Conference Intersection of Decolonisation; Critical Peace Education and Social Justice in Nigeria

Conflict management, and hence peace-building operations, have been informed by liberal paradigms of peace (e.g. Boutros-Boutros-Ghali and UN1992), concentrating at the level of the state and on elites as critical gatekeepers in rebuilding stable, peaceful societies.

 

The liberal peace paradigm stands accused of being (neo)imperialist and dominated by Western hegemony as their interventions appear to only deliver the interests of the international community, promoting a universal and consensual vision of peace grounded in Eurocentric values and ways of thinking. In response to this critique there is an emerging field exploring the notion of ‘plurality of peaces’. Yet, there have been few attempts to map and share actually existing geographies of peace across generations, groups and regions and how these can be interwoven into education, including informal and formal education. DEPA aims to fill this gap.

 

African led Peace education must decentre Eurocentric norms and practices around peace that dominate Peace Education. Decolonising education requires decolonising learning pedagogies too. Both pedagogies and content need to be attuned to African knowledges and values. The University of Abuja in collaboration with Open University UK and PADEAP Nigeria is organizing a 1-day conference examining the intersection of Decolonisation; Critical Peace Education, and social justice in Nigeria.

For more information, please contact dotun.akanni2015@uniabuja.edu.ng or tominke@padeap.net