Schematics for Peace: AC or DC

When electricity was discovered to have practical applications in the late 19^th century, there were two proponents for the way it should be generated and distributed. One, by Thomas Edison, advocated the use of direct current (DC) where electricity generated by batteries flow only one way through the wire. Edison’s proposal of using DC for our electrical needs meant that the generation would have to as close to where it was consumed as possible since losses in transmission lines would be high.

The other way of electrical generation, called alternating current (AC), is made by rotating magnets around coils of wire (a generator) and was favored by guys like Nikola Tesla and George Westinghouse. That camp won out on the early debate and today our house wiring, light sockets and large appliances, are AC powered. In this system electricity alternates polarities 60 times a second in a sine wave. A device called a transformer can increase the voltage while subsequently reducing the amount of current (thus losses) in transmission lines. Electricity could be generated great distances away and fed by huge overhead hi-tension lines into urban areas. Ironically, green electricity generated by fuel cells and solar electric panels, work best when electricity is produced and consumed locally.

What does this have to do with peacebuilding? Often the attention for peace process in any war situation is the national/international level peace talks. While these agreements may be necessary, if they are not adapted and internalized at a local level they are often not sustainable. Asking; “what is the genesis of peace… locally grown or generated from ideas outsiders and transported into the community?” The locally generated capacities for peace are what enable communities to resist violence. These local capacities in many of the places I have worked were traditionally quite large. Through colonization, globalization and cultural homogenization these capacities have been diminished. Restoring these local capacities for conflict mitigation and transformation is essential to sustainable peace.

Schematics for Peace: Resistors

One of the most fundamental components in electronics is a passive device called a resistor. They vary in size from less than half a grain of rice to large cabinet sized water cooled behemoths. A majority are half the size of a single macaroni noodle.

These little two legged parts are in almost everything that can be called electronic. Their function is to limit current in a circuit. By doing so, they develop a voltage across their terminals proportional to the value of the resistor and the current flowing through it. Since they restrict the flow of electricity, they also develop some heat. If they are not sized appropriately there is first a burning smell and then a spectacular flash/pop and they burn out.

Now I admit here is where my metaphor could take any number of directions or even start to sound contradictory. So let me offer one possible analogy. These resistors in conflict prone social networks could represent those persons or institutions that limit/resist the free flow of justice from the Source. By doing so, they manifest heat in and around themselves in the form of conflict. If they are not robust enough to handle the conflict generated heat they may blow out with smoke and fire totally stopping the flow from the Source to the networks they are attached to.

What is hopeful is that as they draw conflict attention to themselves (voltage drop) this is evidence that the Source is still supplying the current of justice and peace.

Schematics for Peace: Theories

Electronics is about the manipulation of electricity for some function. While electrons, the basic building blocks of electricity are far too small to see directly, they can be observed through indirect methods like their effects on things. These observations have generated some very durable hypotheses about the way electrons and electricity work. Extremely complex systems (like an iPod) have been built on the theories that hitherto fore have not been proven incorrect.

Some electronic systems have become so complex that they are beyond any one individual to comprehend the whole device at its smallest level. Thus, theories, formulas and subroutines break the whole into manageable parts. Since all of these conjectures seem to work consistently it is easy to forget that all of this is based on faith in working theories.

Social scientists have developed theses about how people and groups respond in the intense pressure of conflict. By observation, we understand, for example, about how trauma affects a person or the dynamics of the mob mentality. So we put those theories to work on larger more complex peacebuilding issues. As with electricity, we are still working by faith from hypotheses. The simple peacebuilding models we use break down quickly as the complexity of human interactions overtake our ability to see the whole. Electrons, it seems, are far more predictable than humans.

With that bit of philosophy we move ahead next week, in faith, to the building blocks of electronics.

Schematic for Peace: Connections

The most basic and easily overlooked part of any schematic is the lines between components. Taken for granted by anyone reading a schematic, they are vitally important. Why? Because if there are no connections between devices, no current will flow and you have a bucket of parts but not a working system.

From computers to toasters copper wires or traces on a circuit board are used to make the connections between individual components. In my years of tinkering with electronic gadgets I have found two major reasons why things quit working. First, too much current has passed through the copper wire or trace and it has melted open. Second, with time and stress, the solder joints, used to bond two components together, get loose and no longer make connection.

Peacebuilding has parallels to these maladies in circuits. Peace is about relationships; with self, others, nature and with a higher power. These connections can fail because they are not strong enough or have been stressed too much. In dysfunctional relational systems, peacebuilding concerns itself with rebuilding the dis-connections and rebonding those connections that have come loose with too much stress. The repair comes through diagnostics and implementing a fix that will restore connections. These are topics of coming postings. Stay tuned…

Schematic for Peace: The Source

On my previous posting I suggested that complex systems can be pictorially represented by the use of schematics. This is similar to one of the tools we use in conflict analysis called mapping of actors. This mapping tool tries to see all the persons/organizational entities involved in the conflict and depict their relationships or lack thereof. In a schematic for peace we will start with the basic components and see how they interact in any given conflict.

The first schematic component we need to explore is the source. An electrical circuit is useless without some source of electrons to make it work. The source is an apt description because all electrons flow from this device through the copper wires or traces on a circuit board and let the other components fulfill their purpose.

I once had a friend who described peace and justice as a river from God. The river flows well until some impediment blocks the flow of the river. It is our duty to wade into the water and remove the obstacles so that the channel is clear again. The point here is that we do not create peace and justice. It flows naturally from the Higher Power.

In our schematic then, the source of peace and justice is depicted in two forms. The first one, drawn on the previous posting, is an infinite supply of electricity in the form of an AC generator. The second depiction is that of a battery as the source of electrons. A battery is finite and is either disposable or rechargeable. I like the idea of peacebuilders as rechargeable batteries. We can create a finite peace within our circuit of influence but ultimately need recharging from the unlimited, ultimate SOURCE.