Influencers for Peace

What are the possibilities for building peace in the 21st century, using not military might or economic coercion, but leveraging soft power—attraction, persuasion and influence? How can we harness the power of cultural spaces to foster positive social change?

Food, sports, fashion, and arts are central to identity, inclusion, and belonging, but often overlooked as peacebuilding sites. This research examines the efforts of influencers in these spaces to shift mindsets and change the story that people tell about themselves and others, from us/them meta-narratives towards an inclusive “we.” I focus on identity-based conflict settings from Israel and Palestine to France and South Africa, and from Cyprus to Colombia and the US. Drawing on theory from marketing and the social psychology that underlies it, and deploying mixed methods from case studies and qualitative interviews to quantitative analysis of media and social media, I broaden the repertoire of strategies to build inclusive and sustainable peace.

I am grateful to the Folke Bernadette Academy (Swedish Government) and the USC Center on Public Diplomacy for generous support in funding work that inspired and became this project.