CGIS Knafel Bldg, K262, 1737 Cambridge Street, Bowie-Vernon Room (K262), Cambridge, MA 02138
This conference brings together researchers and practitioners who design, study and/or implement interventions to improve intergroup relations after violent conflict. Many approaches to peacebuilding are premised on variants of the Contact Hypothesis (Allport 1954), which holds that, under certain conditions, interactions between members of antagonistic groups can improve perceptions of the Other. Meta-analyses of the results of scores of interventions based on the theory, however, have yielded mixed reviews and indicate that ethnic and racial prejudice is especially difficult to soften (Paluck, Green, and Green 2019; Pettigrew and Tropp 2006). Likewise, practitioners acknowledge that efforts to foster dialogue and exchange among members of hostile groups often lead to limited and ephemeral improvements. In many post-war settings, peace agreements have brought a halt to physical violence, but intergroup relations remain cold and tense.
As Allport himself specified, and reviews of contact-based interventions underscore, the impact of intergroup contact is contingent a variety of conditions, including but not limited to those specified in the original thesis. Furthermore, the local and national contexts in which interventions take places undoubtedly shape their outcomes – and the willingness of communities to participate in such contact-based programs in the first place. This conference aims to explore both the program-related and contextual factors that shape the effects of interventions by fostering exchanges between scholars and practitioners who study and implement intergroup dialogue and peacebuilding programs in diverse contexts. What are the political, social, and economic characteristics of localities where contact-based interventions have been more and less successful? What explains variation in the sustainability of some programs in some places but not others? What is the track record of extending peacebuilding programs beyond the communities where they are initially implemented? How does power at different geographic and administrative levels shape the success, sustainability, and scalability of peacebuilding initiatives premised on intergroup contact – both among “more” and “key” people?
The conference will be cover related themes at different levels of analysis – the micro-, meso-, and macro-levels. Panels will focus on on the theory behind contact-based interventions and real-world experiences of their implementation, the conditions under which elites facilitate or hinder such interventions, and the role of peacebuilding networks and civil society groups in pressuring influential actors to improve intergroup relations, and the influence of macro-level national and international actors on the effectiveness and scalability of contact-based interventions. Each panel will include a mix of scholars and practitioners.
8:30-9 am: Breakfast
CGIS South Concourse
9-10:30 am – Panel 3: The meso-level: Bottom-up pressure
If elites are critical to improving intergroup relations, how can would-be peacebuilders compel them to play a constructive role? Can bottom-up pressure push local elites to support their initiatives and, if so, when, why, and how? Grassroots mobilization can take distinct forms, whether premised on informal networks or formal civil society organizations. Under what conditions can networks of peacebuilders create movements to engage potential veto players effectively? Likewise, what types of civil society organizations have been more effective at lobbying elites to support or even promote peacebuilding initiatives, and in what contexts?
Panelists
Moderator: Darren Kew, Associate Professor of conflict resolution, University of Massachusetts, Boston. CPDD Executive Director and Senior Advisor for International Programs.
Erica Chenoweth, Academic Dean for Faculty Engagement & Frank Stanton Professor of the First Amendment, Harvard Kennedy School. Faculty Dean, Pforzheimer House, Harvard College. Susan S. and Kenneth L. Wallach Professor, Radcliffe Institute of Advanced Study.
Pamina Firchow , Associate Professor, Heller School for Social Policy and Management, Brandeis University.
Brandon Hamber, John Hume & Thomas P. O’Neill Chair, International Conflict Research Institute (INCORE), Ulster University.
10:30 – 10:45 am: Coffee break
10:45 – 12:15 pm – Panel 4: The macro-level I: National actors and institutions
Contact-based interventions operate in larger political contexts, which are shaped in important ways by the rhetoric and actions of national politicians and parties as well as the national institutional context. Under what conditions do national-level elites in post-war settings facilitate contact-based peacebuilding? What national-level institutions are more/less conducive to improved intergroup relations?
Panelists
Moderator: Mashail Malik, Faculty Associate, Weatherhead Center for International Affairs.
Assistant Professor of Government, Department of Government, Harvard University.
Volha Charnysh, Ford Career Development Associate Professor of Political Science, MIT.
Peter Sheridan , CEO, Co-operation Ireland and Queen’s University in Belfast.
Chagai Weiss, Postdoctoral Fellow, Conflict and Polarization Lab, Stanford University.
Andreas Wimmer, Lieber Professor of Sociology and Political Philosophy, Department of Sociology,
Columbia University.
12:15 – 1:15 pm: Lunch
1:15-2:45 pm – Panel 5: The macro-level II: International actors and institutions
International actors, particularly major donor governments and international organizations, influence the design and implementation of peacebuilding programs. What kinds of incentives and sanctions can international actors deploy to induce support from domestic elites – whether at the local or national levels – who often hold vested interests in perpetuating the post-war status quo of tense intergroup relations?
Panelists
Moderator: Christoph Mikulaschek, Assistant Professor of Government, Harvard University.
Eileen Babbitt, Professor of Practice of International Conflict Management and Co-Director of the Program on Human Rights and Conflict Resolution, Tufts University.
Diana Chigas, Professor of the Practice of International Negotiation and Conflict Resolution and
Co-Director, Corruption, Justice & Legitimacy Program, Tufts University
Peter Krause, Associate Professor of Political Science, Boston College. Research Affiliate, MIT Security Studies Program.
2:45 – 3 pm: Coffee break
3-4 pm – Panel 6: Key takeaways and conclusion
Melani Cammett, Center Director; Chair, Weatherhead Research Cluster on Identity Politics. Clarence Dillon Professor of International Affairs, Department of Government, Harvard University.
Ryan Enos, Faculty Associate, Weatherhead Center for International Affairs. Professor, Department of Government, Harvard University.
David Fairman, Senior Mediator, Consensus Building Institute. Associate Director of the MIT-Harvard Public Disputes Program.