The Moral Imagination



The Moral Imagination

Introduction

John Paul Lederach wrote the book The Moral Imagination: The Art and Soul of Building Peace which is a reflection by Lederach of his experience and leanings in the peace building field around the world.  The book starts with four stories about how people came together to build peace in their communities.  Lederach refers to these stories throughout the book.  In the video clips below, you will find three of the stories.

The first story is called 'How Six Women Stopped a War' which talks about the conflict, sub-clan fighting, in Wajir and how these women organized themselves in such a way as to create safe spaces in Wajir, included the men into the process, and created jobs in order make peace sustainable.  The second story is about 'Colombian farmers' in the Carare region who were called together by a Colombian paramilitary commander and given an ultimatum: (1) join us and we'll forgive you, (2) join them and we'll come after you, (3) go anywhere else in Colombia but leave this place, or (4) stay here and not join us and you will die.  A man stood up and made an outstanding speech that left the commander speechless.  The third story takes place in Tajikistan.  A civil war was taking place there and various groups started negotiating, except for one particular commander who lived up in the mountains.  It was crucial for him to participate.  A professor was appointed, by the President, to meet this commander and convince him to join the negotiations.  This professor's best friend was killed by this commander (Ann, 2008). 

Discussion

His work, the moral imagination: The art and soul of building peace, seeks to address the tension between destructive violence and the movement towards constructive social engagement without falling into trap of mechanical peace building. He identifies the moral imagination as, “the capacity to imagine something rooted in the challenges of the real world yet capable of giving birth to that which does not yet exist”. This is not to be construed as a negation of developing skills, theories and techniques in the field of peace building. He argues that the moral imagination must go much beyond the confines of such practices to truly achieve peace building.

The title of the book is itself intimidating and immediately conjures up visions of religious sermons where one is being 'talked to' rather than being part of the conversation. This effect is particularly achieved through the usage of the word 'moral', which has arguably been under the exclusive domain of various religions. Lederach quickly dispels this notion and explains that his meaning of 'moral' is antithetical to religious morality, which he views as stagnant and dogmatic. He never provides a clear definition of what he means by 'moral', but rather explores the different nuances of the term 'moral imagination' and its suitability for peace building (Benjamin, 2005).

The only other term given as a similar example of 'moral' as a 'great term' is ...