Strategies for Safety and Solidarity: Understanding protection through creativity in South Sudan and Colombia

Artists who create political and socially engaged work are increasingly at risk. In contexts of protracted socio-political conflicts or post-peace agreements, discussions of safety and protection for social and cultural leaders (where artists and allied activists are situated), are often reduced to mitigating risk to harm and physical violence. Less is known about how artists, allies or their organizations experience those harms and what protection infrastructures they build up to continue collective action. This project identifies how artists and allied activists understand protection and vulnerability based on lived experiences.

This interdisciplinary research connects South Sudan and Colombia. It compares findings from research conducted in South Sudan (2020-2022) with new research in Colombia (2023) to investigate two key questions:

  • First, how do artists seek safety in times of conflict and unstable peace?
  • Second, how can creative methods be used to investigate vulnerability and map out networks of safety, going beyond the need for artist protection and into collective solidarity within activist communities?

THE RESEARCH TEAM

Principal Investigator: Kara Blackmore 

Dr Kara Blackmore is a researcher, curator, and policy fellow at the Firoz Lalji Institute for Africa (FLIA). She will oversee the overall project and support Co-Investigators in their country-specific workstreams. She will use her experience in creative methodologies and curation to lead Workstream 3, culminating in the exhibition in Bogotá. She will also lead on the cross-country mixed-methods paper. As Principal Investigator, Blackmore will take responsibility for the overall delivery of the project.

She has worked on over 20 grant funded projects and is adept at working with professional support staff and overseeing cross-country financial reporting. Within the FLIA, she has experience in managing workstreams on six different UKRI, DFID and Bloomsbury Set projects namely the FCDO-AHRC funded Safety of Strangers and the GCRF funded Politics of Return research projects.

Co-Investigator: José Fernando Serrano-Amaya

Dr José Fernando Serrano-Amaya leads Workstream 1 in Colombia. He uses his expertise in conflict studies, peacebuilding, and activism in Colombia to conduct case study research. His most recent research on the politics and social pedagogies of reconciliation in post conflict settings documented the richness of the practices to transform conflicts, among which arts are very significant.

Serrano-Amaya has experience in Africa and Latin American comparative research, previously researching on issues of gender-based violence and homophobic violence between South Africa and Colombia. 

Co-Investigator: Rebecca Lorins 

Dr Rebecca Lorins leads Workstream 2 in South Sudan, conducting the Story Circle research. Her background in media, communication and performance arts are essential to implementing the Story Circle methodology with Likikiri Collective.

Lorins has extensive experience working on research projects, recently implementing the Story Circle Method as part of research on three collaborations with University of Portsmouth: the British Academy funded Art Heritage and Resilience, and two AHRC funded projects: Youth Voices and Rethinking Resilience in South Sudan through an Arts-based Curriculum.

Collaborating Artist: Manuela Lara

Manuela Lara has been commissioned to create portraits of artists and social leaders whose experiences of insecurity and efforts for safety help to visualize the research. She will work with Dr Kara Blackmore develop the commission. This work builds off her existing Vivas project that centres on women who have survived the civil war in Colombia. Many of these women are artists themselves and are active social leaders working to keep their communities safe.

Partner: Likikiri Collective / Elfatih Atem

Likikiri Collective is a multimedia arts and education organization located in Juba, South Sudan. Likikiri will support the research through hosting the Story Circles. They will contribute to the research by providing a collective as case study.

Elfatih Atem will lead this in his capacity as the founding Executive Director. He has worked in a leadership capacity for many national Sudanese and South Sudanese cultural projects, as well as a consultant in culture, heritage and the arts for international NGOs and the UN. Likikiri brings an intercultural and interdisciplinary approach to this project, building connections across various sectors, including education, culture, development, and peacebuilding.

RESEARCH FINDINGS

The research findings are connected to 3 areas:

  1. We have come to understand some of the vulnerabilities in relation to how artists stay safe. We found that for artists working within the creative, cultural and educational sectors there is a real economic constraint to safety since it is costly to pay for cyber-protection, mobility and costs to legal fees for defending their rights to freedom of expression. Working with collectives illustrated that there is a need to be in social proximity to others as a way of ensuring a legitimate protection infrastructure, often already built into existing collective formats, such as unions of weavers/sewers, performers, theatre makers. Here we push the conceptualisation of ‘self-protection’ into a more indexical frame and argue that social dynamics of violence are always linked therefore making the self-as-individual an impossible equation.
  2. Protection infrastructure as interlinked between
    (1) fortification (2) creative process
    within this framework we conceive of the notion that curation is a mode of protection, meaning that people in creative spaces collect certain materials and narratives to self-style their presence as a way of staying safe. These processes of selection, contextual evaluation, and public interface – when done in collective formats – creates a kind of fortress to protect the physical and mental wellbeing of the artist. Such a finding is important considering in both Colombia and South Sudan nearly all our collaborating partners and research participants did not see safety as an absence of violence, rather it is a way to withstand the ongoing violence that has been persistent in these contexts.
  3. The value of creative methodologies.
    Using arts-based research methodologies to show how issues of safety and vulnerability can be investigated within and outside of artist and allied activist communities, using methods such as art commissions, and curation helped to further protection aims amidst violent conflict because it offered both direct confrontation with the issues and an alternative approach to dealing with issues of violence.
    One thing that we found from this research is related to the long-term and cyclical forms of bodily violence that are connected to historical legacies of epistemic violence. Such forms can be traced through symbolic and material lineages that goes beyond narrative-based oral histories. Conversely, we also found (which is not unique to this project) the affirming potential of spontaneous connection that can lead to healing and reconciliation to avert future violent events.

