Conflict Transformation
The conflict transformation framework treats conflict as an ordinary and healthy aspect of social life. Yet conflict does not necessarily have to involve violence. Based on this understanding, this approach seeks to transform conflicts rather than eliminate them. The path to this is to constructively transform the relationships between conflicting actors and focus on establishing the mechanisms that are needed for a lasting peace. The underlying logic of conflict transformation is seeing social conflict as an important dynamic for change and seeking to understand the fundamental conditions that give rise to conflict. It is precisely these fundamental conditions and the social relations they produce that are meant to be transformed.
The conflict transformation framework considers peacebuilding to be a long-term process involving structural change. It is not possible to build a lasting peace without targeting the social and structural conditions giving rise to conflict. Based on this framework, DEMOS believes that a conflict transformation approach conducive to a long-lasting peace may be achieved by focusing on structural inequalities, social relations, and the demands and needs of the subjects themselves.