Mareike Schomerus, Research Fellow:
Adaptive development in settings of conflict and violence
Currently, the debate on violence and conflict is in danger of becoming circular. The vague catch-all term ‘violent extremism’ serves as a good example: because there is violent extremism, what we see is violent extremism. This does not help provide analysis of what is happening.
After a violent March, with bombs in Turkey, Belgium, Pakistan and Nigeria (and many other places), we need to understand the causes of violence and what can be done about it.
Adaptive programming is partly an attempt to avoid such circular thinking. The approach emphasises listening and learning; it only works by paying attention to how each moment influences the next and by figuring out how small adjustments might add up to big changes.
In situations of acute violence, listening is challenging because questions are urgent. An answer to the question what can be done to prevent another Istanbul or Brussels is extremely complicated because there is no single solution. Without easy answers, it’s tempting to fall back on existing categories, rather than to listen and learn.
Part of adaptive thinking is to question one’s assumptions, to test whether what is considered fact is in fact interpretation. Making programming locally-owned also means giving up control over the readily deployed templates that are too often used. And an awareness of the danger of the circular reference also requires that everyone who is working on improving a situation needs to keep the mirror pointed at themselves.
Read Mareike Schomerus’ paper, Seeking answers in times of crisis: navigating current pitfalls in conflict research and practice.
