CCTS
Newsletter 9

Economic and social development and inclusion

Exclusion and marginalisation
Many conflicts bear some relationship to the experience of exclusion, not only political - from the power of decision-making and governance - but also (and arguably more painfully) social and economic. It is largely at the political level that decisions are taken which promote or reduce exclusion and inclusion - however circumscribed politicians may find themselves by economic powers and pressures which are, to a degree, outside their control. If all the well paid, influential and respected work goes to one group, or if some are kept in every way on the margins of social as well as economic life - excluded from decent education or health services, or membership of influential organisations, for instance - not only will that marginalisation cause resentment and create a potential breeding ground for 'direct' violence; in itself it constitutes a form of violence - a violation of the humanity and dignity of those so excluded and diminished. Where such groups exist (and where do they not?) there is no peace worthy of the name, but the hidden conflict of oppression, enforced by the actual or threatened use of direct violence by those in power.

Poverty and wealth
War impoverishes societies, many of which will already have been poor. In any country there are rich people, and their wealth is an affront to the poor. When the gulf between rich and poor is dug along lines of identity and identification, for instance ethnic lines, the affront is all the more palpable. On the world scale, one cannot but see such a gulf, and within any society it is visible, if not so glaringly obvious. Although peace and justice may be competing goods, as argued earlier, they are also interdependent and indeed inextricable. In whatever context, from local to international, the rich will have to concede some of their power and wealth to the poor in order to buy peace, whether that wealth comes in the form of land, as in Israel/ Palestine, or of the price paid for commodities, or the cancellation of 'debt', at the world level.
Without the capacity to raise taxes and provide in some way for its people, no government can survive. In post-war contexts, economic support for the development of infrastructures and the re-establishment of relatively just and inclusive economic life and public services will be essential for stability. If those living in relatively stable and affluent countries have an interest in that stability, let alone a sense of solidarity with those who need it, we will need to put our hands in our pockets.

Do no harm
Just as democracy requires both strong government and an active civil society, so social and economic development will need to take place at all levels, from central to regional and local government, and within local communities and families. The way in which support is given from above or from outside will be important (see Anderson 1996). It can accentuate divisions and envy, or encourage and promote equality and co-operation. It is, of course, not easy to get this right. 'Undue' attention to the needs of a disadvantaged group may increase resentment against the people belonging to it. For instance, although Roma peoples are often despised for their poverty, when they are financially successful they may be more than ever the object of hatred.
Although making support conditional on the interethnic management of a project may in some circumstances be unrealistic or counter-productive, the opportunity to address a common need may be an excellent stimulus for a return to some kind of 'business as usual'. (I remember hearing Judith Large talk about the resumption of interethnic trading across the line being held by peace keeping tanks in some part of the former Yugoslavia.) Community relations work (already mentioned above) can include economic and educational projects.
Not only is attention needed to the ways in which 'support' from outside impacts on interethnic or other intergroup relations; it is also vital that it should encourage rather than compete with or undermine local capacities and efforts. In the paper prepared for the CCTS seminar on Kosovo/a by Howard Clark while the war was still in progress, this was a major theme. Yet Iain Guest, in a commentary entitled 'Misplaced Charity Undermines Kosovo's Self-Reliance' (Feb. 2000), gives a damning analysis of the effect of international efforts on local initiatives and potential in Kosovo/a. If national rather than international politics are supposed to take the place of war, then it is vital that local life is not drowned or swept away but nurtured and given space to grow.

Peace as the space for human thriving
Just as security and democracy need each other, equitable and inclusive economic development needs them both. Human beings manage to keep themselves together in extraordinarily adverse circumstances, but to thrive both individually and communally (and I would argue that those two aspects of human existence are not really separable) they need a reasonably secure and hospitable space in which to do so. And peace does not exist outside human thriving.

'Say no to peace
If what they mean by peace
Is the quiet misery of hunger
The frozen stillness of fear
The silence of broken spirits
The unborn hopes of the oppressed.

Tell them that peace
Is the shouting of children at play
The babble of tongues set free
The thunder of dancing feet
And a father's voice singing.'

Whatever the source of that poem, which I copied off the fence at Greenham Common once, it expresses the passion I feel for the idea that peace is far more that the absence of physical violence - or indeed, than a return to civil politics. The ongoing efforts of oppressed people to uplift themselves are essential to the work of conflict transformation. It entails perpetuating conflict at some level and in some form. If we are in the business of supporting conflict transformation, we should see support for self-empowerment and advocacy as part of that remit. Given the price of conflict violently waged, and the fragility of post-war relationships, to act constructively for change in such contexts is a precarious business; but it is essential that the work of justice should go on.

Questions:
How far does peace require distributive justice? How just can justice be? Are we honest about our own moral and political agendas? How can we persuade our governments to take seriously the need for economic support for peace, and how can we ensure that support is just that - supportive of local efforts, resources and relationships - and does not displace or undermine them?

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