Mar 16Societal divides as a taxable negative externality of digital platformsAn exploration of the rationale for regulating algorithmically mediated platforms differently, by Helena Puig Larrauri Talk to any peacebuilder trying to disseminate an alternative, complex narrative about a conflict, and they’ll tell you a version of the same thing: the odds are stacked against peace on social media platforms. …5 min read5 min read
Mar 15How we organizeA manifesto for challenging the power dynamics that dictate where money flows and how priorities are set in the peacebuilding & conflict transformation field. Back in November 2022, Build Up invited a small group of peacebuilding & conflict transformation organizations to a conversation about power. Aside from working in the…Peacebuilding3 min readPeacebuilding3 min read
Dec 5, 2022Unseen RisksA reflection following the Build Peace conference in Chemnitz Build Peace 2022 took place in Chemnitz, a city in Eastern Germany marked by a recent history of racial violence, a longer history of collective trauma from political and economic neglect after the fall of the Berlin Wall — and a…Peacebuilding7 min readPeacebuilding7 min read
Dec 5, 2022Stories of the Unseena compilation of moments from Build Peace 2022 by Rita Costa Cots What do you do when Build Peace is over? This was the first time that I attended a Build Peace conference in-person. When it was over, I found myself lost in between a head full of questions and…Peacebuilding11 min readPeacebuilding11 min read
Nov 4, 2022Manifest a world unseenOpening remarks for the Build Peace 2022 conference by Helena Puig Larrauri This year is the 9th edition of the Build Peace conference. In its essence, Build Peace is a conversation that evolves organically, and we try to stay true to that. One way we do this is in how…Algorithms9 min readAlgorithms9 min read
Oct 31, 2022From My Blue Dot to Yours (A reflection before Build Peace 2022)By Anooj Bhandari — I am a traveler, and being from an immigrant family, have been once since before I was born. From a young age, I started looking at maps and imagining myself as a little blue dot, tracing lines across places I had moved to and visited and dreamt about, dancing across…Conference5 min readConference5 min read
Apr 30, 2022Archetypes of Polarization on Social MediaJulie Hawke, Digital Peacebuilding Lead at Build Up We were recently invited to contribute a chapter to a forthcoming book on hate speech that we were able to present last month at a webinar with the Media and Peacebuilding Project. We’ll save the chapter-talk (and the hate speech) for another…5 min read5 min read
Mar 11, 2022Digital Tech and Peacebuilding in West AfricaThis week at the WAPSI Forum, we launched the report Leveraging Technology for Peacebuilding in the ECOWAS Region. …Digital Peacebuilding8 min readDigital Peacebuilding8 min read
Oct 5, 20213 reasons to register for the Build Peace conferenceHappening online, October 18–24, 2021 — The 2021 Build Peace Conference is starting soon! This year’s theme is Computer Says No, where we’ll get to reflect on digital adaptations, digital conflict, and the long term impacts of the pandemic on peacebuilding and social justice. This conference is for the entire Build Peace community of practice, including…Conference3 min readConference3 min read
Sep 27, 2021The Commons: Where are we at in 2021?Anooj Bhandari — In 2019, we published a blog post on an earlier intervention within the Commons. You can find the post here. Throughout the past year, we built and ran our newest iteration and intervention of the Commons Project, a project launched in 2017 that focused on depolarizing conversations in the United…Social Media12 min readSocial Media12 min read
