Véronique Dudouet, Senior Researcher and Program Director, the Berghof Foundation
Wednesday, November 12, 2014 / 12:00pm – 1:00pm EST
Based on a newly-published edited book Civil Resistance and Conflict Transformation. Transitions from Armed to Nonviolent Struggles (Routledge August 2014), this webinar will provide some insights on the interplay between civil resistance, armed insurgency and conflict transformation. Particular focus will be placed (both conceptually and empirically) on the phenomenon of armed groups shifting their conflict-waging strategies from violent to nonviolent means, especially in contexts which cannot be resolved by force but are also ‘unripe’ for conventional de-escalation methods such as negotiation and political integration. Relying on evidence from such various settings as South Africa, Palestine, Western Sahara, West Papua, Mexico, Colombia, Nepal and Egypt, the webinar talk will review the dynamics of organizational and strategic shifts from armed to unarmed conflict and factors inducing such transitions – from a change of leadership and a pragmatic re-evaluation of the goals and means of insurgency in the light of evolving inter-party power dynamics, to the search for new local or international allies and the cross-border emulation or diffusion of new repertoires of action.
Véronique Dudouet is Senior Researcher and Director for the Programme ‘Agents of Change for Inclusive Conflict Transformation’ at the Berghof Foundation in Berlin. Since joining the Berghof research team in 2005, she has been coordinating various research projects and peer-support projects on/with ‘resistance and liberation movements in transition’. She has also been carrying out consultancy activities for various state and international agencies (including UNDP, EU Parliament, Norwegian Foreign Ministry), and facilitates training activities on peace negotiations and political capacity-building. She teaches modules for students and practitioners on various topics linked to non-state armed groups, civil resistance, conflict transformation, DDR and post-war governance. Véronique currently edits the Berghof Transitions publication series. She has published two edited books, several peer-reviewed articles and numerous publications in the field of conflict transformation. She has an MA and PhD in Conflict Resolution from the University of Bradford, UK, as well as a BA in political science and a postgraduate research diploma (DEA) in International Relations and Security from the Institut d’Etudes Politiques, Toulouse, France.