Allegra Chen-Carrel explores how groups can coexist peacefully

Allegra Chen-Carrel explores how groups can coexist peacefully

As a mixed race, Allegra Chen-Karel Has long been interested in the relationship between people belonging to different ethnic, racial, and socio-economic groups.

Chen Karel joins the Earth Institute Advanced Alliance of Cooperation, Conflict and Complexity (AC4) Approved the 2018 internship program.After working in the center Peacekeeping project, She was hired as a project manager. As part of this project, she worked with an interdisciplinary team of mathematicians, anthropologists, and social psychologists led by Peter T. Coleman to understand how to maintain long-term peace in society.

At the same time, she is also studying for a PhD. She received her PhD in Social Organizational Psychology from Columbia University Teachers College. Her research focuses on social justice and conflict resolution in the workplace.

In the following dialogue with the state of the earth, she talked about her observations in research projects in the United States and Mauritius.

In the past few decades, what countries have you and the peacekeeping project focused on that have succeeded in peacekeeping and peacekeeping?

One country we have been studying recently is Mauritius. It is a small, highly multicultural island country off the coast of Madagascar in Africa.Although the country rank the top In several global peace indexes, it has a history of colonization, slavery, and a new wave of immigration, and its legacy continues to this day.

Mauritius has no indigenous population. This is an uninhabited island that has been colonized by the Netherlands, France, and Britain. During the colonial period, people from Madagascar and other parts of Africa were taken to Mauritius and enslaved, mainly working in sugar cane plantations.

Later, when Britain declared slavery illegal, they began to introduce indentured laborers, mainly from India, to work on sugar cane plantations.

So, over time, Mauritius has become a racially and religiously diverse country. It is interesting to me to understand how it coped with this history and how it now ranks very high in multiple global peace indexes.

We worked with the University of Mauritius and Dr. Naseem Aumeerally to conduct field research and talked with public figures and members of different communities in Mauritius to better understand their contribution to the peace of today’s society.

Despite its history of colonization and slavery, how has Mauritius been so successful in maintaining peace?

Although Mauritius is a peaceful country, the legacy of colonization and inequality still exists. This is not a utopia. Mauritius established the first truth and justice commission dedicated to the legacy of colonization and slavery.In this way, it is Take measures Discuss how history affects the present.

People also realize that peace in Mauritius is fragile. In our interviews and focus groups, what emerged was the intentional peace in Mauritius. For example, there are many social norms that oppose blunt or confrontational discourse. There are also rules and laws that prohibit talking about things that may incite violence or lead to deeper disagreements.

As an American, this is an interesting discovery for me. From the government to the interpersonal level, there are many priorities for promoting harmony at different levels. But these non-confrontational values ​​of the Mauritian government and society may also serve the dark side in some respects, because of the taboo of talking about the problem.

From our research, we have observed how complicated all this is and how so many factors are entangled to create this long-term stable and peaceful system.

In terms of peaceful coexistence, what lessons can other countries learn from Mauritius?

There is no magic secret to peace, but some important things have been mentioned, such as cross-group cross-connections, a real and clear emphasis on peace and the pride of this reputation for peace, and almost no guns—the country has no standing army. In fact, many different factors contribute to the sustainability of peace. But at its core is what many Mauritians who participated in this study call a “life ensemble”, or members of different religions, races, and religious groups usually work together to create a harmonious lifestyle in a community. Appreciating this complexity, the history of relationships between groups, and future goals and expectations can help understand why things are what they are now.

What other research projects are you currently working on?

Many of our current peacekeeping projects focus on a data science project. We try to understand the basic differences in languages ​​used in different peaceful societies.

There is a lot of research on hate speech. We know that hate speech used in social media, news, and blogs can not only reflect violence and division in society, but may also have the potential to incite violence and division. However, there is relatively little research on peaceful speech or language used in a more peaceful environment.

We are using natural language processing technology to show that in an increasingly peaceful environment, there are obvious differences in the obvious language features of news media. However, because some of these data science methods often have limitations, they can show you that there are differences, but they won’t tell you what these differences are.

Therefore, we are currently launching a project to try to decipher the meaning of these differences and what specific language features of a more peaceful environment might be.

For my PhD research, another Invention project I have always focused on the work of organizing activists or people who are committed to promoting diversity, fairness, tolerance, and justice in the workplace. We interviewed 27 organization activists from various organizations in the United States, and surveyed about 120 people who were identified as organization activists. They shared different strategies they use to use tensions to achieve their goals, such as raising tensions by asking questions and advocating for change; creating networks and using the power they have to destroy and resist the harmful status quo; using and mediating and Strategies related to the dialogue process open space for a variety of perspectives; as well as treatment and learning to deal with and prevent burnout related to workplace tensions related to issues related to diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice. This kind of work is often not compensated and recognized within the organization, and it is very exhausting. People doing this work may also be at risk and even endanger their work. For organizations, it is important not only to recognize and recognize organizational activists, but also to support, promote and compensate them for their struggle for diversity, fairness, tolerance, and justice.

What I really appreciate from peacekeeping projects, and I hope to bring it into my own research, is not only focusing on the ineffectiveness, but also acknowledging the positive side and the importance of learning from systems that support prosperity and prosperity.