Expert roundtable: exploring the links between experiences of injustice and violent conflict

In collaboration with Saferworld, the Platform launched an online discussion series of blogs to explore ways to include a much broader array of actors in the process of building peace and justice. Please consult this link for more background information on the blog series and here to contribute to the blog series.

Building on the blogs we will organize a frank, expert exchange about the dynamics between multiple and varied experiences of injustice and violence, and consider how structural transformations across a range of interconnected fields might have a bearing on peace. We want to support the criminal justice system by focusing on the social realities that put stress on it, and think about how the collective actions of a much wider array of people might help solve justice problems.

The principle questions we will investigate are:

1) How exactly do different sources and experiences of injustice across different fields aggravate conflict dynamics?

2) In response, what is the peacebuilding potential of putting equality and fairness at the centre of political, economic, legal and social policy?

Attendees will be able to discuss justice problems in their fullness, approaching them through complicated but potentially more meaningful partnerships between actors not just in the ‘peace’, ‘rule of law’, ‘human rights’ or ‘justice’ sectors, but from much broader fields. These actors, whilst not traditionally considered as having a role to play in peace and justice work, clearly have much to offer. Architecture, economic policy, governance, criminal systems, the private sector, security policy and much more can all serve to exclude and antagonise or include and support. However, as yet there hasn’t been the sort of joined up actions necessary to work with this kind of coherency. Hopefully this round table will offer the first chance for a conversation to begin to correct that, and provide a starting point from which a number of different research and programme directions for the group will emerge.

For more information, please contact the secretariat