Summer Peace Institute: Human Security and Peacebuilding

Hosted by the University of California, Berkeley (Costa Rica)
13 June – 15 July 2011
Students must arrive by: 12 June. Departure date is 16 July

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• Course Description
• Target Audience
  
• Delivery Method, Exams & Learning Outcomes
  
• Where You Will Stay
  
• Costs
• Further Information

Course Description

Problems Without Passports: Human Security Issues in the 21^st Century (4 units)
Instructor: Dr. Jerry W. Sanders, Chair, Peace and Conflict Studies

Mon-Friday 10-12 Lecture; 1-3 Discussion
Field Study and Excursions (variable — 4+ hours in lieu of lecture/discussion)

"Faced with the potential good of globalization as well as its risks, faced with the persistence of deadly conflicts in which civilians are primary targets, and faced with the pervasiveness of poverty and injustice, we must identify areas where collective action is needed—and then take that action to safeguard the common global interest."
- UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, “Problems Without Passports”, 16 September, 2002

"We stress the right of people to live in freedom and dignity, free from poverty and despair. We recognize that all individuals, in particular vulnerable people, are entitled to freedom from fear and freedom from want, with an equal opportunity to enjoy all their rights and fully develop their human potential. To this end, we commit ourselves to discussing and defining the notion of human security in the General Assembly."
- World Summit Outcome, UN General Assembly, 2005

During his tenure as United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan coined the term “problems without passports” to capture the increasingly global reach of modern-day problems. These new transnational realities challenge traditional understandings of the world, not least as regards conventional views of security. Defined in the past almost exclusively in state-centric terms and as defense of territory and national interests, security has been recast to include all humanity – hence human security.

This shift in scope and perspective is reflected in the UN General Assembly's articulation and embrace of human security in 2005. The passage above also underscores the shift in focus from the state to the individual as the primary unit of concern, and having once made this distinction, how the idea of security is expanded from preoccupation with external aggression, to include threats and risks to everyday life like poverty, environmental degradation, health, and human rights.

While human security has made significant inroads into academic and policy circles, the concept is not without controversy. The translation of human security from aspirational norm into effective practice has also proven difficult and is a highly contested subject. The reasons why are themselves a matter of spirited debate, one which reveals the wide variety of interpretations and understandings invoked by the concept of human security in the minds of different international and local actors. Given then its pivotal but not unproblematic status, human security is a topic ripe for attention and study in preparation for careers in public service and the obligations of citizenship.

Peacebuilding Practice: Field Study in Costa Rica (3 units)
Instructor: Dr. Jerry W. Sanders, Chair, Peace and Conflict Studies

“Peacebuilding is a sustainable process of preventing internal threats to human security from causing protracted, violent conflict.”
- John Cockrell, “Conceptualizing Peacebuilding: Human Security and Sustainable Peace”, Michael Pugh, ed. Regeneration of War-Torn Societies

“The term sustainable peace refers to..the absence of physical violence, the elimination of unacceptable political, economic, and cultural forms of discrimination, a high level of internal and external legitimacy..and a propensity to enhance the constructive transformation of conflicts…The term peacebuilding refers to all the efforts required on the way to the creation of a sustainable peace zone.”
- Luc Reychler, Peacebuilding: A Field Guide

Peacebuilding is an increasingly popular concept used to describe a wide variety of activities and approaches related to the realization of security—whether traditional or human in definition and scope—and before or after episodes of violent conflict. As a follow-on to “Problems Without Passports,” this course will explore the genre of peacebuilding practices that specifically address human security concerns, and consider how these activities contribute to a sustainable peace and serve to prevent conflict escalation.

Costa Rica offers an ideal setting for the study of sustainable peace and peacebuilding practice. The nation is a leader in progress toward the human security/basic needs standards encompassed in the UN Millennium Development Goals, as well as in democratic governance as demonstrated by the engagement of state institutions and civil society in community-based approaches to peacebuilding.

After initial orientation to the theory and practice of peacebuilding, students organized into teams of 4-5 members, will participate during an intensive 2-week period in field study assignments (4-5 hours per day) under the supervision of governmental agencies and non-governmental organizations working in the areas of environment, health, food security, education, development, gender equality, conflict resolution and other human security issues contingent on site availability and interest. Field assignments will be followed by group reports and individual reflection upon completion of the participant-observation phase of the course.

Target Audience

The Summer Peace Institute will be open to upper-division or equivalent undergraduate and graduate students.

Through their participation in the 2-course sequence of the Summer Peace Institute students will deepen their understanding of the changing landscape of contemporary international relations, sharpen critical thinking and communication skills, and nurture ethical and citizenship sensibilities commensurate with the demands of the 21st century.

Delivery Method, Exams & Learning Outcomes

Problems without Passports: Human Security Issues in the 21st Century (PACS 119) will approach the subject of human security through critical analysis and by means of intensive dialogue, exploring claims for its potential, as well as those warning of pitfalls. Morning lectures (2 hours x 5 days x 3 weeks) will introduce foundational concepts, current controversies, and case study materials, introducing students to the different actors and frameworks that demarcate the academic and policy communities, as well as regional and local perspectives of both state and non-state actors. Interactive seminars in the afternoon (2 hours x 5 days x 3 weeks) will consider how the application of human security asks new questions, reframes old issues, generates different policy options and to what effect, as regards the specific case study areas. Students will also have the opportunity to more deeply explore these questions through the undertaking of a research assignment, and in-class presentation of their findings. Total contact hours: 60

The classroom experience will be further enriched by the plentiful field study opportunities provided by Costa Rica. Peacebuilding Practice: Field Study in Costa Rica (PACS 135) will provide students the opportunity to interact with a variety of both governmental and non-governmental institutions and actors working—“in real time and on the ground”—at both international and local levels on the case study issues in question (4.5 hours x 5 days x 2 weeks). Total contact hours: 45

Problems Without Passports: Human Security Issues in the 21st Century (PACS 119):

Peacebuilding Practice: Fieldwork in Costa Rica (PACS 135):

Where You Will Stay

Students will be staying in program housing while in Costa Rica.

Costs

Tuition fee: USD $4,455

Accommodation: Accommodation costs included in tuition cost

Estimated visa cost: USD$50

Estimated text book costs: USD$216

Estimated living expenses: USD$875

Further Information

Please visit http://gsp.berkeley.edu/