Love and Forgiveness in Governance: About
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With funding provided by The Fetzer Institute, we are working to leverage the established networks of the School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution (S-CAR) and Beyond Intractability to identify, research, and highlight exemplars of love and forgiveness as part of good governance practice. Project partners include:
People across the globe, from all cultures and traditions, embrace love and forgiveness in daily life. These values are universally viewed as central to the fabric of humanity. Yet, the emerging global community has few institutions dedicated to deepening the understanding and fostering deeper awareness of these values. In this context, the Fetzer Institute pursues a unique role — working to investigate, activate, and celebrate the power of love and forgiveness as a practical force for good in today's world. We are interested in how people truly experience and understand love and forgiveness from their diverse points of view, especially from the perspective of their daily work in the world.
The School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution at George Mason University
At The School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution (S-CAR), the whole community of faculty, students, staff alumni and partners is committed to the development of theory, research, and practice that interrupt cycles of violence. S-CAR is an innovative academic resource for people and institutions worldwide. It comprises a community of scholars, graduate and undergraduate students, alumni, practitioners, and organizations in the field of peace making and conflict resolution. S-CAR is a Commonwealth Center for Excellence, recognized for its leadership in the field and its world-renowned faculty.
Efforts to limit the terrible destructiveness commonly associated with intractable conflicts ultimately depend on the ability of people in a full range of conflict roles to successfully play their part in a broad peacebuilding effort. Though each circumstance is, to some degree, unique, there is also much to be learned from others who have solved similar problems before. The goal of the Beyond Intractability (BI) system is to make such knowledge more widely and freely accessible, so people aren't forced to "reinvent the wheel." To the extent we can all contribute to a knowledge base on better ways of approaching and transforming intractable conflicts, the closer we can come to limiting the destructiveness of these situations around the world. The project does not advocate or teach one particular approach. Rather, it provides access to information on many approaches which can then be adapted to many different situations. Our goal is to give people new ideas to think about and new hope. As a free Internet service, BI provides information that is much more affordable and accessible than traditional training programs or hard-to-find books. BI is also constantly growing and changing, making the breadth, depth, and potential of the peacebuilding field more clearly visible.
If you have any questions about this research, or are interested in contributing to the project, please contact Ernest Ogbozor and Cat Meurn, the coordinators of the Love and Forgiveness in Governance Project at the School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution, George Mason University.
