Uppsatsens syfte är att ta en första titt på huruvida levande rollspel (lajv) har potential som ett verktyg för konflikttransformation. De huvudsakliga frågor som undersökts är: om, när och hur lajv skulle kunna vara ett användbart verktyg för konflikttransformation. Studien har använt en etnografisk metod för att undersöka lajv och den subkultur som utvecklats kring det. Slutsatsen är att lajv skulle kunna vara ett möjligt verktyg för konflikttransformation och kanske särskilt som ett verktyg för att konstruera sociala plattformar och uppmuntra the moral imagination (utvecklat av Lederach) på en mellan-nivå, samt som ett verktyg för försoning i en efterkonfliktsmiljö. Studien gjordes i en liten skala genom nio semistrukturerade djupintervjuer men den visar att vidare forskning kring lajv, som ett möjligt verktyg för konflikttransformation, inte bara skulle vara väl motiverad utan viktigt, då denna konstform, precis som andra före den, riskerar att missbrukas som ett medium för propaganda samt till främjandet av konflikter och krig. Studien utmanar även den freds- och konfliktvetenskapliga diskursen att anamma en ny epistemologi där kunskap inte längre är främst textbaserad. / The aim of this thesis is to take a first look at live action role playing (larp) as a potential tool for conflict transformation. The main questions investigated are: Can larp be a useful tool for conflict transformation? If so, how and when should it be used? In this thesis an ethnographic method has been used to study larp and the subculture that has developed around it. The findings of this study show that larp might be a useful tool for conflict transformation and that it might be especially useful for establishing social platforms and encouraging the moral imagination (developed by Lederach) on a middle-range level, as well as a tool for reconciliation in a post conflict environment. This research was done on a small scale, through nine in-depth, semi-structured interviews but it shows that further research of larp as a potential tool for conflict transformation wouldn't only be well motivated but actually important, since this new art form, just like others before it, also carries the risk of being abused as means for propaganda, and promotion of conflict and war. This study also challenges the discourse of peace and conflict to embrace a new epistemology, where knowledge is no longer purely acquired from written sources.

This study contributes to the specific segment of the research field of peace and conflict studies (PACS) pertaining to the use of art as a tool for conflict transformation towards a positive peace. It is original for its choice of subject - live action role play (larp) as a potential tool for conflict transformation. The purpose of the study is to explore, describe and interpret the conditions for, and the content of, larp in present-day Palestine in order to construct a normative framework for how larp could be used as a tool for conflict transformation. In order to answer the question on the uses of this art form in Palestine, and the effects it has on the participants, their immediate surroundings, and the larger society around them, original empirical material was produced during a two-month long minor field study in Ramallah. It consists of ethnographic observations and ethnographic field interviews, as well as ten in-depth semi-structured interviews conducted between 14th of February and the 12th of April 2014. The material was analyzed with regard to Galtung’s theory of positive peace and Lederach’s theory of conflict transformation as well as to other selected theoretical and empirical work on the role of art as a tool for conflict transformation.In the specific context that has been studied, the normative framework constructed through these findings show that larps and the larping community is encouraging a personal (norm-questioning) development within its participants. It also shows that larps could be used as a tool for evoking the moral imagination, helping people to imagine a future in peace, but also as a tool for rehabilitation and processing strong emotions. Within this framework, it is also suggested that larps could be used as a tool advocacy work as well as nonviolent resistance. Finally, larps could be used as a tool for creating a liminal space and social platforms where Israelis and Palestinians could interact on neutral ground. This thesis claims that larp is a potentially significant tool for conflict transformation and therefore deserves further research within the field of Peace and Conflict Studies.

This thesis concerns the challenges and limitations of developing a conception of a “reconciliatory pedagogy”. As a history methodology lecturer at the University of the Witwatersrand, I noticed that relationships among students were polarised. But during the course of an oral history and cooperative learning assignment with second year students, I observed a shift in relationships among some of the students. This started my journey towards conceptualising a “reconciliatory pedagogy”, which addresses the difficult issue of how we reweave relationships in the South African history lecture/classroom, given our torrid past. The methodology used in this thesis is narrative inquiry. I have used this approach to consider the meaning of reconciliation from different perspectives and contexts: the literature on reconciliation, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) in South Africa, and in practice with some history methodology students and history primary school teachers. John Paul Lederach’s (1997, 1999) images of reconciliation were key ideas literature that informed my conception of a reconciliatory pedagogy. He developed his dynamic ideas on reconciliation during his international attempts at peace-making, and I explored whether these ideas could be applied to the South African context of the history lecture/classroom. The TRC started the process of reconciliation in 1996, but everyday events continue to demonstrate the on-going lack of reconciliation in South Africa. A “reconciliatory pedagogy” aimed to take forward some aspects of the TRC, such as students/learners finding out more about the recent South African past via oral history interviews, and encouraging dialogue about this difficult past between the different generations. The use of cooperative learning strategies facilitated further dialogue about this past among the students/learners, where they shared “their” oral histories during a joint task, and in some cases engaged in Lederach’s (1999) “dance” of reconciliation. By interviewing history students/teachers, and through classroom observations, the successes and limitations of my conception of a “reconciliatory pedagogy” emerged. The results of the above process encouraged reflection about the education of history student teachers: it suggested the need for a more theory-based approach to their education via a critique of Lederach’s model of reconciliation and oral history in a “reconciliatory pedagogy”. A “reconciliatory pedagogy” does not claim to lead to big changes in attitudes or towards the teaching of history, but it assists in small shifts that may affect the broader project of reconciliation in South Africa.

Since the 1990s the Great Lakes Region has continued to be mired in intractable conflict, with the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) being at the center of it. The aim of this study is therefore an attempt to understand how the InternationalConference of the Great Lakes Region has fared in the transformation of conflict in the region, through its attempts in the DRC. For the purpose of the study, conflict transformation as presented by John Paul Lederachwas used as a theory of analyzing the selected peace efforts by the ICGLR. Furthermore, the data used in the study were secondary data which consists of archival records and documentation. The study revealed two key issues in the ICGLR’s approach to peace attempts in DRC; it showed that there are gaps in the conflict transformation approach of the earlier attempts by the ICGL, which favored more political solutions. Secondly, a rethink of the approach revealed a much more robust approach, which seeks to address not only the political conflicts but also seeks to address the historical and structural conflicts in the region. However, with the positive change in the approach, there are still high levels of conflict in the DRC.