FIND OUT MORE

Project website: https://www.lse.ac.uk/africa/research/Art-Allies

Booklet: https://creating-safer-space.com/booklet-about-artists-and-strategies-for-safety-in-colombia-and-south-sudan/

Art Exhibition: https://creating-safer-space.com/art-exhibition-on-colombia-and-south-sudan-2/

Two Elders, Carving by Yaba Emmanuel Lasuba _Image from Safety and Storytelling Exhibition

Unarmed civilian protection through collective impact: Learning from the Jos Stakeholders Centre for Peace for enhanced civilian protection in Maiduguri, north-eastern Nigeria

This research project involves learning from a collective impact initiative for unarmed civilian protection launched in 2017, in Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria. Using quantitative and qualitative research on local violence reporting from newspaper archives; focus group discussions, and a non-linear video documentary with the members of the Jos Stakeholders Centre for Peace (JSCP) network, this project will contribute new theoretical and empirical insights on enhancing civilian protection through unarmed collective action in the area of community security. Prominently, the research includes partner organisations and collaborators in Nigeria to promote grassroots advocacy, capacity building; and knowledge dissemination around unarmed civilian protection (UCP) in Maiduguri, Borno state, where civilians have witnessed both state and non-state directed violence due to the Boko Haram insurgency. A growing normalisation in state-insurgent relations since 2015 has created the opportunity to build the self-protection capacities of local communities. Towards this end, the novelty of the project is three-fold. First it will encourage inter-regional learning of the collective impact model in UCP. Second, it will build the capacity of the people at the grassroots, and those in positions of local power and influence through workshops, mobile video projection and community discussions around UCP in Maiduguri, Borno state. Third, it will develop the local capacity in Maiduguri to arrest conflict escalation and mitigate both state and non-state armed violence directed against civilians, through unarmed community security initiatives.

Research Team:

  • Sukanya Podder, King’s College London, UK (principal investigator)
  • Pwakim Jacob Choji, Youth Initiative Against Violence and Human Rights Abuse, Jos, Nigeria (co-investigator)
  • Allamin Foundation for Peace & Development, Nigeria (project partner)

Project Dates:

1 November 2022 – 31 January 2024

Research Outputs:

Burnt houses due to communal conflict in Angwan Damisa, Jos, Plateau State
Burnt houses due to communal conflict in Angwan Damisa, Jos, Plateau State
Stream bordering Muslim and Christian settlements in Angwan Damisa, Jos, Plateau State where UCP activities undertaken by the JSCP has resulted in conflict de-escalation 
Burnt house being rebuilt

Gender-just landscapes: Gender based violence and community protection in land, natural resource and climate conflicts

Gender-based violence (GBV) is experienced by one in three women worldwide; however, the risk of GBV grows substantially in conflict. The scale and endemic nature of GBV means that understanding vulnerability, drivers and impact is an urgent public health, human rights and policy issue. However, there is less awareness about the relationship between GBV and land, natural resource and climate-related conflict.

Our aims are to address this gap in knowledge and improve understanding of the nature and risk factors of GBV related to natural resource and climate-related conflict, locate community responses to GBV risks, and identify opportunities to strengthen Unarmed Civilian Protection (UCP) approaches by learning from community responses.

Our project will consolidate the evidence base and develop illustrative case studies in Colombia, Nigeria and the Philippines, which will provide learning from varied contexts and potential opportunities to adapt and apply UCP. The project will co-design an equitable and inclusive programme of research using visual and participatory action research methods that will establish new networks for UCP scaling and for GBV specialists with land, natural resource and climate conflict specialists. This will provide a basis for engagement, exchange and creation with academics, civil society, UCP advocates and practitioners and policy makers, to foster support for communities experiencing violence.

