Adam Curle
Adam Curle | |
---|---|
Born | Charles Thomas William Curle 4 July 1916 L'Isle-Adam, Val-d'Oise, France |
Died | 28 September 2006 London, England | (aged 90)
Nationality | British |
Spouses | Pamela Hobson
(m. 1939, divorced)Anne Edie (m. 1958) |
Parent(s) | Tavistock Institute of Human Relations, University of Oxford, University of Exeter, University of Ghana, Harvard University, University of Bradford (Department of Peace Studies) |
Notable works | Educational Strategy for Developing Societies (1963), Making Peace (1971) |
Influenced | John Paul Lederach |
Charles Thomas William Curle
Early life and education
Charles Thomas William Curle was born in
He grew up in Wheatfield, Oxfordshire, where he developed an affection for animals and a sensitivity to landscape.[1] Richard Curle was not a frequent presence in his son's childhood;[1] Adam did not meet his father until he was three years old.[3] Curle later described how they became closer in Richard's later life, however, "on a man-to-man basis," having "somehow missed the father–son phase".[4] Curle attributed his pacifism to the influence of his mother, who lost three of her brothers to war and instilled a hatred of war in her son.[2] Woodhouse argued that Curle's mother was also responsible for the "self-confidence which was to enable him later to make a series of unconventional moves at critical turning points in his life".[5] His "inclination to kick against convention", however, was identified by Woodhouse as closer to that of Richard Curle.[6]
Curle attended
Career
Britain and Pakistan
Curle served in the British Army for six years during
In 1947 Curle took up a position at the
While at Exeter he became involved in a project focused on development in Europe, and his work took on an international dimension.
Ghana and Harvard
In 1959 Curle was appointed Professor of Education at the
Also in 1961 he was appointed director of
Indo-Pakistani War
Curle visited India and Pakistan as part of a Quaker contingent in the wake of the
Nigerian Civil War
Known by this time for his work in the fields of
In March 1967 Curle and Martin visited Biafra, where they met with
Curle, Volkmar and Martin embarked on another series of trips in September and October 1968.
C. H. Mike Yarrow, in his study of Quaker reconciliation efforts, argues that the personal qualities and personalities of the Quaker contingent played a pivotal role in their success in building connections with Nigerian and Biafran leaders, though from mid-1968 Yarrow argues the Quaker organisation and the faith it engendered came to play a similar role.[43] While Yarrow argues their listening process was a success, he describes their effectiveness at changing the parties' perceptions of one another in more ambivalent terms.[44] In concluding, Yarrow argued that while the negotiated peace the Quakers sought was not achieved, Yarrow argues that "the peace terms resulting after the military solution were imbued with the spirit of conciliation."[45]
Curle's experiences of the Indo–Pakistani and Nigerian conflicts contributed to his interest in the causes of war and informed his research on the relationships between violence, social transformation, and the goals of development.
Professor of Peace Studies
In 1973 Curle became the United Kingdom's first Professor of
While at Bradford, Curle contributed to the development of peace studies and drew on his own experiences of mediation.
Retirement
Towards the end of his tenure at Bradford, Curle began to feel the need to return to more direct involvement in international reconciliation, and so left the university in 1978, after five years.
