Some contradictions of multiple perspectives approaches to peace and history education: lessons from Cambodia

Pete Manning, Julia Paulson

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Abstract

This article reflects on tensions arising in multiple perspectives approaches as they are deployed in response to histories of atrocity and conflict. We call attention to the ways that multiple perspectives intersect with the challenges posed by competing memories of violence and questions of responsibility. Focusing on a peace education programme that sought to work with ‘complex’ perpetrator histories in Cambodia, we explore how peace education can produce its intended aims of building dialogue and empathy across groups while, coextensively, enabling space for potentially harmful forms of historical revisionism. We show how the multi-perspectivity in peace education can be misaligned with the subjectivities that it seeks to reconcile or dignify in the present and reflect on the need for peace educators to develop approaches that move beyond the presentation of ‘perspective’ and identity as synonymous. We conclude by calling attention to other potential figurations of shared responsibility within peace education.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)185-200
Number of pages16
JournalEthics and Education
Volume19
Issue number2
Early online date4 Jun 2024
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 31 Dec 2024

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the Documentation Center of Cambodia for their work on this project.

Funding

This research was funded by Arts and Humanities Research Council and Global Challenges Research Fund awards “Changing the Story” [AH/R005354/1] and “Education, Justice and Memory” [AH/T007842/1].

Keywords

  • Cambodia
  • Peace education
  • intergenerational dialogue
  • multiple perspectives
  • reconciliation

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Education
  • Philosophy

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