Abstract

Human security as a people’s perspective on security with a focus on human well-being and relationship-building offers promising alternative concepts to state-centered and structurefocused security strategies. Security is more than increasing weapons, fences and survey cameras. To our understanding, it is something else and involves entirely different mindsets. It demands a people’s perspective on security in which citizenship includes the capacity to create secure surroundings. People can be supported to “learn” security and to focus on their capacities. The subjective dimensions of security, including a person’s emotional management, can be trained. This is why we argue that three dimensions of training have to be integrated into educational approaches. First among these dimensions is tackling cultural violence through working on stereotypes and prejudices by delivering knowledge and information. Second is fostering knowledge about relationship-building and building relationships across the social divide. And third is strengthening the self-esteem of the citizens and focusing on their personal development and well-being. Hence, new approaches of experience-based learning and group work have to be integrated into the formal and informal curricula. Thus, we advocate for enriching formal and informal education with training modules in “peace and security”—training for everybody, so that our education of today makes us ready for the threats of tomorrow. We argue further that this can only be accomplished if experience-based methodological tools, such as interactive theater, are included in these trainings.


Keywords

conflict transformation, interactive theatre, healing, resilience, mediation

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Kritika Kultura
Department of English
School of Humanities
Ateneo de Manila University

The Philippine Commission on Higher Education (CHED) declares Kritika Kultura as a CHED-recognized journal under the Journal Challenge Category of its Journal Incentive Program.

International Board of Editors

Jan Baetens
Professor
Faculty of Arts
Katholieke Universiteit te Leuven (Belgium)

Joel David
Professor of Cultural Studies
Inha University (South Korea)

Michael Denning
Professor of American Studies and English
Department of English
Yale University (US)

Faruk
Faculty of Cultural Sciences
Universitas Gadjah Mada (Indonesia)

Regenia Gagnier
Professor of English
University of Exeter (UK)

Leela Gandhi
John Hawkes Professor of the Humanities and English
Brown University (US)

Inderpal Grewal
Professor of Women's Gender and Sexuality Studies
Professor of South Asian Studies, Ethnicity, Race and Migration Studies
Yale University (US)

Peter Horn
Professor Emeritus and Honorary Lifetime Fellow
University of Cape Town (South Africa)
Honorary Professor and Research Associate in German Studies
University of the Witwatersrand (South Africa)

Anette Horn
Professor of German Studies
University of the Witwatersrand (South Africa)

David Lloyd
Distinguished Professor of English
University of California, Riverside (US)

Bienvenido Lumbera
National Artist for Literature
Professor Emeritus
University of the Philippines

Rajeev S. Patke
Director of the Division of Humanities
Professor of Humanities
Yale NUS College (Singapore)

Vicente L. Rafael
Giovanni and Amne Costigan Endowed Professor of History
University of Washington (US)

Vaidehi Ramanathan
Department of Linguistics
University of California, Davis (US)

Temario Rivera
Professorial Lecturer
Department of Political Science
University of the Philippines

E. San Juan, Jr.
Philippines Studies Center (US)

Neferti X.M. Tadiar
Professor of Women’s, Gender, & Sexuality Studies
Barnard College (US)
Director of the Center for the Study of Ethnicity and Race
Columbia University (US)

Antony Tatlow
Honorary Professor of Drama
Trinity College Dublin (Ireland)