Curle and his wife Anne visited the
In his later years he was also influenced by
Thought
Overview
In the 1960s Curle published work on education and development that reflected conventional views about the relationship between economic
Peace studies
In his work in peace studies, Curle developed an approach in which peace has both negative dimensions, relating to the prevention of violence, and positive dimensions, relating to the fulfilment of human needs and the freeing of human potential.[64] Curle viewed peace in terms of human development rather than in terms of organisations or rules that would enforce peace.[65][46] Finding the word "conflict" to be too ambiguous, Curle preferred to speak of "peaceful" and "unpeaceful" relationships, defining the former as relationships in which "the various parties did each other more good than harm", and the latter as those "doing more harm than good" to those involved.[66] The development of peaceful relationships, rather than the containment of conflict, was at the core of Curle's conception of peace.[63] While other peace researchers have tended to analyse social, political, and military systems, Curle's work focused on the values and attitudes of individuals within those systems.[63] Curle played an important role in the emergence of peace studies as a separate field from international relations, and in the incorporation of insights from psychology, especially humanistic psychology, into the field.[67] Curle's work also addressed the problems of occupational burnout and apathy among peace studies scholars and practitioners.[68]
Curle saw peace studies as an
Mediation and reconciliation
Mediation was, in Curle's view, the foremost tool of peacemaking.[65] Its purpose, in Curle's account, was to eliminate misperceptions between parties in conflict and to allay violent emotions.[76] Curle's proposed mediation process has four parts: first, mediators develop and improve communications; second, they provide information to, and between, the parties; third, they "befriend" the parties; and fourth, they encourage a willingness to engage in negotiations.[76] Curle criticised "top down" forms of mediation as ineffectual, though, and argued mediation ought to be accompanied by the transformation of attitudes and of economic and social conditions.[13] He saw this form of mediation as applicable on conflicts at all scales, from wars between nations to disputes within families.[77] His theory of mediation draws on Quaker practices, on humanistic psychology, and on his own experiences in the field.[78] It is distinct from John Burton's approach to conflict resolution, but shares with Burton several commitments: both saw the role of the mediator as one of structuring discussions and providing information, both thought mediation involved exploring and analysing the conflict in question, both used psychological principles to mitigate against misperceptions and misunderstandings, and both envisioned new understandings resulting that feed into the development of policy.[79]
In his later works, published in the 1990s and 2000s, Curle continued to revise his theory of reconciliation and its role in peacemaking.
Works
Educational Strategy for Developing Societies (1963)
Curle's Educational Strategy for Developing Societies (1963) is a review of the role of education in economic growth and social and political transformation.[81]
Planning for Education in Pakistan (1966)
Planning for Education in Pakistan: A Personal Case Study (1966) is an account of Curle's experiences as an advisor to the Planning Commission of Pakistan in 1963 and 1964.[82] In it, he assesses problems with education in Pakistan and discusses the role of foreign advisors to governments.[83] Drawing on his experiences with the Planning Commission and with educational bodies, Curle shows significant differences between East Pakistan and West Pakistan in education and literacy.[84] Curle presents those involved in educational planning as complex, conflicted figures rather than aloof arbiters of objective facts.[82]
Richard S. Wheeler, reviewing the book in The Journal of Asian Studies, described Curle's assessment of Pakistan's educational problems as "authoritative" and the insight provided into the role of foreign advisors as "rewarding".[83] J. A. Keats and Daphne M. Keats, writing in the Australian Journal of Education, characterised the book as "an unusual and in some ways courageous approach to a serious examination of the problems of educational planning in a newly developing country", but argued that Curle's subjective approach was not wholly successful and queried the omission of certain important individuals from his account.[85] Keats and Keats concluded that while Curle "has succeeded in showing the interaction between persons and action, he has achieved this at the expense of an objectivity which might well have led to an even more valuable exposition."[86]
Educational Problems of Developing Societies (1969)
Educational Problems of Developing Societies: With Case Studies of Ghana, Pakistan, and Nigeria was first published in 1969, then in a revised and expanded edition in 1973.
