- “Did you know that in most textbooks there is almost no mention of the role of the arms industry in current conflicts? Or is the narrative that war must inevitably happen rarely questioned?” says the association No Wars Araba. With the aim of stimulating other narratives, debates and reflections, it launches a didactic unit for students from ESO.
At a time when “critical education is more necessary than ever” and “militarism is increasingly present”, No War Araba has insisted on the predominance of silence in educational curricula, and to reverse this they have presented the didactic unit “Si vis pacem, para (bellum) pacem”, designed for spaces of Secondary Education, Baccalaureate, University and Social and Citizen Education.
Based on decolonialism, feminism, antimilitarism and ecosocial justice, “this unity breaks the simplistic and heroic vision of conflicts: it starts from structural causes, analyzes the role of geopolitics and shows that war is also fueled by economic, technological and communicative powers”, they say from the association.
"This unity breaks the simplistic and heroic vision of conflicts: it starts from structural causes"
What does the didactic unit offer?
Among other things, the didactic unit has 33 didactic sheets (with images, texts, data and “provocations”) and raises critical questions because its objective is a participatory methodology, that is, to “think, discuss and act”.
“Wars begin here”, “the victims are more and more civilians”, “some become rich in wars”, “education does not stop wars, but it can increase the number of those who oppose them”, “be closer or further away, in times of globalization we are all involved in war”... and many other anti-war messages the unit focuses on reflecting on students.
The films are also varied: death statistics, the use of technology in conflicts, active commitment against war, ignored conflicts, anti-militarist research, input, UN and NATO, military industrial centers...
No War in Arabia is clear: “In a world where war is presented as inevitable, questioning wars is a democratic, citizen-driven and transformative act.”