Ritual and Symbol in Peacebuilding
As a long-time peacebuilder I have used rituals and symbols for years without ever putting a name to my actions. This book has opened my eyes to the power, the importance, in fact to the absolute necessity of consciously incorporating rituals and symbols into the peacebuilding process."Lisa Schirch's work is vital in setting conflict analysis and resolution theory and practice, as well as diplomacy, in a new direction."Wonderful and long overdue. . .fills a glaring gap in our professional peacebulding literature. This book should be on the shelves of every practitioner, researcher and trainer working in this field."This book... helps to make visible tools that are often used unconsciously or without purposeful intent by peace practitioners throughout the world.  Her real-life scenarios show parties in conflict being transformed by engaging together in the practice of ritual.  Schirch provides optimism for the future of peacebuilding practice in a world with many intractable conflicts."Does more than point to the power of ritual and symbolism.  In a highly readable style, she parses ritual and symbol into useful analytic and practical components that may be used in setting the stage for peacebuilding opportunities and events."Not merely another scholarly contribution to an ever-growing field of research [but] an exemplary case of moving the debate in a new direction.