Team Members:

Dr Lora Forsythe (PI)
l.forsythe@gre.ac.uk
Associate Professor Gender, Inequalities and Food Systems
Natural Resources Institute, University of Greenwich, UK

Colombia

Javier Lautaro Medina Bernal (Co-I)
jmedina@cinep.org.co
Project Manager, member of the Technical Secretariat of the International Verification Component of the Peace Agreement, and coordinator of the National Engagement Strategy in Colombia with the International Land Coalition
Conflict, State and Peace Programme, Centro de Investigación y Educación Popular (CINEP)

Diana Lopez Castaneda (researcher)
Independent Consultant

Nigeria

Dr Aliyu Barau (Co-I)
Associate Professor Urban and Regional Planning
Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Bayero University Kano

Philippines

Timothy F. Salomon (Co-I)
Facilitator National Engagement Strategy in the Philippines for the International Land Coalition
Center for Agrarian Reform and Rural Development (CARRD)

United Kingdom

Lilian Treasure (Researcher)
PhD Candidate and Vice Chancellor Scholar
Natural Resources Institute, University of Greenwich

Dr Uche Okpara (Co-I)
Fellow in Climate Change and State Fragility
Natural Resources Institute, University of Greenwich

Professor Tilman Brück (Co-I)
Visiting Professor of Food Security, State Fragility and Climate Change
Natural Resources Institute, University of Greenwich


Development of civil protection capacities in women displaced by the armed conflict through popular communication and Community Legal Empowerment

Utilizing a qualitative research-action design, this project delved into the experiences in the field of unarmed civilian self-protection of a group of women who were displaced by armed conflict and now reside in contexts characterized by social and urban segregation. In these environments, they remain exposed to multiple forms of violence linked to fear-based political dynamics. The research explored the appropriation and implementation of innovative strategies, focusing on community advocacy and storytelling as active participation methods and testimonial resources for collective efforts aimed at promoting social cohesion as the foundation for peaceful community organization.

Research Team:

  • Luisa Maria Colonia, Masterpeace Cali, Colombia (principal investigator)
  • Gustavo Suárez, Universidad del Valle, Colombia (co-investigator)
  • Fundación Carvajal, Colombia (project partner)
  • Unicatólica, Colombia (project partner)
  • Humanos: Foro Iberoamericano de Periodistas en DDHH, Colombia (project partner)

Transmedia Booklet

This booklet has been prepared to communicate the key findings of the research. Through this research, Masterpeace Cali presents an innovative approach to peaceful protection strategies employed by displaced civilian populations in urban areas where violence persists and escalates despite ongoing state conflict resolution processes. Furthermore, by co-creating this booklet with the participating women, we aim to share their positive experiences related to the implementation of these strategies with other communities and grassroots organizations at the local, regional, national, and international levels. Our goal is to encourage the adaptation and replication of these strategies in other regions and communities affected by fear-based policies, thus fostering the exchange of best practices in the field of unarmed civil protection (UCP).

Further Information:

Website:

www.masterpeace-cali.org


Safety and dignity: Enhancing unarmed civilian protection amongst Palestinian communities in the South Hebron Hills (Masafer Yatta)

In the South Hebron Hills (Masafer Yatta) of the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) there are a 32 small Palestinian farmer and Bedouin communities living and working on land from which the Israeli state and settlers seek to expel them. To support the local resistance numerous actors (Palestinian, Israeli and international) have sought to protect the civilian population from the escalating acts of violence by settlers in which their crops, livestock, dwellings and lives have been targeted. B’Tselem, the Israeli human rights organisation concluded that the Israeli state has been using settler violence to cleanse the area of Palestinians.

This research seeks to analyse the history of the twenty or more years of attempts by civilian actors to support the local communities in their attempts to create safer spaces within which they can continue to maintain their livelihoods, hold on to their land and way of life. The case study is particularly significant because of the number and range of actors intervening, each with their own mode of operation and motivation. As such it presents a special opportunity to examine the challenges faced by those seeking to broaden the scale of civilian intervention in violent conflict situations as a basis for sustainable peace.

Project Team

Dr Marwan Darweish is the principal investigator (PI) of the project, with overall responsibility for the management, planning and delivery of the project.

Marwan Darweish has an unparalleled research background in the OPT and Israel. He has conducted many research projects and consultancies with Palestinian and Israeli NGOs and EU about conflict transformation and nonviolent resistance. As a Palestinian with Israeli and British citizenship his political involvements and his fluency in Arabic, Hebrew and English have enabled him to develop a close relationship with many Israeli solidarity and peace activists and with their Palestinian counterparts – a trust relationship that makes his research in this conflict zone so rich and textured.

Dr Andrew Rigby is Emeritus Professor of Peace Studies with the Centre for Trust, Peace and Social Relations (CTPSR), of which he was the founding director.

He began researching and writing about unarmed civilian resistance in the OPT in the 1980s, and has continued his involvement over the ensuing four decades as a researcher, consultant and advocate of unarmed resistance to occupation.

Over the years he has developed a wide network of contacts amongst Israelis, Palestinians and representatives of international humanitarian aid and human rights agencies. He will draw on these contacts throughout the period of the proposed research project.

Dr Mahmoud Soliman is a Research Fellow at the CTPSR, based in the West Bank and closely associated with the Al-Shmoh Cultural Center, a small NGO in the OPT. Mahmoud is a highly regarded activist, community organiser and researcher. He will be ‘in the field’ for the majority of the research project, liaising with key informants, organising the field visits and taking a leading role in the dissemination of the findings of the research the follow up in-country activities. He will be the main contact with a Local Advisory Group (LAG) which will be established as part of the research process.

