Background:  Understanding the basic components of social conflict that leads to change is essential for those of us who are change agents.  Civil unrest can arise from a complex set of factors and can seldom be attributed to only a few.  Early colonialization and missionary influence have long-range effects on groups of people in many parts of the world.  Capital interests connected to mineral resources and exploited workers can impoverish a country.  The domination and control of financial institutions such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and multi-national corporations can leave already poor countries impoverished under the guise of development.  Race, religion, and ethnicity are factors that can have a positive or negative influence on social conflict.

The improved roles of women in our society can be celebrated.  Unfortunately, women are still treated as second class citizens both in our country and around the world.  Violence against women can be a result of the pressures among the poor and disenfranchised as well as the rich and powerful.  Children are often the collateral damage of this injustice.  The relocation and immigration of people to a new country take a toll on women and often have a destabilizing affect on a household even while offering renewed hope to the individuals. 

Within the system known as the "prison industrial complex", a disproportionate number of people from minority groups and the poor are given long sentences without possibility of rehabilitation.  A death penalty that unfairly targets those same inmates continues to execute people in many States.  A neutral third party is needed to assist individuals as well as raise awareness about a system that is archaic and unjust. 

The status quo may uphold the powerful and privileged while institutionalizing injustice. A third voice is frequently needed to mediate conflicts - whether between individuals, ethnic groups, corporations, or countries.

Theory:  Social change is inevitable.  That which is alive is ever changing.  The relationships between gender, race, cultures, and religions are constantly evolving.  Although tradition has a way of slowing down change, it cannot be stopped.  In fact, conflict is sometimes the necessary ingredient to precipitate movement.  Finding ways to respond to conflicts that offer different outcomes can interrupt a cycle that has been repetitive.  Thus, positive social change can happen.  At times, the parties involved in interpersonal or social conflict are so invested in their own experience of the problem that a third party is needed to help find resolution. 

A personal account:  In summer of 2000, I joined a Quaker Peace Team for a month long assignment in war-torn Burundi in East Central Africa.  Over 200,000 people had been killed since the "uprising" in 1993.  From the outside,  the civil war seemed like an ongoing problem between the two ethnic groups of Hutu and Tutsi.  When we arrived, the negotiations between the fourteen rebel groups and Tutsi controlled government had just come to a standstill.  The situation was volatile.  I lived with fear for my own safety for most of the month and wandered how people cope with a constant state of fear and anxiety.

The social unrest contributing to the genocide in 1994 and the continuing civil war is multi-leveled.  Burundians taught us that their conflict is like a hippopotamus.  "When you see a Hippopotamus in Lake Tanganyika", they said, "you only see a small part of its back, its ears and some of its head.  Like the animal hidden under the water, so is much of our conflict submerged."

In Burundi, I found a majority Christian society divided by many denominations.  The 2% Muslim population was a target of oppression by all the Christian groups.  The remnants of colonialization by Belgium were still reflected in the banks and institutions.  Mineral resources were controlled by outside corporations and a recent boycott supported by the Organization of African Unity had caused havoc on the fragile economics of the small, over-populated country.

I met with as many non-governmental organizations as possible to learn about the social fabric of the country.  Search for Common Ground was one of the few international not-for-profit organizations that remained in the capital city of Bujumbura.  Staff from South Africa told us about the multiple ways women were affected by the war.  Domestic violence was on the rise.  Cultural prohibitions prevented women from reaching out for help.  To compound the suffering, economic hardships particularly affected the women and children left behind when so many of  the men were involved in the military actions.            (Continued on Page 12)

Resolving Issues  4