The Peace Pledge Union was Britain's premier pacifist organization during the years of the Second World War, and Vera Brittain one of its most influential leaders. Neither has been the subject of close historical examination. The Union, founded fifty years ago by Canon 'Dick' Sheppard, was a direct product of the "never again" mood so pervasive in Britain during the 1920s and 1930s, although its sources of inspiration and principles resulted from deeper traditions. The heritage of the Peace Pledge Union was Christian, Radical, Liberal, Dissenting, Humanitarian and Socialist. It was also peculiarly English because the experience of relatively stable parliamentary government made generous allowance for the expression of dissent. But the Second World War placed British democracy and its associated traditions in a crucible. Yet the vitality of these values was sustained by the Peace Pledge Union and other voices of dissent. Until recent years radical groups and their leaders have tended to be relegated to the sidelines of history as the "also rans", a tendency that has arguably distorted the historical balance. The present study seeks to contribute to a partial redressing of this balance by exploring the inspiration, background and work of the wartime Peace Pledge Union. By its continued existence, and determination to express its minority view, the Peace Pledge Union made an important contribution to the maintenance of the democratic right of dissent and the privileges of English parliamentary democracy. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

No / For more than a decade, resolutions from the UN and the European Commission have highlighted women's suffering during wars, and the unfairness of their treatment upon the return to peace. Yet the injustices and the hypocrisy continue. Women are reified as the peacemakers while they are excluded from peace processes. Women's suffering during war is held up as evidence of inhumanity by the same organisations that accept, if not promote, the marginalisation of women's needs during peacetime. The author reviews the processes through which these phenomena are perpetuated and outlines some ways forward which could help to break these cycles.

No / The victory of Hamas, a proscribed terrorist organisation, in the January 2006 elections for the Palestinian Authority, was greeted with dismay by the international community, which responded by cutting off aid. This article seeks to understand why Hamas was elected, as well as the international community's response, through an analysis of the liberal peace thesis. This thesis states that democracies do not go to war with one another, thus it was thought that building a democratic Palestinian state would buttress the peace process. The Palestinian people have, however, elected an organization that rejects the peace process. This has provided a wake-up call for the US to face up to the fact that promoting democratization may not always produce the results it desires. The US sees the election of Hamas as the cause of the current crisis and the main obstacle to peace. This article, however, argues that this is merely a symptom, not the cause, of the crisis. The Palestinian Authority's lack of sovereignty and its complete dependence on Israel put severe limitations on the building of a viable, democratic state. The article concludes that the US's uncompromising response to Hamas could well undermine democracy promotion in the region.

No / About a week after the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, staff and students in the Department of Peace Studies at the University of Bradford met to begin discussing how the Department should respond. At one end of the spectrum was the conviction that the Department should publicly express a collective position. Both within and outside the Department, people were asking: What is the position of peace studies? At the other end, there was the equally strong conviction that it was both impossible and inappropriate for the Department to answer this question, that peace studies should provide a space for argument and debate about the complexities of the situation rather than presume a consensus that might not exist beyond a very general level. The first argument worried those who —justifiably —insist that intellectual freedom and debate is integral to academic activity. The latter disappointed those who —equally justifiably —expect peace studies to take a clear stance in favor of the values that constitute the very rationale of the discipline.

Yes

No

Yes

People perceive social conflict and conflict issues in different ways. My research is directed at understanding how leaders from some of Winnipeg’s Community-Based Organizations (CBOs; faith and ethno-cultural NGOs) perceive and experience social conflict and to explore their contributions toward peace-building and conflict transformation. Historically, Winnipeg has been home to a plethora of faith-based, ethno-cultural community organizations, and NGOs whose mission is to provide crucial basic and spiritual needs to people. Their contribution to the nurturing of both the spiritual and social needs of their communities is also remarkable. This qualitative research is based on semi-structured interviews and participant observation as research instruments to observe social events related to conflict and peace-building. Critical ethnographic and grounded theory approaches inform the methodology while drawing necessary inferences from relevant quantitative data. From this research, several key findings become evident: 1) CBO leaders have a high level of personal motivation and employ a wide range of tools, such as the social capital of their organizations, to intervene in social conflict issues for the purpose of peace-building; 2) of the three types of CBO (faith, ethno-cultural and NGOs), the Faith-Based Organizations (FBOs) are the most networked and involved in transforming social conflicts and contributing toward peace-building in Winnipeg; 3) some respondents seemed to indicate that not all projects are contributing equally in addressing social conflict issues; 4) social conflict issues appear to be rooted in an unjust social structure and a number of socio-economic-political and cultural policies; 5) research participants cited five complex, interrelated conflict issues in Winnipeg; 6) a grounded theoretical concept (Perception-Expectation-Frustration) was generated to explain social conflict; and 7) these everyday leaders are using a plethora of strategies as everyday peace-builders who are engaged global citizens, and citizen diplomats to create oases of peace in a society where people are struggling with social inequality, discrimination, and poverty in order to address people's immediate needs, promote awareness, and influence policy. In sum, the meso level CBO leaders perceive social conflict holistically and some of their peace-building projects may be contributing substantially towards a long-term process of social conflict transformation in Winnipeg. / February 2017

Beowulf presents a literary starting point in the discussion of peace weaving, reflecting the primary focus of Anglo Saxon epic poetry on the male hero rather than the peace weaver. Scholarship on peace weaving figures in the poem tend to negatively perceive the lack of female presence, and determine the tradition as one set up for failure. Adding historical peace weavers like Queen Emma to the discourse encourages scholars to view smaller successes, like temporary peace, as building on each other to ultimately cause the peace weaver to be successful at her task. From studying the life of Queen Emma, the continuous struggle of such a figure to be an influential presence in her nation is more evident. Combining the images of peace weaving set down by literature and then history prove that figures participating in the tradition are as vital to the heroic world as the warrior himself.

River regulation imposes direct changes on flow and sediment delivery, producing a suite of downstream responses in channel morphology. On the Peace River in northern British Columbia and Alberta, the W.A.C. Bennett hydroelectric dam has reduced peak flows while leaving sediment load effectively unchanged. My research aims to identify systematic, regulation-induced patterns of channel gradation in the mainstem Peace and its tributaries below the dam. The significance of regulation within the natural variability of basin hydrology is assessed by comparing actual regulated river flows to simulated flows based on reservoir level fluctuations. Mainstem bed elevation changes are assessed from repeatedly surveyed cross-sections and specific gauge records, supplemented by analysis of channel planform change. Results show degradation to be minimal, due to the naturally armoured gravel bed and elimination of competent flows. The predominant pattern in the upper regulated reaches is one of aggradation below tributary confluences and other sediment sources. In the long term, the Peace River may be raising its proximal bed to compensate for a loss of sediment transport capacity since regulation. Backchannel abandonment and other planform changes appear to be occurring more slowly, and may be less important to river slope adjustment. Data from the lower river are few and inconclusive. Tributary gradation was investigated by means of air photo, field surveys and dendrochronology of young floodplains. These methods reveal a range of responses to regulation, including degradation, aggradation and no apparent change. Degradation due to reduced tributary base level appears to attenuate downstream as the Peace River flood is restored by unregulated tributary flows, though this trend is complicated by other factors such as tributary sediment supply, flood timing between tributary and mainstem, and ice activity. Aggradation due to tributary fan growth may mitigate degradation; it is a less prominent response, though it appears to predominate in the lower Smoky River. Regulation is a secondary effect in the tributaries, and its influence on gradation has been limited. On the mainstem, however, it is a primary change, and the resulting channel gradation will take a long time to complete.