Research Outputs:

Mahmoud Soliman in a civilian protection gathering in the West Bank

South Hebron Hills (Masafer Yatta) during spring, Mustard seeds flowers

Internationals accompany children to school passing in front of army vehicle.

Palestinian activists protecting local community from settlers attack


Understanding Community-level Spontaneous Unarmed Civilian Protection (UCP): A Comparative Study of Initiatives in South Sudan, Myanmar and Colombia

In recent years important research has explored how civilians engage in unarmed civilian protection (UCP) to protect other civilians from armed violence. Yet existing research has focused almost exclusively on UCP initiatives that are advanced by international non-government organisations (INGOs) that specialise in UCP.

Our project explores a less known aspect of UCP, what we term spontaneous UCP, referring to community-level UCP initiatives by local actors that are carried out ‘spontaneously’ in response to local conditions without any pre-emptive support from specialist INGOs. More specifically, we seek to understand the nature and character of local nonviolent actors engaging in spontaneous UCP; how the contexts shape, support and constrain spontaneous UCP activities; the evolution relationships, networks and coalitions these local actors form in order to protect others; exploring these factors across Myanmar, Colombia and South Sudan.

The project design is fully participatory, with researchers from the Centre of Religion, Reconciliation and Peace (CRRP) at the University of Winchester working closely with in-country co-investigators (Co-Is) in Myanmar, Colombia and South Sudan. As a team we will conduct semi-structured interviews and focus groups to collect new data on spontaneous UCP. The project will produce two academic articles on the nature and emergence of spontaneous UCP, four policy briefs and develop arts-based approaches with in-country Co-Is to disseminate our findings to a broader audience .

The project offers important contributions to the emerging UCP literature by moving beyond the current focus on INGO led UCP initiatives, to provide new understandings about spontaneous UCP, and by offering a comparative analysis of spontaneous UCP across three cases of three different continents. The project also contributes to the Safer Space Network; highlighting new opportunities to develop local civilian capabilities, local protection infrastructures, as well providing new understanding about the vulnerabilities of locally led UCP initiatives.

Research Team

The project team consists of researchers from the Centre of Religion, Reconciliation and Peace (CRRP), which will be working closely with researchers from in-country Co-investigators; Organisation for Nonviolence and Development (ONAD) in South Sudan, Religions for Peace Myanmar (RfP-M) and Rodeemos el Diálogo – Embrace Dialogue (ReD) in Colombia (see below):

The CRRP will be leading the project with Prof. Mark Owen as Principal Investigator (PI) and Dr. Andrei Gomez-Suarez and Dr. Luke Abbs as Co-Investigators (Co-Is).

Prof. Owen as principal investigator will lead the overall project and lead fieldwork in Myanmar. Prof. Owen is an expert on religious peacebuilding has extensive experience in engaging in fieldwork in conflict zones and conducting project evaluations, including in Myanmar. Dr. Gomez-Suarez as Co-I will manage field work in Colombia where he has explored reconciliation and peacebuilding and has extensive experience in conducting fieldwork, and engaging in arts-based research dissemination. Dr. Abbs has regional expertise of Sub-Saharan Africa and as Co-I will manage fieldwork in South Sudan. As an expert on the use of nonviolent resistance during armed conflict, Dr. Abbs will be academic lead and supporting academic dissemination and interpreting findings across all three cases.

Our in-country Co-Is will play a vital role in data collection; helping us to identify nonviolent actors that engage in spontaneous UCP outside of intensive fieldwork conducted by investigators from the CRRP, and in logistics; setting up meetings, focus groups and interviews, facilitating access to researchers, and supporting arts-based initiatives by organising research dissemination events.

The Organisation for Nonviolence and Development (ONAD) has been working in South Sudan for over two decades and has extensive experience in collaborating with NGOs and research initiatives. The CRRG recently collaborated with ONAD, assessing and conducting fieldwork on the impact of United States Institute of Peace initiatives in South Sudan.

Religions for Peace Myanmar (RfP-M) have significant experience of carrying out peacebuilding and reconciliation work across Myanmar, have previously collaborated with the CRRP and have worked extensively in Rakhine, Central Myanmar, Kachin, Chin state, and Kayin.

Rodeemos el Diálogo (ReD) have extensive experience of conducting and supporting peacebuilding initiatives, and have previously worked in the Catatumbo region (supporting the work of Mesa Humanitaria del Catatumbo in opening up political space) and Nariño.

Website Links

Project Outputs

Policy Brief: Civilians Protecting Civilians, Nariño, Colombia – English

Policy Brief: Civiles Protegiendo Civiles, Nariño, Colombia – Spanish

Policy Brief: Unarmed Civilian Protection in Myanmar: Central Myanmar, Kachin and Chin State

Photos

Afrocolombian communities in Nariño’s pacific coast using football as a (Spontaneous) UCP strategy.