Woodhouse describes the book as the best illustration of "the progress of Curle's intellectual development toward the distinct field of peace research".[87] Philip Foster, in his review in the International Journal of Comparative Sociology, argued that the essays show only limited awareness of broader debates in the field, and questioned Curle's methodology in some of the essays, but concluded "that the good far outweighs the less than satisfactory."[92] Joseph Kivlin, meanwhile, reviewing the book in Social Forces, argued that it "does not contribute much that is new to the understanding" of developing societies' educational problems, and noted that several of its chapters are only tangentially connected to the topic of education.[89]
Making Peace (1971)
Curle's Making Peace (1971) applies ideas from peace studies to his own experiences, explores the definition of peacemaking and considers what constitute peaceful and non-peaceful relationships and what cause them.[13][63][93]
Education for Liberation (1973)
Curle's Education for Liberation was published in 1973.[71] Drawing on his personal experiences and responding to the educational environment of the 1970s, and dealing with similar topics to Making Peace, Curle considers how education can contribute to the achievement of peace and social change.[94] More so than in his previous works, Curle is critical of existing forms of education, which he sees as contributing to authoritarianism, social hierarchy and economic materialism.[94] He identifies this as especially problematic in developing countries, where education is "attuned to the competitive and materialistic ideologies of the rich nations".[95] The book was strongly influenced by Paulo Freire's thought,[71] and contains an appendix contrasting Curle's views with those of B. F. Skinner.[95]
Richard D'Aeth, reviewing the book in the British Journal of Educational Studies, described Curle's analysis as "humane and warmly personal" and the book as "a pleasure to study, despite its pessimism".[96] In his review in the British Journal of Educational Psychology, Ken Pease expressed enthusiasm for the book but argued its use of the concept of awareness was too insubstantial to form "the cornerstone of an educational system".[95]
The Fragile Voice of Love (2006)
Curle's final book, The Fragile Voice of Love (2006), was published shortly before he died.
Other works
Mystics and Militants: A Study of Awareness, Identity and Social Action (1972) deals with similar themes to Making Peace and examines the personal beliefs, qualities and skills of peace makers.[63] It also considers the psychological aspects of social action, social awareness and identity,[13] and the inner and outer, or private and public, aspects of peacemaking.[99] Curle's interest in the concepts of awareness and identity was based on his observation of people in conflict situations.[100] Like Making Peace, Mystics and Militants contributed to Curle's reputation as an influential figure in the field of peace research.[101] Both books contributed to the emergence of peace studies.[63]
Peacemaking Public and Private (1978) continued to explore the question of the inner and outer aspects of peacemaking first taken up in Mystics and Militants.[99]
True Justice (1981) draws on Quaker theology and Curle's own experiences as a peacemaker, and focuses on personal solutions rather than structural ones.[99][102] It explores the question of human nature in relation to religion,[76] and continues to consider public and private levels of peacemaking.[99] Curle argues here that feelings of hatred, anger, jealousy and the like are not unchangeable features of any individual, but rather the result of failures to understand and develop their own potential.[77] Michael Hare Duke, in his review for the New Internationalist, acknowledged the importance of the interpersonal phenomena on which Curle focuses, but argued that the book lacked "a clear recognition of the economic realities which lie behind any justice in the distribution of the world's resources."[102]
In the Middle (1986) argues for the importance of mediation and reconciliation in both peace research and peacemaking practice.
