SPEAKING OF VIOLENCE: Mapping The Terrain

The Towards a People’s Peace webinar series invites activists, scholars, policymakers, and the wider public to explore the complex dynamics of violence, strategic nonviolence, and the pathways to building more just and peaceful societies.

This six-part series will delve into the roles of social movements in addressing state and non-state violence, fostering global peace, and amplifying justice.

Violence in one or other form are often an inextricable part of societal change. Social movements worldwide navigate this complex terrain, employing strategies from peaceful protests to armed resistance.

Each webinar will delve into a critical aspect of violence—its origins, forms, and consequences—and explore how social movements can challenge and transform systems of oppression.

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WEBINAR I Speaking of Violence: Mapping the Terrain
Date: 29 January 2025
We introduce the series with a first webinar exploring different categories of collective violence and examining the roots and manifestations of this, and how these are understood and experienced by social movements.

Read about the other webinars coming up below!
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WEBINAR II In Another’s Land: War and Militarization
Date: 5 February 2025
Exploring the historical and contemporary dynamics of war, militarization, and external aggression in global geopolitics, focusing on how power struggles continue to impact world peace. The global arms trade will be a focus to understand the nexus of wealth accumulation and state power.

WEBINAR III The Violent State: Dealing with Repression
Date: 29 February 2025
Looking at the nature and mechanisms of state violence . What role do social movements play in confronting it? and how can they be supported in their efforts to combat state oppression.

WEBINAR IV Uncivil Society: Ending Violence in People vs. People Conflicts
Date: 5 March 2025
Often called the dark mirror to civil society, uncivil society refers to elements within the social fabric that undermine social harmony and subvert democratic principles. In this webinar we will explore civil conflict and majoritarianism and how movements form and work in such realities.

WEBINAR V The Peaceful Play of People’s Power: Violence, Nonviolence, and Social Change
Date: 19 March 2025
Non-violent resistance has proved to be the most effective way to confront and change unequal power structures, and violence is often detrimental to the success of a movement, leading to shrinkage in popular participation in struggles among other things. However, the meaning and limits of violence itself is contested. In this webinar, we will deepen our understanding of strategic non-violent action and civilian based defense structures for social movements.

WEBINAR VI Towards a People’s Peace: Pathways to a Just and Nonviolent World
Date: 9 April 2025
Location: Global People Power Conference, Copenhagen
We conclude the series by bringing the various threads together in order to map out the contours of a contemporary global peace movement; promising approaches an how people’s movements can be supported to create just and inclusive peace.

The Social Movement Webinar Series is hosted by MOVE: The Global Social Movement Centre, a collaboration between ActionAid Nigeria, MS TCDC, Tanzania, ActionAid Denmark and ActionAid Association, India.