The Little Book of Strategic Peacebuilding

Lisa Schirch, Good Books, 2004, 86 pages.
Review by Esther Epp-Tiessen
Peace Ministries

Lisa Schirch is associate professor of peacebuilding at Eastern Mennonite University. She has 15 years of experience as a peacebuilding consultant in Asia, Africa, Latin American and the U.S. She has experience working in a refugee camp, organizing a human rights campaign, acting as a civilian peacekeeper and researching and evaluating peace and development projects.

In her very readable 80-page book, Schirch describes peacebuilding as that which seeks to "prevent, reduce, transform, and help people recover from violence in all forms, even structural violence that has not yet led to massive civil unrest." Schirch identifies 15 different peacebuilding approaches, including conflict transformation, environmental protection, research and education, advocacy, and policy making. All of them, she says, make an important contribution to the task of building a just and sustainable peace or justpeace, as she terms it. The 15 different approaches can be brought under the rubric of four categories that focus on different and essential tasks. She describes these four key tasks are: 1) waging conflict through nonviolent means, 2) reducing direct violence, 3) transforming relationships, and 4) building capacity for a culture of justpeace.

Schirch's little book is a very helpful and hopeful contribution to a growing field. In a world where people working for peace often get into heated arguments about means and approaches, Schirch invites readers to think broadly and to recognize that a broad range of approaches are helpful, and indeed essential. Her challenge — that peacebuilders learn to coordinate and plan their efforts strategically — is a necessary one.

We cannot do it alone—peacebuilding requires a generous spirit among the peacebuilders: holding our tongues that unfairly criticize the work of others, and communication skills and processes that enable peacebuilders to address the conflicts among themselves. All of our seemingly disparate efforts can be part of a unified effort, provided we work together toward a common goal of justpeace.