Tools for Transformation (1990), like Making Peace and Mystics and Militants, frames conflict as a dynamic force capable of effecting changes in individuals and social structures.[13] Barbara Mitchels and Tom Woodhouse argue that this perspective influenced the development of peace studies by providing a holistic account of conflict that goes beyond merely ending or preventing wars.[13] In To Tame the Hydra (1999), Curle describes a global situation in which violence, successfully subdued, immediately flares up elsewhere, akin to the Hydra, a mythological monster which grew a new head each time one was cut off.[11] Curle saw these outbreaks of violence as fuelled by the pursuit of money and power, and argued for the continuing necessity of peacemaking techniques.[11]
Curle also wrote poetry and fiction.[1] His collection Recognition and Reality: Reflections & Prose Poems was published in 1987.[7] Norbert Koppensteiner described the volume as "a poetic transrationality."[75] His poem "Indra's Net" (1999), named for the metaphor used in Buddhist philosophy, reflects on the ideas of human interconnection that also formed part of his work on peace.[74][75]
Personal life
Curle married Pamela Hobson in 1939.[2] They had two daughters and divorced after the end of Curle's military service.[2][60] In 1958 he married Anne Edie, a New Zealander who he had met in Dhaka during his travels.[2] They had one daughter.[2] Later in life he lived with Anne in London.[66]
Death and legacy
Curle died from
Barbara Mitchels' study of Curle, Love in Danger, was published in 2006.[75] It was followed in 2016 by Adam Curle: Radical Peacemaker, a collection of Curle's writings edited by Tom Woodhouse and John Paul Lederach.[75][107][108]
In a 2003 article Mitchels described Curle as "one of the pioneers of the academic study of peace".[10] In his obituary in The Guardian, Tom Woodhouse wrote that "the legitimacy and growth of peace studies" would be Curle's "greatest and enduring legacy".[2] Mitchels and Woodhouse argue Curle's works "were instrumental in establishing the legitimacy of peace studies in universities worldwide and in advancing the scholarly agenda of peace research."[13] Lederach described Curle as "a beacon of orientation" for his own work and "one of the most important influences relevant to many of our contemporary debates" in peace studies.[109]
List of works
- The Role of Education in Developing Societies (1961)
- Educational Strategy for Developing Societies (1963), expanded and updated edition 1973
- Planning for Education in Pakistan: A Personal Case Study (1966)
- Educational Problems of Developing Societies: With Case Studies of Ghana, Pakistan, and Nigeria (1969) revised and expanded edition 1973
- Making Peace (1971)
- Mystics and Militants: A Study of Awareness, Identity and Social Action (1972)
- Education for Liberation (1973)
- Peacemaking Public and Private (1978)
- Preparation for Peace (1980)
- True Justice (1981)
- Recognition and Reality: Reflections & Prose Poems (1987)
- Tools for Transformation: A Personal Study (1990)
- To Tame the Hydra: Undermining the Culture of Violence (1995)
- In the Middle: Non-Official Mediation in Violent Situations (1986)
- Peacemaking: The Middle Way (1992)
- Another Way: Positive Responses to Contemporary Violence (1995)
- The Fragile Voice of Love (2006)
- Adam Curle: Radical Peacemaker (2016)
See also
Notes
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad "Adam Curle Archive" n.d.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Woodhouse 2006.
- ^ Curle 1975, p. 12.
- ^ Curle 1975, p. 13.
- ^ Woodhouse 1991b, p. 30.
- ^ Woodhouse 1991b, pp. 30–1.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Adam Curle" 2006.
- ^ a b c d e f Woodhouse 2010, p. 2.
- ^ a b Woodhouse 1991b, p. 31.
- ^ a b Mitchels 2003, p. 403.
- ^ a b c d Mitchels 2003, p. 407.
- ^ a b c d e f g Woodhouse 1991b, p. 33.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Mitchels & Woodhouse 2010.
- ^ Woodhouse 1991b, pp. 33–4.
- ^ a b c d Woodhouse 1991b, p. 34.
- ^ Woodhouse 1991b, pp. 34, 36.
- ^ Yarrow 1978, p. 164.
- ^ Yarrow 1978, p. 170.
- ^ Yarrow 1978, pp. 158–9, 162.
- ^ Yarrow 1978, p. 168.
- ^ Yarrow 1978, p. 175.
- ^ Yarrow 1978, p. 176.
- ^ Yarrow 1978, p. 179.
- ^ Yarrow 1978, p. 189.
- ^ Yarrow 1978, p. 190.
- ^ Yarrow 1978, pp. 190–1.
- ^ Yarrow 1978, pp. 193–7.
- ^ Yarrow 1978, pp. 198–200.
- ^ Yarrow 1978, p. 204.
- ^ Yarrow 1978, pp. 206, 255–6.
- ^ Yarrow 1978, p. 256.
- ^ Yarrow 1978, pp. 206–7.
- ^ Yarrow 1978, p. 208.
- ^ a b Yarrow 1978, p. 211.
- ^ Yarrow 1978, p. 213.
- ^ Yarrow 1978, pp. 213–4.
- ^ Yarrow 1978, pp. 214–6.
- ^ Yarrow 1978, pp. 221–2.
- ^ Yarrow 1978, p. 231.
- ^ Yarrow 1978, p. 235.
- ^ Yarrow 1978, p. 238.
- ^ Yarrow 1978, p. 243.
- ^ Yarrow 1978, pp. 249–50.
