Why a myth for Allophus?
I love peacebuilders.
They’re amazing.
I’ve worked with and learned from thousands exploring solutions in the most dangerous and difficult places. As amazing as they are, they aren’t magic. I believe that anyone can be a peacebuilder in their own community, family, in their company or in their country. And we need more peacebuilders.
The Allophus project is about democratizing peacebuilding.
This isn’t impossible! Mere books allowed Americans to master French cooking and Zen (of motorcyle repair). New tech today allows anyone to be a talk show host, journalist or choreographer. The gig economy has brought us part-time artists and craftspeople with artwork we would’ve never experienced. In online games and crowsourced projects hundreds and thousands of strangers collaborate on massive endeavors. So I asked mysefl, what would a platform look like that enables part-time negotiators, semi-professional statespersons and weekend diplomats to use tools that can better solve their complex problems with others?
I think for us to get to “popular peacebuilding”, we’ll first need to dispel the belief that there is something mythical about peacebuilders. We have an epic saga that we continue to perpetuate that says that only our leaders can save us from ourselves. I fear we perpetuate that when we promote diplomats and ambassadors to special status (no offense, Your Excellency). I’d like to see an epic saga that tells the story of all of us working on peace. So I wrote a little one.
First and foremost, I hope the story of Allophus is a useful parable to you, the facilitator, the peacebuilder, the negotiator (I hope you’re my audience!). I imagine you’re trying to explain peacebuilding to your mother, friend or neighbor and their eyes gloss over - it is too complicated, too much work. I agree, it is a lot of work, but to understand the role of peacebuilding in the modern world where there is so much peace to be built I think we’ll need a simpler story than trying to build thousands of Ghandis and Mandelas. The story of Allophus (and the folly of Sisyphus) is something you can use to explain peacebuilding to others. So in the first sense, it is a gift, I hope you enjoy it and find it useful.
I also like the idea of identity for Allophus - a lost tribe that knew that they could best serve the world by moving out of their quaint little village and living among others, to help them succeed. The people of Allophus are everywhere, and I’ve so enjoyed meeting them and working with them. In an instant, I’ve felt immediate (re-?)connection to:
a mediator who takes the time to explore why a displaced woman can’t go home in Fallujah, or
a field worker patiently unpacking a complex land ownership problem connected to landmine clearing in Bor,
or a distinguished professor pausing to let others catch up on the obstacles to democracy in the Arab World in a cafe in Beirut, or
a talented facilitator helping civil society leaders get past their own technical problems and into the difficult work of change management.
Seeing these strangers guide their fellow wanderers over complex terrain in their problem space with patience and humility sparks a connection at my core. Those are my people!
Allophus is also a bundling concept - a trunk narrative I hope to use in these musings to connect our roots as Allophus and some important concepts to the branches of our work in peacebuilding, the project. Sisyphus makes a good foil, his story is well known and we all know someone who will just go it alone when they ought to accept help - sometimes it is us. It also works great that the metaphor in Sisyphus is pushing a rock up a hill, because, as you’ll see, I’m going to use “pushing big things around space” a lot in the Allophus project. In fact, the geography and topography of our problem-space is central to my thinking - I’ll elaborate more (alot) in other posts.
If you haven’t already, I hope you’ll join Allophus in this conversation.
Missed the Myth? Read it here
Who, exactly, is this “I”? - Meet Gary
What do you mean by root, trunk and branch narratives? (This is an external link to a paper with Sara, Seth and Alexandre through IFIT)
What do you mean by topography of problem-space? (Coming soon, for now take at look at the Basics)
Sisyphus as foil - my issues with the epic saga
