The Growth of the Northern Ireland Peacebuilding Organism
An Addendum to: Putting the “Up” in Bottom-up Peacebuilding:
Broadening the Concept of Peace Negotiations

Bruce Hemmer, Paula Garb, Marlett Phillips, John L. Graham
Center for Citizen Peacebuilding, University of California, Irvine

In our article in the International Negotiation Journal, we develop the concept of a “peacebuilding organism” consisting of a broad network of peacebuilding organizations that (1)  specialize in various types of activities, at the interpersonal, community or national levels, (2)  coordinate and cooperate to share information, time and spread activities efficiently, and (3)  pool resources and expertise as needed. We assert that in societies attempting to democratize in order to achieve peace, a long process is required of developing the human, social and cultural capital for a peacebuilding organism to develop and incrementally create an effectively politically engaged peace constituency. Here we provide a more detailed account of one of the most successful examples of this development.  Click here for the full report.