Abstract
Abstract
The four central gaols that motivate this research dissertation are as follows. First, in order to bring social changes from inside, we need to understand the knowledge of local people, the nature of their traditional institutions, cultures and belief systems. Second, to achieve sustainable peace and stability as one aspect of development goals especially in developing countries, we also seek better understanding of the role that indigenous people s social, political, ritual life and other social relations play. By studying particular society s long serving institutions, cultures languages and gender relations from their own perspectives, we can find the productive pathway solution for the complicated problems and challenges of peace and development. Third, within peace and conflict discipline, we also seek to promote more empirically supported theoretical and methodological scientific debate based on anthropological studies of conflict prevention system and resolution mechanism. Fourth and most important thing is that within such perspective, we need to promote researches that contribute to the further improvement of restoration of peace, social and economic stability through institutional conflict prevention systems and resolution mechanisms. These traditional systems of conflict prevention and resolution mechanisms, and the methods used by traditional society may have also contribution to build bridge between global and local knowledge of problem-solving.
The central ideas or concepts and the entire perspective of this dissertation emerge from the long serving Oromo traditional democratic institution known as Gada system. The dissertation mainly focuses on the conflict prevention system and resolution mechanism aspect of Gada system as it has been still functioning among the Borana of Southern Ethiopia and Northern Kenya. It seeks primarily to understand peace, conflict prevention and resolution from aspects of cultural, institutional, gender role and multiple methods of conflict prevention and settlement process based on empirical evidences. The outcome of this dissertation is expected to provide vital information and better understanding of the peaceful societies and the role of their cultures, language, institutions and other social relations in conflict prevention and resolution. At the end, the dissertation suggests many mega peace research questions such as what exhaustive account of all and appropriate peace strategies to be followed in unequal world, diverse cultures, multi-faiths, institutions, different communities, ideologies, interests and other values during the cross-road transition of social change, sustainable development and environment? To this end, the dissertation offered this particular strategy to write this dissertation for contributing a greater synthesis between global and local (indigenous) knowledge of peace and conflict.