- ^ Yarrow 1978, p. 252.
- ^ Yarrow 1978, p. 259.
- ^ a b Ramsbotham, Woodhouse & Miall 2011, p. 53.
- ^ McKinlay 1991, p. 62.
- ^ McKinlay 1991, p. 63.
- ^ McKinlay 1991, p. 65.
- ^ McKinlay 1991, pp. 65–6.
- ^ McKinlay 1991, pp. 66, 68–9.
- ^ McKinlay 1991, p. 69.
- ^ a b c d e Woodhouse 2010, p. 6.
- ^ Pettigrew 1991, pp. 242–3.
- ^ a b c Mitchels 2003, p. 409.
- ^ a b Mitchels 2003, p. 410.
- ^ Mitchels 2003, p. 411.
- ^ a b Mitchels 2003, p. 414.
- ^ Mitchels 2003, p. 415.
- ^ a b Boulton 2007, p. 87.
- ^ Woodhouse 2010, pp. 2–3.
- ^ Woodhouse 1991b, p. 39.
- ^ a b c d e f g Woodhouse 2010, p. 3.
- ^ Woodhouse 2010, p. 1.
- ^ a b c d Woodhouse 2010, p. 4.
- ^ a b Mitchels 2003, p. 404.
- ^ Koppensteiner 2020, pp. 19–20.
- ^ Lederach 2014, p. 4.
- ^ Woodhouse 1991b, pp. 44–5.
- ^ Woodhouse 1991b, pp. 43, 44.
- ^ a b c Ramsbotham, Woodhouse & Miall 2011, p. 238.
- ^ Koppensteiner 2020, p. 181.
- ^ Mitchels 2003, p. 405.
- ^ a b Mitchels 2003, p. 408.
- ^ a b c d e Koppensteiner 2020, p. 20.
- ^ a b c Woodhouse 2010, p. 5.
- ^ a b Woodhouse 1991b, p. 50.
- ^ a b Ramsbotham, Woodhouse & Miall 2011, p. 54.
- ^ Woodhouse 1991b, pp. 53, 54–5.
- ^ a b Ramsbotham, Woodhouse & Miall 2011, p. 235.
- ^ Gwilliam 1964, p. 76.
- ^ a b Keats & Keats 1968, p. 208.
- ^ a b Wheeler 1966, p. 141.
- ^ Wheeler 1966, p. 142.
- ^ Keats & Keats 1968, pp. 208–9.
- ^ Keats & Keats 1968, p. 210.
- ^ a b Woodhouse 1991b, p. 37.
- ^ Foster 1972, p. 226.
- ^ a b Kivlin 1971, p. 282.
- ^ Woodhouse 1991b, p. 38.
- ^ Woodhouse 1991b, pp. 38–9.
- ^ Foster 1972, pp. 226–7.
- ^ Adams 1973, p. 428.
- ^ a b D'Aeth 1974, p. 215.
- ^ a b c Pease 1975, p. 92.
- ^ D'Aeth 1974, pp. 215–6.
- ^ a b c Long 2007, p. 129.
- ^ Long 2007, pp. 129–30.
- ^ a b c d Woodhouse 1991b, p. 43.
- ^ Woodhouse 1991b, p. 44.
- ^ Woodhouse 1991b, p. 40.
- ^ a b Hare Duke 1982.
- ^ Ramsbotham, Woodhouse & Miall 2011, pp. 53–4.
- ^ Woodhouse 1991a, p. 49.
- ^ Woodhouse 1991a, p. 56.
- ^ Boulton 2007, pp. 87–8.
- ^ Barrett 2017.
- ^ Randle 2017.
- ^ Lederach 2014, p. 2.
Sources
- "Adam Curle". The Times. 3 October 2006. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
- "The Adam Curle Archive". University of Bradford. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
- Adams, Larry D. (1973). "Review of Making Peace by Adam Curle". JSTOR 42859185.
- Barrett, Clive (May–June 2017). "A Pioneering Professor for Peace". Resurgence & Ecologist. No. 302.
