic terms as being the work of misguided, socio-economically marginalised, violent young men, the thesis argues that the phenomena of these groups are far more complex and are intricately intertwined with local East Timorese and imported concepts of what it means to be a man. In addition to being political and economic projects, membership in these groups gives the men new, albeit often violent, ways of defining their masculine identity and defining their place in post-colonial, post-conflict East Timorese society. The violent enactments of masculinity displayed by the young men involved in the various groups examined in this thesis have been formed by the violent history of Timor-Leste but simultaneously the young men have also been personally involved in forming this history of violence. Both on the personal and on the level of the East Timorese state, these histories of violence are dealt with strategies of denial when it comes to taking personal responsibility for violence, leading to impunity and denial of justice to the victims. For the perpetrators, though, denial of responsibility and justifications of violence are used in an attempt to regain masculine honour and respectability in the eyes of broader society. Violence continues to be one of the tools they are willing to resort to for addressing real and perceived grievances, both on the personal and public level. Given the disruptive and deadly ways in which the activities of these young men have affected Timor-Leste, a central challenge for building a peaceful, just and equitable society will be to overcome the ways in which masculinities are defined through violence – a task which requires the involvement of East Timorese boys and men, but also their mothers, aunts, sisters, daughters, wives and lovers. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2010.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Canterbury, 2008. / Typescript (photocopy). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 125-135). Also available via the World Wide Web.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--George Mason University, 2009. / Vita: p. 340. Thesis director: Dennis J.D. Sandole. Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Conflict Analysis and Resolution. Title from PDF t.p. (viewed Oct. 12, 2009). Includes bibliographical references (p. 327-339). Also issued in print.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Notre Dame, 2010. / Thesis directed by Robert Scott Appleby for the Joan B. Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies. "April 2010." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 108-115).

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1985. / Typescript. "Ndank, ndank, myoy jop gollo ci nyay." eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 120-127).