Intergroup Contact in Divided Societies: Emerging Insights and Implications for Practice

Intergroup Contact in Divided Societies: Emerging Insights and Implications for Practice

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On November 18, 2020, IPA’s Peace & Recovery ProgramJ-PAL's Governance Initiative, and J-PAL’s Crime and Violence Initiative held the first webinar in a series focused on showcasing emerging results from the first three years of our joint Governance, Crime, and Conflict Initiative (GCCI). Launched in 2017, GCCI aims to produce new research on effective policies to promote peace and good governance, reduce crime, and support individuals and communities recovering from conflict.

Can contact between groups reduce discrimination and prejudice, and build social cohesion? Rebuilding social ties in divided societies is a core aim of much peacebuilding and development programming. Programs that aim to reduce prejudice through contact with other groups have built on decades of social psychology research on prejudice reduction, which suggests that contact between divided groups can effectively contribute to prejudice reduction and social integration.

This webinar shared emerging insights from two studies funded by GCCI, in India and Iraq, which together shed light on the ways in which contact with other groups may reduce prejudice, and the ways it may not. Danjuma Dawop from Mercy Corps Iraq additionally discussed the implications of this new research for programming and practice, particularly in conflict-affected contexts. The presentations were then followed by a Q&A session.

Watch the webinar recording below:

Panelists

Moderator

  • Nessa Kenny, Peace & Recovery Program Coordinator, Innovations for Poverty Action, moderated a discussion and Q&A following the presentations.

City

Webinar

Country

United States