Triennial

This
is intended to be a draft outline proposal for the Theme Group, subject to
changes and suggestions from participants. Considering there are 5 sessions of
theoretically 2 hours 30 minutes, we can count on about 10-11 hours of
effective work. The following are our proposals as to the general format and
contents of each session:

The five theme group sessions

Session
1

Personal introduction of participants, particularly focusing on each one's
involvement or interest in specific peace processes around the world.

Africa Working Group Indonesia East Timor Workshop Kosova: what role for nonviolence? Peace work in post-Yugoslav countries The Balkan Peace Team and its work Identity and Conflict: two study cases Environmental action of grassroots and indigenous groups in the South of Chile

Every morning, the conference will begin in a short plenary. But even though it will be short, it will be a session that sets a tone for the day.

After
20 years of women-political work within WRI gender issue is still not an
integrated part of WRI's political program in spite of being accepted as a
theme on its own. Why? In the beginning it was necessary to keep women's
issues as separate, only to get it on the agenda.

19-24 September in Porec, Croatia — hosted by ARK (Anti-War Campaign Croatia)

Maggie Helwig and Biljana Kasic

This theme group will explore the role that different forms of collective identity can play in conflict situations; we will be looking at how collective identity can both create conflict and how it may be used to mediate conflict, and try to explore ways of creating new and non-exclusive forms of identity.

We are all born into a web of collective identities. From our earliest moments we are assigned a gender and a race. Depending on our circumstances, we may be born into a nationality, a religion or a philosophy that we will hold all our lives, or we may adopt new ones later and come to feel them as part of the "truth" about ourselves. We will eventually have a sexual orientation — we may not agree with each other about whether we chose it or were born into it.

Normally in plenary sessions, speakers speak and the audience listen and maybe prepare themselves to ask questions. The process with "reflectors" is a bit different. First, the "reflectors" will try to listen to as much as they can of the day's discussions - in theme groups, in workshops, even in corridors and meal queues! Then, in the plenary session, some of them will "reflect" on what they've heard, questions raised and questions ignored, striking insights they've heard, conflicts that haven't been resolved, or points where people have simply been failing to connect with each other.

The evening plenary will start with presentations by the reflectors. They will link their "reflections" with a theoretical framework on some aspects: Identity (feminity/masculinity); gender and war; WRI and gender; strategy and gender; experience in war. After this presentations, the whole conference will be involved in the discussion. Wait and see...

The idea of the gender day is to deepen discussions of how patriarchal traditions
influence not only nearly every aspect of women's and men's lives, but also
pacifist and antimilitarist work.

Masculinity and femininity Gender and body language Violence and gender Masculinity and militarism [men only workshop] Masculinity and Femininity Silvija from ARK, Croatia

We
will explore images of masculinity and femininity, we shall see how they are
connected to our biological sex, our gender identity, and our gender roles.

Mitchell, Blair, Adams,
Trimble, Ahern... conventional politics and its (male) leaders monopolise the
big headlines on the Northern Ireland peace agreement. Where are the grassroots
groups and movements which have been struggling for peace in Ireland for years?
Of course, deep complex social processes have little press appeal compared to
the photo of the year: two former irreconcilable (male) enemies shaking
hands.