Peace education practice in India: Conceptualisation, implementation, and resource mobilisation

• In Event: Reimagining Positive Peace

Proposal

Peace education practitioners across India work within remarkably diverse contexts, yet their perspectives on conceptualisation, implementation, and resource mobilisation remain underexplored in existing scholarship. This qualitative study examines how peace educators spanning leadership and implementation roles across western, northern, northeastern, and southern India understand and enact their work within varied geographical and cultural settings. Through in-depth interviews and participatory workshops, this qualitative study look at how practitioners navigate between theoretical frameworks and practical realities and develop contextually responsive approaches to peace education. Galtung’s (1969) typology of violence and peace alongside phenomenological analysis (Van Manen, 2023) are employed to study significant variations in practitioner motivations, pedagogical strategies, and resource mobilisation techniques despite shared commitment to peacebuilding through education. Here the focus is on persistent challenges around institutional support, community engagement, and sustainable funding, while exploring innovative grassroots solutions and collaborative networks. I aim to highlight how practitioners actively reinterpret peace education concepts through their lived experiences, local knowledge, and community needs. I also look at the complex landscape of peace education practice in India and aim to contribute to a broader understanding of how educators create meaningful change within diverse postcolonial educational contexts and resource-constrained environments.

References

Galtung, J. (1969). Violence, peace, and peace research. Journal of peace research, 6(3), 167-191.

Van Manen, M. (2023). Phenomenology of practice: Meaning-giving methods in phenomenological research and writing. Routledge.

Author

• Abhishek Dharmesh Vyas, Brunel University London