Peace is Power [to do what]
Oslo’s Nobel Peace Centre, its façade is draped with the YOKO ONO slogan PEACE is POWER ... perhaps it should have read ‘PEACE is [the] Power [to Make Money]...
A few days ago, I delivered a modest workshop and lecture in Oslo, it was about the importance of place and the power of adaptively reusing existing buildings to improve an urban context and serve the population in new and stimulating ways. The event was held at the Kristiania University College and as always the best part was getting to hear the views of the audience. After the event, I met with Palestinian activists who had been protesting the war in GAZA tirelessly in the city since last year. I listened to their fears and anger, their stories and frustrations. It struck me that their sincere calls for peace had an emotional entangled, naturally at times tinged with hostility and bias. It was interesting to hear narratives that felt manipulated and amplified to suit the cause and how that undermined their protests. There is no doubt in my mind that the atrocity in the Middle East has to stop and there has to be a transparent process of accountability. There is no doubt that the people in power, the decision makers internationally and those with influence should be ashamed of the situation they should have addressed better. It is too convenient to pronounce it complicated as an excuse for the type of by-standing they (we) are doing.
I feel, we the general public need to do better in our understanding of peace, violence, and its history whilst recognising the nuances of global politics outside the grip of media and algorithmic bias. I believe that the humanitarian sector, professionals and academics alike, have a responsibility to provide more support and information, to share research and to challenge violent rhetoric and polarised standpoints. To do this authentically, we need to work harder on our reflexive practice and recognise the fragilities of our own cultural and social conditioning.
I find myself in Oslo wrestling with the feeling that too many connections to peace or violence have been, or are being commodified to a point where it taints the meaning of peace and its accessibility at an everyday level.
Point in case, Oslo’s Nobel Peace Centre charges £17.85 entrance, and its shop is crammed with overpriced peace-associated accessories from soaps to jewellery ( £35 for a Dalai Lama T'shirt or how about a cap branded LETS MAKE PEACE GREAT AGAIN at £33.66). The façade is draped with the YOKO ONO slogan PEACE is POWER (a ticket-only exhibition) perhaps it should read ‘PEACE is [the] Power [to Make Money]’ (Linda Pollman and others have written an excellent selection of affordable books on that subject, although the scale and context are different). Perhaps it is unfair to highlight Oslo’s Peace Centre to indicate a growing concern that academic books about peace, conflict and post-conflict reflections etc are awfully expensive whilst many museums, exhibitions, webinars, conferences, art and peace events are ticketed - ensuring that the only affordable access to information about peace and conflict is through practices associated with social media and mainstream media. An approach to information risking the perpetuation of hateful narratives and polarised views. A biased gathering of data fueling a position that then becomes normalised and more concrete.
If walking the “safe” streets loudly touting peaceful intentions with expensive peace branding like a football fan proudly promoting their allegiance to a worthy side. Beware, that quietly the foundations of peace, (knowledge, curiosity, tolerance, exploration, expression and trust) are withering to a point where only the privileged have access to and ultimately the control of the information everyday people receive.
Maybe give some thought to the idea the a Victim Perpetrator paradigm is an oversimplification of desperately complicated conditions, often it is the acknowledgement of context that whispers a way forward and that direction only comes about through education, communication and trust. It is the void ignorance creates that fills with hatred and ensures unspeakable acts of violence occur.
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