Agnieszka Paczynska

This insightful book guides instructors on how to introduce students to the interdisciplinary work of Peace and Conflict Studies (PACS). Mindful that many students come to PACS with a desire to create positive social change, Susan F. Hirsch and Agnieszka Paczynska highlight engaged learning as a key method for PACS pedagogy and emphasise the need to teach theory with an inclusive and decolonialist approach. The book offers both new and experienced instructors of undergraduate and postgraduate students concrete advice regarding structuring assignments, designing classroom-based engaged learning activities and highlighting reflective practice and ethics. Key Features:Focuses on delivering an engaged, inclusive and decolonialist PACS programme. Provides practical advice on how to design introductory and elective PACS courses for undergraduate and postgraduate students. Includes detailed instructions for developing and implementing in-class experiential learning exercises alongside tools for effectively assessing student learning. Building instructors’ capacity to teach effectively and inclusively with the aim of practical post-course application, Teaching Peace and Conflict Studies will be an invaluable resource across peace and conflict studies, anthropology, sociology, history, political science, international relations, women’s studies, African American studies and global studies. It will also be essential reading for graduate students looking to move into teaching positions, as well as faculty, staff and students in graduate education schools.

This insightful book guides instructors on how to introduce students to the interdisciplinary work of Peace and Conflict Studies (PACS). Mindful that many students come to PACS with a desire to create positive social change, Susan F. Hirsch and Agnieszka Paczynska highlight engaged learning as a key method for PACS pedagogy and emphasise the need to teach theory with an inclusive and decolonialist approach. The book offers both new and experienced instructors of undergraduate and postgraduate students concrete advice regarding structuring assignments, designing classroom-based engaged learning activities and highlighting reflective practice and ethics. Key Features:Focuses on delivering an engaged, inclusive and decolonialist PACS programme. Provides practical advice on how to design introductory and elective PACS courses for undergraduate and postgraduate students. Includes detailed instructions for developing and implementing in-class experiential learning exercises alongside tools for effectively assessing student learning. Building instructors’ capacity to teach effectively and inclusively with the aim of practical post-course application, Teaching Peace and Conflict Studies will be an invaluable resource across peace and conflict studies, anthropology, sociology, history, political science, international relations, women’s studies, African American studies and global studies. It will also be essential reading for graduate students looking to move into teaching positions, as well as faculty, staff and students in graduate education schools.

In response to mounting debt crises and macroeconomic instability in the 1980s, many countries in the developing world adopted neoliberal policies promoting the unfettered play of market forces and deregulation of the economy and attempted large-scale structural adjustment, including the privatization of public-sector industries. How much influence did various societal groups have on this transition to a market economy, and what explains the variances in interest-group influence across countries? In this book, Agnieszka Paczynska explores these questions by studying the role of organized labor in the transition process in four countries in different regions—the Czech Republic and Poland in eastern Europe, Egypt in the Middle East, and Mexico in Latin America. In Egypt and Poland, she shows, labor had substantial influence on the process, whereas in the Czech Republic and Mexico it did not. Her explanation highlights the complex relationship between institutional structures and the “critical junctures” provided by economic crises, revealing that the ability of groups like organized labor to wield influence on reform efforts depends to a great extent on not only their current resources (such as financial autonomy and legal prerogatives) but also the historical legacies of their past ties to the state. This new edition features an epilogue that analyzes the role of organized labor uprisings in 2011, the protests in Egypt, the overthrow of Mubarak, and the post-Mubarak regime.