Honduras As a Complex Adaptive System and What It Means for the European Union – The Case of Violence

GIGA - German Institute of Global and Area Studies Working Paper No. 294

28 Pages Posted: 25 Jan 2017

See all articles by Kai Enno Lehmann

Kai Enno Lehmann

Federal University of São Paulo (UNIFESP)

Date Written: December 15, 2016

Abstract

This paper assesses why the various initiatives undertaken by the European Union in Honduras have not had the desired impact of reducing the extraordinary levels of violence in the country. The hypothesis put forward is that the EU’s approach to the issue of violence has been unsuccessful because it does not match the complexity of the problem encountered. As an alternative, the paper puts forward complexity and human systems dynamics as conceptual frameworks for reinterpreting the issue of violence. It shows that violence is one of the results of an incoherent process of self-organisation which marks Honduras and suggests ways of influencing the conditions that make up this pattern in order to address the problem of violence. It also outlines what this new approach would mean for the actions and policies proposed and implemented by the European Union.

Keywords: European Union, Honduras, violence, complexity, human systems dynamics

Suggested Citation

Lehmann, Kai Enno, Honduras As a Complex Adaptive System and What It Means for the European Union – The Case of Violence (December 15, 2016). GIGA - German Institute of Global and Area Studies Working Paper No. 294, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2904945 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2904945

Kai Enno Lehmann (Contact Author)

Federal University of São Paulo (UNIFESP) ( email )

Rua Sena Madureira, 1500 - 5º andar
Vila Clementino
São Paulo, Sao Paulo 04021001
Brazil

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