flcfReflection Paper #1 Inez Burrell March 19, 2013

The Experiential Learning Activity served as a significant tool to put the process of conflict mapping into perspective. Conflict mapping is a type of model that simplifies a complex social conflict such as the ones taking place in Voinjama, Liberia. It emphasizes the most important elements and systematically asks questions about issues, parties, strategies, and key components. When developing a conflict map, it is also important to focus on the parties’ grievances, trigger events, and root causes of the conflict.
Although conflict mapping is used to facilitate the analysis of the conflict, it can actually make the process harder since there are so many possible answers. Each person analyzing the conflict may have different viewpoints for the components that make up that specific conflict as a whole. There are no right or wrong answers because each idea could be vital in solving the specific problems in that conflict. The reality of this became applicable during the Experiential Learning Activity because each group felt differently about the specific issues going on in Liberia.
During the Experiential Learning Activity, the class was split into teams in order to analyze the conflict through the use of conflict mapping. As a group, it was decided that the parties involved in the conflict were the Mandingo and Loma. However, looking at the conflict in a broader sense it was decided that the government was another party involved because both the Mandingo and Loma were dissatisfied with the way it functioned. Both parties’ interests included equal access to government resources and land ownership. The grievances in a conflict are the problems caused by the parties. For example, the Loma felt that the country was not being controlled by “real” Liberians which were referred to as the Mandingos. A triggering event is an event that initiates a conflict. It can be minor such as a simple statement that is misinterpreted, or it can be major. It may be some final straw, some objectively minor or major happening that finally tilts a party towards action, provokes such action, or makes it unavoidable. It may be unintended communication from the other by word or deed that shows a lack of will or ability to defend some opposing interest. Any event is potentially a trigger, depending on the situation of conflict, on the subjective fields of those involved, on the timing. These events may be unique, only important to or perceived by the actor. In the case of Liberia, the trigger event was the death of Korpo Kamara, a 20 year old Loma girl. The underlying factors that cause a conflict are usually in place long before the outbreak of violence and it is the escalation in particular that turns a situation of peaceful competition into a destructive, deadly conflict. Since the root causes are embedded in history, there is no one underlying cause of intractability. The most apparent root causes mentioned in the article include, injustice from the government and the feeling of inequality between both parties based on resources. However, the root cause can go as far back as the war that broke out in Liberia several years ago. According to the article, the struggle in Liberia has only intensified since the outcome of the war.
Although the article provided detailed and efficient information about the issues arising in Liberia, there still lacks a great portion of other sources that could be vital in the process of conflict mapping. In order to truly understand all aspects of this particular conflict; additional information such as Liberia’s historical background, economic and statistical data about the region, and a third party’s point of view would help to make a better analysis of the conflict.