Community Action Boards in northern Nariño use dialogue to shape “Coexistence Contracts” as a (Spontaneous) UCP
Indigenous communities in central Nariño are creating a network of spiritual sites as a (Spontaneous) UCP strategy that includes the territory

UNMISS steps up efforts to help end tribal wars in the Western Lakes region of South Sudan.
Copyright: UNMISS / Eric Kanalstein
Burma/Myanmar – Workshop on the prohibition of sexual violence to the Karen Women Organization (KWO).
Copyright: Geneva Call www.genevacall.org

The Social Process of Guarantees of Antioquia, Colombia, an experience of unarmed civil protection with indigenous and peasant communities of Bajo Cauca

Within the context of the social, political and armed conflict that persists in the Bajo Cauca subregion of Antioquia (Colombia), peasant and indigenous communities have developed their own protection mechanisms to deal with the attacks suffered by their leaders due to the actions taken by legal and illegal armed actors present in the territory. For this purpose, they have joined the Social Process of Guarantees of Antioquia (PSG in spanish), a platform of social and community organisations dedicated to strengthening internal processes of self-protection and dialogue with the authorities responsible for guaranteeing security conditions in the task of human rights defense. The research will allow systematising the experience of the PSG with the Senú indigenous people and peasant communities of the municipalities of Cáceres, El Bagre and Tarazá, as a mechanism for the protection of unarmed civil society that is contributing to the prevention of risks generated by violent actions in the territory. It will allow as well, the identification of factors that influence the success or failure of the strategies implemented by the PSG and local communities from a differential and intersectional perspective that includes a gender and inter(ethnic) perspective in its analysis.

Research Team:

  • Astrid Torres Ramírez, Corporación Jurídica Libertad, Colombia (principal investigator)
  • Winston Gallego Pamplona, Corporación Jurídica Libertad, Colombia (co-investigator)
  • Fundación Sumapaz, Colombia (project partner)
  • Antioquia Node of the Coordination Colombia Europe United States, Colombia (project partner)

Project Outputs


Publication (Spanish only)

Short Film


Project Website with podcasts, photos, posters, etc.

Research Summary:

The situation for social leaders, peasant leaders, human rights defenders, and indigenous authorities in Bajo Cauca, Antioquia, is alarming. The communities of this region are trapped in the middle of a social, political and armed conflict that is worsening. This is due to the territorial advance of armed groups who seek control of their territories, economies such as drug trafficking and illegal mining (not including traditional artisanal mining), and the presence of megaprojects. These circumstances have increased the risk for social leaders who, hand in hand with their communities, have had to face threats to their territories and lives. The limited presence of the State and the lack of basic services such as health, education, and housing have made the situation even worse.

The framework of impunity, in which the various attacks and patterns of crime have taken place, has generated a climate of fear and mistrust in the population, who live in constant fear of being a victim in their own territories. Human rights violations, attacks on social leaders, gender-based violence, forced disappearances, homicides, threats, and even extrajudicial executions continue to be reported in the subregion.

Peasant and indigenous organizations have therefore taken the initiative and have developed and implemented a series of self-protection measures to protect the life of their communities and their permanence in their territories. These measures include the creation of early warning systems to detect the presence of legal or illegal armed groups and to prevent the occurrence of attacks against the community, the creation of indigenous guards, the organization of walking tours to delimit and protect the territory, so-called word circles to share experiences, humanitarian shelters, and women’s committees, among others. This, together with spaces where peasant leaders and indigenous authorities can meet and train, have allowed them to respond to the threats and to protect themselves despite the absence of the State.

The organizations have also established alliances with other communities and civil society organizations to strengthen their response capacity. The have created solidarity, support and communication networks between the different communities, established evacuation routes in case of emergency, and some platforms such as the PSG have provided psychosocial support and have facilitated political advocacy work with government entities and the international community. Through these self-protection measures, peasant and indigenous communities are seeking to guarantee the safety and integrity of their members.

Within indigenous communities, strategies aimed at strengthening their protection, culture, ancestry, and knowledge are of high importance. They are based on the spiritual relationship of their communities with the land and the legacy and ancestral knowledge of the elders of the Senues, Embera Chamí, and other indigenous peoples, as a way to protect identities and to confront the violent actions of legal and illegal armed actors, who are present in the territories and commit serious violations of human rights and of international humanitarian law. Their unarmed civilian protection strategies are based on their own forms of indigenous governance and their own protection mechanisms such as the indigenous guards and the word circles. Self-governance has become a significant method of unarmed civilian protection for indigenous communities, since it enables them to exercise control and organize the order and defense of their territory and their common goods, to preserve culture, ancestry, and spirituality, to provide justice and education, to exercise the right to autonomy, to defend their rights as historical peoples, and to protect life and integrity. Based on their self-determination and autonomy, they make decisions in accordance with their culture, norms, practices, and customs in the face of humanitarian crises and the risks they face.

