John Paul Lederach

Academic work[edit]

Dr. Lederach's theories of elicitive methods of conflict resolution have been influential in the fields of political science, peace studies, international relations and conflict transformation. His works have been published widely in English and Spanish.^[3] His academic work comes from his experience in the field as a mediator, negotiator, peacebuilding practitioner, trainer and consultant. At the international level, this has involved input into peace processes in Somalia, Northern Ireland, Nicaragua, Colombia and Nepal. Within communities, his work has often been at the level of reconciliation within church and family.

"Change only comes through ensuring that people are represented. In Somalia where I did a lot of my early work, there was no government and it was a chaotic situation. My job was to engage in longer term bottom-up grassroots work. You do this by establishing organisations for elders, women's associations and so on which build strength into a community by creating space for civil society." - from a BBC interview ^[4]

Dr. Lederach has given many keynote, commencement, and high-level lectures, among them a keynote lecture entitled "Narratives of Care: The Social Echo of Community Transformation" at the Conversations on Attachment conference at Eastern Mennonite University.^[5] and a lecture entitled "Compassionate Presence: Faith-Based Peacebuilding in the Face of Violence" at the University of San Diego's Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace & Justice Distinguished Lecture Series.

Religion and beliefs[edit]

Dr. Lederach is a committed Mennonite Christian, and as he explains in his 1999 book Journey to Reconciliation (see below), his Christian faith has affected both his thinking and application of non-violent solutions to conflict. In 2000, he received the Community of Christ International Peace Award.^[6]

Lederach's work began to gain more widespread attention in the mainstream Evangelical world after Bill Hybels, founder and senior pastor of Willow Creek Community Church praised the book Journey to Reconciliation in a Christmas 2013 sermon series.^[7] In light of the sudden interest in the book, it's publisher, Herald Press, released an updated edition under the title Reconcile: Conflict Transformation for Ordinary Christians in August 2014. The new edition includes a foreword written by Bill Hybels and his wife Lynne.

During both days of the 20th Global Leadership Summit August 14–15, 2014, Bill Hybels referenced the significance of the book and the importance of its principles of peacemaking and conflict resolution for individuals as well as churches.

“As a practitioner of peace, he accompanies the poor, the refugees and the victims of war – eliciting from them alternatives to violence,” Burish continued. “His wide-ranging experiences, profound analyses and deep moral imagination have formed the basis for a corpus of writing that has enlightened peace studies scholars and peacebuilders around the globe. He is, in the words of St. Francis of Assisi, ‘an instrument of peace.’” - Tom Burish provost of the University of Notre Dame^[8]