Aim: The aim of this exercise it to induce the participants to reflect on the term violence and what
it involves.
Time: 15 – 20 minutes depending on the amount discussion.
Material: pen and paper
Programme:
Write the word “violence” on a whiteboard or flip sheet.
Ask the participants to spontaneously say what comes to mind in connection with the term violence during a period of 5 minutes.
Note what is said with key words.
Comment to the trainer: Remember that during a brainstorming there are no bad or wrong suggestions, the important thing being the group’s collective picture of what violence is with as many suggestions as possible on the whiteboard. With a starting point from the suggestions, present Galtungs or Jörgen Johansens thoughts on violence as an example of how others think
around the term. Refer to the diagram the iceberg of violence (p 10). Pedagogic in the extreme is to reconnect with that which the participants have spoken of. Discuss the new suggestions. What is covered? Does it tally with the participants proposals? Are there other ways of looking at violence?
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BRAINSTORMING ON THE TERM NONVIOLENCE
Aim: The aim of this exercise is to encourage the participants to reflect on what the term non-violence implies.
Time: 15 – 20 minutes depending on the amount of discussion.
Material: Pen and paper
Programme:
Write the term nonviolence on a whiteboard or flip sheet.
Ask the participants to spontaneously say what comes to mind in connection with the term non-violence during a period of 5 minutes.
Note what is said with key words.
Comment to the trainer: Remember that during a brainstorming there are no bad or wrong suggestions, the important thing being the group’s collective picture of what non-violence is with as many suggestions as possible on the whiteboard.
With a starting point from the suggestions put forward by the group present the idea that nonviolence can be seen as a triangle three sides, representing principle, methods and lifestyle, or
Tie them to the body of nonviolence (p 17). Point out that this is just one way of looking at non-violence. Check to see if the brainstorming is covered by this model. Present Gene Sharp’s three categories of .non-violence methods (p 27) as a way of showing the diversity of non-violence methods to be found and how they can be categorised. These three categories can also be pedagogically described as a triangle if wished. Do Sharp’s categories cover all methods of non-violence? How can one react with nonviolence in the daily environment?
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Aim: To identify what supports violence in society and in the world and also see how these forms of violence can be opposed.
Time: 30 minutes
Material: Whiteboard or flip-chart and pens
Programme:
As the whole group or first in smaller groups, talks about what the pillars of violence are. What is it that contributes to violence in society? Limit the question to a more concrete situation such as “the violence in Malmö”, “Sweden”, or “my school in Mexico City”, etc. Draw these pillars on the whiteboard/flip-chart and list the suggestions offered by the group. When the pillars of violence are identified, then small groups choose one or two they would like to work with. Are there methods of non-violence that can be used to overcome the pillars? Let participants write up suggestions on a flip-chart which the leader hangs on the wall. A general discussion in the whole group can perhaps result in a specific action which a participant may like to try after the course is over.
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HASSLE LINES
Aim: To understand the difference between good and poor communication.
Time: 15-20 minutes
Programme: Hassle lines – everyone stands together in one line in pairs facing each other.
The situation is that your friend has arrived very late for an important meeting. It is not
The first time he/she has done this. Now, when he/she arrives, you are very angry. You show this by shouting at him/her. The person who arrives late does not understand why you are angry and also becomes angry and shouts back at you. The left side play the part of the one who has waited and the right side the person who is late. Play the scene for a few minutes.
After the scene has been played the trainer what happened and how the communication worked or did not work. Under the heading “poor communication”, suggestions from the participants are noted.
The roles are now changed but there is still one person arriving late. The other person is still angry and shouts at the one who is late. The difference is the late arrival instead of shouting, tries to meet the anger in a peaceful manner.
After the situation has been played, the trainer asks for reaction to the role plat and notes it under the heading “good communication”, next to the column “poor communication”.
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BACKGROUND TO THE FORUM PLAY
How do we stop unjust, violent or oppressive situations? What are the techniques?
A man named Augusto Boal in Brazil created a theatre form where the public can train themselves in stopping oppression. He calls it the “Theatre of The Oppressed”. It started with his theatre group giving a play which ended in catastrophe. They acted the play for different groups of workers. After the catastrophic end to the play they asked the public what the workers in the play could have done. The public suggested different scenarios ad the actors tried to act them out. One time there was a person who was not satisfied with the result although the actors tried several times. Finally, Boal said to her that she should go up on stage and show how it should be done. In that moment something new was borne, the oppressed could, in the play, try changing her situation. Boal used the “Theatre of the Oppressed” to teach people how to resist and break conflicts. Boals´s new form of theatre was judged by Brazils then dictatorship to be such a powerful tool that Boal was tortured, imprisoned and deported because of his work with the theatre. He has despite this continued to develop this powerful form of theatre.
The method used in the”Theatre of the Oppressed” has spread all over the world including Sweden. In Sweden we call it Forumspel. In an oppressive situation there is an oppressor and a victim and many people around these two. In Brazil, Boal focussed on how the victim could extricate him/herself from the situation. The public could exchange the victim and play different suggestions of how he/she could behave instead. The oppressor is not allowed to be exchanged, just altered according to the public’s wishes. Exchanging the oppressor would create unreal situation. Sometimes exchanging onlookers, passive players, can be useful. In this way third parties can react to the oppressive situation and attempt to manage the conflict. It is the third party that has the greatest chance to help the parties to a non-violent solution. Working with third parties to prevent oppression is to be found in non-violence traditions from Gandhi. Martin Luther King said that “the greatest problem is not that there are evil people. The biggest problem is instead the silence of the good people.”
The KAOS model is suitable to discuss in conjunction with Forum Play as a concrete tool for the participants that enact different situations.
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