Papers by Muwanguzi Denis
African Conflict and Peacebuilding Review, 2015
From intimate domestic disputes to politically maneuvered ethnic clashes, power dynamics lie at t... more From intimate domestic disputes to politically maneuvered ethnic clashes, power dynamics lie at the heart of conflict. Three organizations—Amani People’s Theatre from Kenya, Budondo Intercultural Center from Uganda, and Presence Center for Applied Theatre Arts from the United States—use Forum Theatre as a nonviolent force for change and leadership development in East African villages and slums, helping communities learn from each other and transform their conflicts from the inside out. This briefing paper provides a theoretical overview of participatory theatre methodologies. It examines seven case studies in which Forum Theatre has identified underlying community issues and offered a laboratory for imagining more just and peaceful alternatives to conflict.
Learning for sustainability in times of accelerating change, 2012
Our education systems are at a cross roads. On the one hand they are being relentlessly driven to... more Our education systems are at a cross roads. On the one hand they are being relentlessly driven towards greater intensification of mechanisms of control and surveillance while on the other hand they are reaching out to the multiple possibilities offered by emergent global networks, the intercultural synergies these offer and the information technology revolution that underpins this process. The forces driving educational systems towards control and surveillance draw their energy from the anxiety that an uncertain future generates. Those exploring the possibilities for education offered by a networked infosphere are energised by the possibilities for networked open ended learning communities beyond a single educational context. Educational sites in the grip of edu-anxiety (Bussey in press-b) have tended to quarantine education for sustainable development (ESD) within narrow disciplinary matrices that limit its transformative potential. The disciplinary approach to learning tends to create silos within institutions that constrain the creative possibilities inherent to inter-disciplinary engagement. Certainly in the case of ESD such a context offers only limited possibilities for the renewal of the practice of education in which all aspects of our collective cultures need to be rethought/reenacted so that we can develop resilience at both the personal and collective level. With this in mind we have taken the following observation from Arjen Wals one step further: 'Instead of putting our academic minds towards minimizing uncertainty and maximizing predictability, it might be more fruitful to put our energy towards living with uncertainty: seeing it as given, something that cannot be conquered.' (Wals 2010 p. 387) Living with uncertainty is something we must do whether we like it or not. In fact, culture can be seen as offering a schizophrenic response to this issue by both seeking to manage uncertainty through habit and structure while simultaneously exploring its possibilities for renewal through adaptive learning and creativity (Bussey in press-a). We see in the possibilities of uncertainty
African Conflict and Peacebuilding Review, 2015
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Papers by Muwanguzi Denis