Wicked Problems: The Ethics of Action for Peace, Rights, and Justice

The ethics of changemaking and peacebuilding may appear straightforward: advance dignity, promote well-being, minimize suffering. Sounds simple, right? Actually acting ethically when it really matters is rarely straightforward. If someone engaged in change-oriented work sets out to "do good," how should we prioritize and evaluate whose good counts? And, how ought we act once we have decided whose good counts? Practitioners frequently confront dilemmas where dire situations may demand some form of response, but each of the options may have undesirable consequences of one form or another. Dilemmas are not merely ordinary problems, they are wicked problems: that is to say, they are defined by circumstances that only allow for suboptimal outcomes and are based on profound and sometimes troubling trade-offs. Wicked Problems argues that the field of peacebuilding and conflict transformation needs a stronger and more practical sense of its ethical obligations. For example, it argues against posing false binaries between domestic and international issues and against viewing violence and conflict as equivalents. It holds strategic nonviolence up to critical scrutiny and shows that "do no harm" approaches may in fact do harm. The contributors include scholars, scholar practitioners in the field, and activists on the streets, and the chapters cover the role of violence in conflict; conflict and violence prevention and resolution; humanitarianism; community organizing and racial justice; social movements; human rights advocacy; transitional justice; political reconciliation; and peace education and pedagogy, among other topics. Drawing on the lived experiences and expertise of activists, educators, and researchers, Wicked Problems equips readers to ask--and answer--difficult questions about social change work.

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgments Contributors Introduction: Wicked Problems - The Ethics of Action for Peace, Rights, and Justice Austin Choi-Fitzpatrick, Douglas Irvin-Erickson, and Ernesto Verdeja I: VIOLENCE 1. The Ritual of Black Armed Resistance: Police Abolition through the Eyes of the Black Radical Tradition Tony Gaskew 2. Building a Movement to End Poverty through Nonviolent Resistance Liz Theoharis and Noam Sandweiss-Back 3. Is Violence the Answer? A Pragmatic Approach Kirssa Cline Ryckman 4. How Is It to Be Done? Dilemmas of Prefigurative and Harm - Reduction Approaches to Social Movement Work Ashley J. Bohrer II: LEADERSHIP AND ORGANIZATIONS 5. The Paradox of Survivor Leadership Minh Dang 6. Allies Out Front: Dilemmas of Leadership Daniel J. Myers 7. Organizing Dilemmas across U.S.- Based Social Justice Movement Spaces alicia sanchez gill 8. The Ones Who Walk Away to Stay and Fight Philip Gamaghelyan 9. From Righteous to Responsive: Rethinking the Role of Moral Values of Peacebuilding Reina C. Neufeldt III: SYSTEMS AND INSTITUTIONS 10. Dilemmas in Action Where Rule of Law Conflicts with Justice Deena R. Hurwitz 11. Establishing an Ethics of Post-Sanctions Peacebuilding George A. Lopez and Beatrix Geaghan-Breiner 12. Threading the Needle: Ethical Dilemmas in Preventing Mass Atrocities Ernesto Verdeja 13. Whither the Villains? The Ethical Dilemma in Armed Conflict Laurie Nathan 14. "A Different Kind of Weapon": Ethical Dilemmas and Nonviolent Civilian Protection Felicity Gray 15. The Ethics of Transitional Justice Tim Murithi 16. Why the Peacebuilding Field Needs Clear and Accessible Standards of Research Ethics Elizabeth Hume and Jessica Baumgardner-Zuzik 17. Consent, Inclusivity, and Local Voices: Ethical Dilemmas of Teaching Peace in Conflict Zones Agnieszka Paczynska and Susan F. Hirsch Bibliography Index