at the service of Artisans worldwide with the goal of equipping them in their efforts
to rethink peace and propose new modes of action
The four major, complementary approaches upon which Irenees has been founded have given way to four evolutionary « relational Atlases ».
Irenees approaches or entries in Irenees’ « Relational Atlas »
How to undertake a complex question such as the permanent tension between conflict, war and peace ? The strategy has consisted of proposing many points of view. Irenees is built around four approaches, each of which proposes a particular vantage point, the whole of which do not co-exist in any initiative : rather they are complementary to each other. Each approach is called an « entry », each of which gives way to many sub-entries. These four approaches have given birth to four ongoing relational atlases.
The construction sites of peace
A first approach – synchronic, is based on the sociology of peace.
The objective is to present concrete peace initiatives implemented at the heart of current conflicts, in terms of « construction sites ». The questions treated are diverse : international relations, geopolitics, terrorism, international commerce, social economics, natural resource management, energy, faith, ethics, et cetera. This approach is placed within the field of « governance ».
The geography of peace
The second approach – geocultural, concerns the characteristics of each peace initiative ranging from local to global.
It is a matter of approaching the various peace initiatives being worked on today world-wide by revealing the links between the local, national, regional, international and global scales.
The actors of peace
The third approach – ethical, combines the sociology of actors of peace with the philosophy of the individual.
Irenees allows the identification of actors – individuals and organizations - working today for world peace : social leaders, NGO executives, political authorities, military leaders, economic leaders, intellectuals, managers of representation and symbols, et cetera. Interviews with the Artisans of Peace allow us to discuss their motivations and values, touching on as well their ideas regarding the ethical domain.
The timeline of peace
The fourth approach – historical, is based on temporality.
This approach consists of « following » the long-term evolution of the conflicts and peace initiatives. The conflicts that seem, in some regards, to be recent, and that often are making headlines, owe their visibility to a convergence of political and media-related interests whereas the local interests they represent often took root much less « recently ». The history of tension is often long, capable of manifesting itself today in new forms that express contemporary fears while at the same time responding to more ancient endeavors and tensions. Irenees takes into account this palpable discrepancy : we do not exclusively treat the contemporary conflict, but also its long-term stakes, which ensures that we do not put ourselves in an emotional arena, but rather in one that insures the development of (the many dimensions of) knowledge.
Although these four approaches establish stable, theoretical reference points, we want to highlight their evolutionary character : so that each approach might be progressively enriched by integrating new dossiers into Irenees allowing each partner to elaborate and provide his own personal relational Atlas. An example : when a partner elaborates one or many Irenees dossiers, he also elaborates « his » relational Atlas (identification of the most important words in his file and organization of these words) in order to integrate it with Irenees’ Relational Atlas.
The strategic result ? An enrichment of Irenees by the elaboration of an ongoing relational Atlas of peace, and at the same time, a betterment of the collaborating Irenees partner.