Given the serious humanitarian situation in Bajo Cauca, Antioquia, national and local authorities need to urgently take concrete measures to protect the communities and guarantee their fundamental rights. It is necessary to give special attention to the victims of the conflict, to investigate and punish those responsible for human rights violations, and to implement public policies that promote the sustainable development of the region while taking into account peasant organizations’ and ethnic communities’ demands and ideas.

In view that the State has so far failed to regulate the violence or to establish routes to protection, it should now enforce and implement changed collective protection models, which are not based on militarization and which recognize the experiences of communities and organizations (such as decree 660 of 2018 “Comprehensive Security and Protection Programme for Communities and Organizations in the Territories), and develop further safety provisions.

This research contributes to knowledge on successful unarmed civilian protection practices and improves those practices that have proven to be less effective. It shows that, by collecting and analyzing information on different self-protection strategies and measures, patterns and trends can be identified that contribute to a greater understanding of community safety systems. In this way, a more comprehensive and effective approach can be developed to protect the population in emergency situations. Furthermore, by continuing to link and systematize diverse experiences, memories, and forms of collective action, unarmed civilian self-protection practices can be improved, ensuring that the best practices are implemented and adapted to the specific needs of each community. This translates into greater preparedness to face armed conflicts and other risk situations, which in turn can save lives and reduce material damage.

News:

  • More information about the research team’s engagement event in 2024 is available here.
  • More information about the research team’s fieldwork in 2023 is available here.

Website and Social Media:


Visualising early warning and preparedness in civilian protection: Investigating local vernaculars of community adaptations to insecurity

Using three field research sites in South Sudan, this research will investigate Early Warning as understood, communicated and interpreted by local communities. Early Warning is a fundamental aspect of Civilian Protection in response to threats from types of violence (political, criminal and cattle raiding) perpetrated by both state and non-state groups. Steered by two South Sudanese field researchers with excellent peacebuilding and humanitarian networks, the project engages a semiotic approach to investigate symbols and signs in Early Warning messaging, and how these are diffused, amplified and received in areas of low literacy where communication is mostly non-textual and sometimes non-verbal. This methodology also provides a suitable bridge for local perceptions and understandings to inform legal, training and policy frameworks using our existing networks. This research builds on the PI’s previous South Sudan fieldwork, and his research projects exploring local Early Warning and protection mechanisms to strengthen accessing and acting on such information. Our research is based on the premise that although multiple international frameworks exist, there are religious, cultural and tribal practices and perspectives which are highly relevant, organically produced and actionable. However, they have few formal links to policy statements and conventions, and remain under-studied.

Research Team:

  • Chas Morrison, Coventry University, UK (principal investigator)
  • Diria Vicky Thomas, Community Aid for Relief and Development, South Sudan (co-investigator)
  • Haji Elias Hillary, Lomore Development Organization, South Sudan (co-investigator)

Research Findings:

This research project investigated cultures and practices of early warning and conflict preparedness among ethnic groups in different regions of South Sudan, through a semiotics lens. Group meetings, interviews and audio-visual materials were captured across 3 locations outside Juba city: in Central Equatoria; in Malakal, Upper Nile state; and in Yambio, Western Equatoria State. We investigated and recorded examples of signs and symbols used for communicating, for preparing, and for protecting. There are established mechanisms to avoid conflict, to postpone it, to negotiate or to call for it, and to defend one’s community using both practical and occult methods. This messaging and signing has a high implicit meaning, and is often opaque or misinterpreted by outsiders; the semiotic meaning has a clear in-group target and is not designed to be widely understood. Practices are very culturally bound, and often specific to certain tribes. Signs and symbols are shared within a specific group, and are then exclusionary with regards to the out-group. The semiotic functions support in-group cohesion and identity, which is particularly important in recent years with the receding of state authority and security.

We have audio-visual recordings of many of these practices, and group discussions regarding others:

