Can Collective Violence Be Prevented

"Can Collective Violence be prevented?" is a step-by-step approach to the long-term prevention of violence in pre-crisis areas. It is applicable nationally and internationally within multi-ethnic and multi-religious contexts. It employs a new approach, where the groups and communities involved agree on incorporating the values of consciousness of joy, empowerment, empowerment to choose, choice and self help as basic values for various hands-on projects, chosen by the participants. The study takes place in Bali, Indonesia. Margret Rueffler, a German-American, holds a Ph.D. in Transpersonal Psychology and is a psychotherapist and acupuncturist. She is also the founder of the PsychoPolitical Peace Institute in Staefa, Switzerland and New York. Dr. Rueffler's international projects focus on the "Prevention of Collective Violence". Her vision is to introduce and teach internationally the inner values of consciousness of joy, empowerment to choose, choice and self help which lead to a deep change in the quality of life. For the last twenty years Dr. Rueffler researched the prevention of collective traumata and the Psychology of Nations.

Collective violence has played an important role throughout American history, though we have typically denied it. But it is not enough to repress violence or to suppress our knowledge of it. We must understand the phenomenon, and to do this, we must learn what violent groups are trying to say. Th at some choose violence tells us something about the perpetrators, inevitably, about ourselves and the society we have built.

Collective violence has played an important role throughout American history, though we have typically denied it. But it is not enough to repress violence or to suppress our knowledge of it. We must understand the phenomenon, and to do this, we must learn what violent groups are trying to say. Th at some choose violence tells us something about the perpetrators, inevitably, about ourselves and the society we have built.

The twentieth century has been scarred by political violence and genocide, reaching its extreme in the Holocaust. Yet, at the same time, the century has been marked by a growing commitment to human rights. This volume highlights the importance of history-of socially processed memory-in resolving the wounds left by massive state-sponsored political violence and in preventing future episodes of violence. In Genocide, Collective Violence, and Popular Memory: The Politics of Remembrance in the Twentieth Century, the editors present and discuss the many different social responses to the challenge of coming to terms with past reigns of terror and collective violence. Designed for undergraduate courses in political violence and revolution, this volume treats a wide variety of incidents of collective violence-from decades-long genocide to short-lived massacres. The selection of essays provides a broad range of thought-provoking case studies from Latin America, Africa, Europe, and Asia. This provocative collection of readings from around the world will spur debate and discussion of this timely and important topic in the classroom and beyond.