- Boulton, Frank (2007). "Adam Curle, 1916–2006". .
- Curle, Adam (1975). "Richard Curle". The Joseph Conrad Society (U.K.) Newsletter. 1 (6): 12–14. JSTOR 20870293.
- JSTOR 3119855.
- Foster, Philip (1972). "Review of Educational Problems of Developing Societies: With Case Studies of Ghana and Pakistan by Adam Curle". .
- Gwilliam, Freda H. (1964). "Review of Educational Strategy for Developing Societies by Adam Curle". .
- Hare Duke, Michael (1 November 1982). "Review of Beyond Discrimination by Theo L. Westow and True Justice by Adam Curle". New Internationalist. No. 117.
- Keats, J. A.; Keats, Daphne M. (1968). "Review of Planning for Education in Pakistan: A Personal Case Study by Adam Curle". S2CID 147073876.
- Kivlin, Joseph (1971). "Review of Educational Problems of Developing Societies by Adam Curle". .
- Koppensteiner, Norbert (2020). Transrational Peace Research and Elicitive Facilitation: The Self as (Re)Source. Springer. ISBN 9783030460679.
- Lederach, John Paul (3 May 2014). Remembering Forward: The Visionary Practical Scholarship of Adam Curle (PDF). Bradford University Conference. University of Bradford.
- Long, William J. (2007). "Joyfully Discovering the Emptiness of a Very Full Life". doi:10.1037/h0094029.
- McKinlay, Robert A. (1991). "From Harvard to Bradford". In Woodhouse, Tom (ed.). Peacemaking in a Troubled World. Berg. pp. 58–70. ISBN 9780854965946 – via Internet Archive.
- Mitchels, Barbara (2003). "Healing the Wounds of War and More: An Integrative Approach to Peace—The Work of Adam Curle and Others with Mir i Dobro in Županja, Croatia". British Journal of Guidance & Counselling. 31 (4): 403–416. S2CID 143118761.
- Mitchels, Barbara; Woodhouse, Tom (2010). "Curle, Adam". In Young, Nigel J. (ed.). The Oxford International Encyclopedia of Peace. Oxford University Press.
- .
- Pettigrew, John (1991). "Quaker Mediation". In Woodhouse, Tom (ed.). Peacemaking in a Troubled World. Berg. pp. 226–246. ISBN 9780854965946 – via Internet Archive.
- Ramsbotham, Oliver; Woodhouse, Tom; Miall, Hugh (2011). Contemporary Conflict Resolution: The Prevention, Management and Transformation of Deadly Conflicts (3rd ed.). Polity Press. ISBN 9780745649733.
- Randle, Michael (1 February 2017). "Review of Adam Curle: Radical Peacemaker, edited by Tom Woodhouse and John Paul Lederach". Peace News. No. 2602–2603.
- Wheeler, Richard S. (1966). "Review of Planning for Education in Pakistan: A Personal Case Study by Adam Curle". S2CID 161290897.
- Woodhouse, Tom (1991a). "Introduction". In Woodhouse, Tom (ed.). Peacemaking in a Troubled World. Berg. pp. 1–13. ISBN 9780854965946 – via Internet Archive.
- Woodhouse, Tom (1991b). "Making Peace: The Work of Adam Curle". In Woodhouse, Tom (ed.). Peacemaking in a Troubled World. Berg. pp. 30–57. ISBN 9780854965946 – via Internet Archive.
- Woodhouse, Tom (4 October 2006). "Adam Curle". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
- Woodhouse, Tom (2010). "Adam Curle: Radical Peacemaker and Pioneer of Peace Studies". Journal of Conflictology. 1 (1): 1–8.
- Yarrow, C. H. Mike (1978). Quaker Experiences in International Conciliation. Yale University Press. JSTOR j.ctt1dszwxd.
Further reading
- Mitchels, Barbara (2006). Love in Danger: Trauma, Therapy and Conflict Explored Through the Life and Work of Adam Curle. Jon Carpenter. ISBN 9780954972769.