Giovanni Scotto

Giovanni Scotto is Visiting Assistant Professor at the Università degli Studi di Firenze, with a grant awarded by the Italian Ministry of University  as part of the program “Incentives for the Return of Scholars Working Abroad“ (“Rientro dei Cervelli”). He teaches Conflict and mediation theories in the Undergraduate Program Peace operations, Conflict resolution and Mediation and coordinates a one-year Master’s program in Social and Intercultural Mediation.  

Giovanni Scotto holds a PhD in Political Science from the Freie Universität Berlin. He was Associate Researcher at the Berghof Research Center for Constructive Conflict Management in Berlin (Germany), mainly working on local and international civil society actors in South East Europe. He has taught at the Freie Universität, Humboldt Universität and Alice Salomon Fachhochschule in Berlin, as well as in several universities in Italy.

The role of non-governmental actors, both local and international, in post-war societies in South East Europe has been a central focus of his research. Further academic interests are: theories of conflict, conflict resolution and transformation; peacebuilding and post-war reconstruction; peace movements; theories and practice of mediation; theory and practice of conflict transformation training; peace education and the development of  participatory, experiential training methods in academia.

In addition to academic work, Giovanni Scotto has worked extensively with civil society organisations in different capacities including leadership, training, consultancy and evaluation. From 2002 to 2006 he was President of the Centro Studi Difesa Civile, a leading Italian non-governmental organisation in the field of conflict transformation. He also works as a trainer in nonviolence and conflict transformation. He has worked with peace workers, military personnel, police officials, journalists and NGO activists in Italy, Germany and South East Europe. In 2006 he has joined the trainers pool of Nonviolent Peaceforce, an international NGO carrying out  third party nonviolent intervention in zones of violent conflict.

At LSE Giovanni Scotto will work on the role of non-governmental public actors – both local and international – working on conflict transformation in the context of the present international situation, characterised by the “global war on terror”. He will work on two case studies: Kosovo and Afghanistan. 

Publications

Books

• With Robert Rivers (eds.), Peace Training Preparing Adults for Peacework and Nonviolent Intervention in Conflicts, Cluj-Napoca (Romania): PATRIR 2007 (PDF).
• Friedensbildung in Mostar. Die Rolle der internationalen NRO [Peacebuilding in Mostar. The role of international NGOs], Münster: LIT Verlag, 2004.
• With Emanuele Arielli: Conflitti e mediazione [Conflicts and Mediation], Milano: Paravia Bruno Mondadori, 2003.
• Peace constituencies e alleanze per la pace - esperienze in Bosnia Erzegovina, Roma: Centro Studi di Politica Internazionale (CeSPI), 2001. (PDF)
• with Emanuele Arielli: La guerra del Kosovo, Roma: Editori Riuniti 1999.
• with Emanuele Arielli: I conflitti. Introduzione a una teoria generale, Milano: Bruno Mondadori, 1998, 246 pp.

Articles and papers

•  "Movimenti per la pace", in M. Flores (ed.), Atlante dei Diritti Umani, Torino: UTET 2008.
• "Educazione alla pace", in M. Flores (ed.), Enciclopedia dei Diritti Umani, Torino: UTET 2008.
• “NGO networking: some (possibly) useful skills”, in: Foundation for Democratic Change (ed.), Peace and Development. The new challenges for SEE NGOs. Training manual, Bucharest: SEE NGOs' Network, 2003 p. 47-53.
• With  Karl Giacinti: "Global governance e prevenzione dei conflitti violenti: il ruolo delle istituzioni e della società civile europea", Volontari e Terzo Mondo XXXI, 1-2/2003, p. 81-93. (PDF)
• "Internationale Konfliktbearbeitung auf dem Balkan", in: Ursula Blanke (ed. ), Krisen und Konflikte. von der Prävention zur Krisenkonsolidierung, Berlin: BWV 2004.
• "Whither world peace? Six theses for security and conflict transformation in the XXI century" in Jörg Calliess, (ed.), Die Erneuerung der transatlantischen Partnerschaft – the renewal of the Transatlantic partnership, Loccumer Protokolle, 10/01, 2003, p. 359-365.
• "Per uscire dalla guerra. Il ruolo delle parti esterne tra lavoro di pace, azione umanitaria e prevenzione dei conflitti",  in Tullio, Francesco (ed.), Le ONG e la trasformazione dei conflitti. Le operazioni di pace nelle crisi internazionali, Roma: Edizioni Associate, 2002,. p. 40-55.
•  “La NATO e le guerre del Kosovo: una replica“, in R. Menotti, F. Eichberg, A Grazioso, G. Scotto, L’intervento della NATO in Kosovo: riflessioni su una escalation coercitiva, Roma: Centro Studi di Politica Internazionale, 2000, p. 33-47 (PDF).
• With Martina Fischer: South East European NGOs for the Stability Pact, Berghof Occasional Paper 17, Berlin: Berghof Research Center for Constructive Conflict Management, 2000. (PDF)
• "La prevenzione dei conflitti le organizzazioni non governative" [Conflict prevention and NGOs], in Affari Esteri, XXXIII,  n. 132, ottobre 2001, p. 815-826.

Last updated: 17 January 2008

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