  • Drawing symbols and designs on the ground with spears or spikes
  • Drumming to alert, convey messages (3x to fight, 4x for death).
  • Songs with concealed meaning, blowing horns
  • Drawings with ash on dwellings, ground or trees (protective circles, arrows, crosses etc).
  • Reeds & grasses tied in specific ways: if tied together =>conflict, if separate =>no conflict.
  • Cuttings of plants or positioning stones to indicate directions: (3 stones to show a place is dangerous and abandoned)
  • ‘Tele-oor’ -hand whistling as an alert system.
  • Elder women spiritual protection: fasting and praying for husbands/sons for days. They don’t eat or wash, but sing, dance and serve food to males This protects the fighting men.
  • Boundary markers on ground: if enemy cross this, it means declaration to fight
  • Use of spiritual curses against individuals or groups (fighting is not wrongful, but not following fighting rules is wrongful and should be spiritually punished)
  • In some tribes, women watching the combat, may come and lay on an injured man to protect him. He can then no longer be attacked. This is also apparently used in preventing domestic violence.
  • Revenge is important and permitted, but along strict demarcated lines
  • Women, elders & children hide; young men armed with spear or bow & arrow, or small arms if they have them
  • Women prepare packed lunch, sometimes carry and store weapons for the combatants
  • Youth pass through legs of standing elders, to receive blessings
  • Some tribes (Jur, Balanda) women also fight
  • Move livestock to safety, and hide or bury any valuables.
  • Symbols drawn on ground used to lure enemy for ambush
  • Spiritual power is inherited, not miraculous, and used only by key individuals in a community
  • Defence against insect attack (locusts, red ants etc, using ash circles and spiritually protected spaces).
  • Defence against harmful ‘witch animals’: half human, half beast. This is distinct to armed groups, but the protection operates in a similar way.
  • Ancestor power: invoking curses, protection etc.
  • Chase away attackers using wild animals (bees, snakes), can cause bombs to be dropped in the wrong places.
  • Blessed amulets that deflect bullets
  • Blessed Charcoal and saliva mixture, to purify and protect people and particular locations
  • Cursed animal skins for hanging above doorways and crossroads (also used against Covid). These harms and disorient any armed groups attacking the area.
  • Cursed water for blindness. Invading attackers can no longer see, and will go the wrong way.
  • Ash on women’s forehead if husband has died, to symbolise her loss and purification needs.

These signs and cultures may appear mysterious and irrational to outsiders. They conflate different threat types, of both secular and spiritual nature: armed violence, cattle raiding, insect infestation, diseases, spiritual threats such as ghosts and spirits, and natural hazards like drought, flood and bush fires. Preparation for fighting, or any other threat, is ritualistic and culturally bound. There are differences across tribal groups of such practices, but they tend to share some similar principles; we found that the cultural self-protection practices tend to be ritualistic, strictly hierarchical and divided along gendered lines. Many respondents mention the importance of ancestor power, and the select individuals who harness and wield it. Ancestor power can be employed for warding off danger and threats through ritualistic means, performing protection spells and incantations, or strengthening combatants for armed warfare.

Overall, these symbols, signs and incantations provide a framework for the ritualised, performative aspects of hand-to-hand fighting. Local civilian self-protection mechanisms not well understood or acknowledged by formal peacekeeping actors or other authorities. Anecdotal evidence suggests that these practices are becoming more prevalent, not less, due to the withdrawing of state power and the reversed development apparent in the country after years of war. Thus, tribal identities are becoming more embedded, and with that, the cultural practices that revolve around conflict and local level warfare. Communities report good results from UCP actors such as Nonviolent Peaceforce, but they tend not to share the wider UCP aim of avoiding conflict altogether. Instead, they tend to see it as a phenomenon to be managed, performed and interpreted along established cultural lines that seemingly allow some level of violence, as long as this is carried out within defined parameters and follows customary practice. That is, violence may one of several outcomes, but it not necessarily to be avoided as a goal in itself. Our respondents suggest that preparing for non-violence is not a specific approach in itself; it will be implemented if that seems the best thing to do, rather than as a moral goal. Otherwise, violence is reportedly planned for, implemented, mitigated, and recovered from. Unfortunately, much violence of recent years has instead been instigated for criminal and political ends, and does not adhere to traditional rules and limitations for armed engagement. Gender divisions are very marked and there are strict gender roles and identities. Communities discuss the chain reactions of cattle raiding, and revenge attacks linked to honour. The spread of guns has significantly altered the dynamics of combat, and increased the numbers of casualties and injuries.

We recommend that the cultural salience of these practices should be better acknowledged and addressed with sensitivity, to improve support to protection of civilians and other mechanisms for local human security. Low-tech low-literacy practices are a firmly established intrinsic part of life, and reportedly becoming more salient in identities. The centrality of these cultural practices and belief systems needs to be understood and engaged.

Find Out More:

https://www.coventry.ac.uk/research/research-directories/current-projects/2022/visualising-early-warning-and-preparedness-in-civilian-protection/

Men in South Sudan illustrating the use of grasses tied together to convey a specific symbolic meaning. When the heads of the grasses are tied together, it symbolises a clash (that there will be fighting). When the heads of the grasses are apart, as the man in the middle demonstrates with his hands, it symbolises that violence will be avoided.
A bombed school, still functioning, in Western Bahr el Ghazal, South Sudan. It speaks of resilience and fortitude.

Community strategies for Unarmed Civilian Protection in South-West Colombia: local experiences and lessons learned

This project investigates and seeks to strengthen the extraordinary capacity of Colombian communities to navigate the complex conflicts that threaten their security. Using a Participatory Action Research approach, which conducts research with rather than on communities, we will collaborate with grassroots organisations and train community researchers in three diverse communities in the Pacific region of South-West Colombia: i) the predominantly Afro-Colombian port city of Buenaventura; ii) mestizo coca growers based in and around the town of Lerma; and iii) members of an indigenous coffee-growing cooperative in Caldono, Toribio, Santander de Quilichao and Bolivar municipalities.

