The Origins and Development of Unarmed Civilian Peacekeeping

Peace Teams in the Protest-Repression Nexus: A Sociomaterial Perspective of De-escalatory Tactics

“…Peace Teams operate under a few different labels, including violence interrupters [11] or unarmed civilian protection (UCP) teams [12,13,14]. Although today they define the bounds and practices of their volunteer work in distinct ways as governed by their own organizational inclinations and local contexts, they trace their lineage to Mahatma Gandhi's notion of a 'Peace Army,' or 'Shanti Sena' [12]. In Gandhi's mind, these unarmed armies would interposition themselves in conflict between aggressors and their targets.…”

“…The tactics of both mitigating state-sponsored violence and violent flanks within a movement are goals that Peace Teams support, integrating their own tactics and practices in support of broader activist movements who are developing their own tactics of violence management [21]. Schweitzer [22] and Julian and Schweitzer [12] covered this ground in identifying Peace Teams worldwide and the various definitions of unarmed civilian peacekeeping that lead to different de-escalatory practices. Julian [16] deepened our understanding by then characterizing Peace Team practices across three dimensions: a) deterrence of violence by presence; b) engagement with armed potential escalators; and c) building relationships between stakeholders.…”

“…The connective logic in this scholarship is that the particular arena of deployment, be it regional or situational, shapes how these dimensions manifest in practice. This includes teams in the global north like the United States [12].…”

“…Beyond the relationship between social movement organizations and Peace Team organizations, broader relational views of Peace Teams focuses on connections to local context, motivated by the observation that peace practices are strongly influenced by local conditions [12]. This backdrops Peace Team work, emphasizing the development of community connections, and in particular the essential role of trust in these connections [11].…”

Avoiding violence: Eleven ways activists can confine violence in civil resistance campaigns

“…There needed to be a longer-term planning timeframe for the nonviolent movement (Interview 54). Importantly, civilian peacekeeping is different from monitoring missions as the main goal is not to monitor or report atrocities but rather to prevent violence in coordination with locals through "a strategic mix of essential nonviolent engagement methods, principles, values and skills" (Rachel & Christine, 2015).…”