Through an extended engagement with these communities, and utilising a variety of ethnographic, archival and participatory research methods including the use of Participatory Video, the project aims to:

  • Document and analyse the diverse experiences, initiatives and infrastructures of Unarmed Civilian Protection in Colombia’s Pacific region;
  • Identify and disseminate lessons for effective Unarmed Civilian Protection at a regional, national and international level;
  • Strengthen community capacity for self-analysis and project collaboration through training in participatory research.

The overarching goal of the project is to facilitate an exchange of knowledge and experiences which enhances community capacities for UCP in the region and beyond.

RESEARCH TEAM

  • Juan Mario Díaz, University of Sheffield, UK (principal investigator)
  • Simon Rushton, University of Sheffield, UK (co-investigator)
  • Arlene B. Tickner, Universidad del Rosario, Colombia (co-investigator)
  • Jesús Alfonso Flórez López, Universidad Autónoma de Occidente, Colombia (co-investigator)
  • Natalia Campo, Universidad Autónoma de Occidente, Colombia (co-investigator)
  • Adrián Alzate, Universidad Autónoma de Occidente, Colombia (co-investigator)
  • Corporación Memoria y Paz (CORMEPAZ) (project partner)
  • Central Cooperativa Indígena del Cauca (CENCOIC) (project partner)
  • Escuela Agroambiental El Arraigo – Comunidad del Lerma (project partner)
  • Pastoral Social Popayán (project partner)

PROJECT OUTPUTS

Short Film: Minga
This film explores the history and meaning of a community-based socio-cultural and political practice known as Minga, an indigenous form of protest and resistance. The film looks at Minga in the context of armed conflict through the experiences of resistance of the Nasa indigenous communities in the department of Cauca, Colombia. It was created by a group of local researchers from the Indigenous Community of Caldono, Resguardo San Lorenzo, Ancestral land Sath Tama Kiwe in 2023.

Publication
Semillero de Investigacion IAP (Curriculum for Research Seedbeds)

FIND OUT MORE

In February 2022, a group of Colombia- and Sheffield-based researchers and grassroots organisations in the region came to visit CENCOIC coffee warehouse in Popayan, Cauca. This was part of a three-day workshop, which led to the development of the project “Community strategies for Unarmed Civilian Protection in South-West Colombia: local experiences and lessons learned”.
Members of CENCOIC and research team of the University of Sheffield, Feb 2022
Meeting with the local researcher of CORMEPAZ and academic partners in Colombia to discuss training and capacity-building opportunities in Buenaventura in July 2022
Cultural event organised by CORMEPAZ in defence of the human and territorial rights of the community of Barrio Lleras, Comuna 6, Buenaventura, in July 2022.
Getting ready! This was a two-day workshop with academic and non-academic partners (Universidad Autónoma de Occidente (UAO), Pastoral Social Popayán, Comunidad de Lerma, Cencoic, Cormepaz and Sheffield University) associated to the project “Community strategies for Unarmed Civilian Protection in South-West Colombia: local experiences and lessons learned” in the UAO, Cali, 21-22 July 2022. The purpose of this workshop was to strengthen the partnership and listen to the partners’ views and expectations in relation to this project.

Exploring Community Perceptions and Coping Strategies on Violence in Rakhine State, Myanmar

This research sees how local ethnic groups in the Rakhine state, Myanmar, identify and cope with the local violent events they encountered or anticipated. Region-wide violence has become a common experience among those living in the conflict-ridden region of the Rakhine state. Within the span of two decades, there were at least three crises that sparked violence across the region: the 2012 sectarian conflict between ethnic Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims in northern Rakhine; The 2016-2017 violent campaign against Rohingya; and the occasional armed conflict between Myanmar’s armed force, Tatmadaw, and the local ethnic armed group, the Arakan Army (AA). We have observed that these prominent events have never been fully resolved but linger as a pretext for the violent incidents encountered by the members of these local ethnic groups.

The project explores local peace infrastructures and unarmed civilian protection strategies through the lens of ethnic groups living in both central and northern Rakhine areas. It uses a participatory action research approach not only to compare different conceptions of violence of the different ethnic groups in the region but also to explore divergent strategies of said groups to handle and reduce violence in their respective communities. With this core research design, the project shall involve its sampled members of ethnic local groups throughout all phases of the research project design, implementation, and post-data collection. Their feedback on the finding is critical later on to better understand the local capacity to engage with unarmed civilian protection strategies.

Research Team

  • Abellia Anggi Wardani, Knowledge-Hub Myanmar (Principal Investigator)
  • Riyad Anwar, Knowledge-Hub Myanmar
  • Florian Weigand, Centre on Armed Groups and London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)
  • Tony Neil, London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)

For further information and update, please check our website and social media accounts:

  • Website: www.knowledgehub-mm.org
  • Twitter / Instagram: @knowledgehub_mm
Photo of people digging a well in Rakhine
Digging a well in Rakhine