Suchergebnisse

This article explores the appropriation dynamics of international statebuilding in Burundi, with a focus on the period from 2010 to 2015. If international statebuilding is most commonly presented (and debated) as practices leaning towards the achievement of a liberal democracy, this article argues that it can also be used towards undemocratic ends. The central claim is the following: the (most) recent authoritarian trend observed in Burundi's main political force in government, the National Council for the Defence of Democracy–Forces for the Defence of Democracy (CNDD-FDD), did not only occur against international statebuilding but also through its appropriation and, more specifically, through self-reinforcing subversion tactics of appropriation. The article conceptualizes these tactics, examines the factors of emergence and conditions of existence, and presents the main expressions along three major editorial lines of international statebuilding: pluralist democracy, vibrant civil society and respect of the rule of law.

In this article, I will first draw attention to the surprising, but ultimately problematic trajectory of peace studies from the period of the Cold War to the present day. This is a trajectory from 'peace' as a critique of dominant geopolitics to one of 'peace' that has become part of the very dominant geopolitics it initially set out to criticise. Secondly, I will map – undoubtedly in cursory and incomplete fashion – the scholarly communities and literatures dealing with questions of peace and conflict. Rather than a literature review or an attempt at synthesis, my purpose is to highlight the broad variety of existing units of analysis, motivations, theories and methodologies of peace and conflict studies. Thirdly, I will propose a number of suggestions for a research attitude that, in absence of a better word, I subsume under the heading of 'critical peace and conflict research', striving to understand peace and conflict as concomitantly subjective and objective, as critique and hegemony, as normative and value-free, as local and global.

The practice of sustainable peace is a process that must be initiated, nourished and revised. The "social energies" of conflict transformation – truth, mercy, justice, peace – offer a useful model to describe the transformative power of this practice. These social energies can be conceptualized as a combination of norms or values, on the one hand, and actions directed toward social reconstruction, on the other. As such, the social energies of conflict transformation are both the guideposts and the engine in the journey of practicing sustainable peace. This article begins by linking psychological constructs of narrative/voice, empathy/altruism, individual/collective guilt, and security/fear with the social energies, highlighting the interdependence of processes and shifting the focus away from pathology toward an emphasis on harmony. An empirical application of how the four social energies contribute to the mobilization, maintenance and adaptations in on-going peace processes in post-war Guatemala is then presented. By analyzing the interaction among diverse actors and goals in the decade and a half since the signing of the 1996 Peace Accords, current theory is extended in two ways: a) differentiation between elite and grassroots initiatives, and b) specification and evaluation the impact of various efforts on episodic and structural violence. We conclude that although national and local processes have had limited success, more integrated practices of truth, mercy, justice and peace are necessary if Guatemala is to make sustainable peace a reality. The findings from this case study have policy and practical implications for other countries facing protracted, violent conflict.

The article presents the results of the research project titled Teacher training for the promotion of a culture of peace: an ethical and political perspective, which analyzes the discourses and practices of rural schoolteachers for peacebuilding and for the creation of coexistence environments and peaceful spaces. The research adopts a qualitative perspective from the grounded theory. Interviews were conducted as a data collection instrument and the Atlas.ti software was used as an analysis tool. The emerging categories from the analysis were: context, meanings on peacebuilding, philosophical practices in childhood, actions, and projections, which allowed for discussions and for the discovery of practices forcoexistence and peace environments from a philosophical perspective. The systematization of the results showed that coexistence and conflict resolution as spaces for building peace are optimized through the development of the Philosophy for Children program and of the Philosophy and Childhood perspective, based on care, dialogue, and questioning to configure individuals and pedagogical practices in rural schools. ; El artículo presenta los resultados del proyecto de investigación Formación de maestros para la promoción de cultura de paz: una perspectiva ética y política, el cual analiza los discursos y las prácticas de profesores de escuelas rurales para la construcción de paz y la generación de ambientes de convivencia y de espacios pacíficos. La investigación asume la perspectiva cualitativa desde la teoría fundamentada. Se realizaron entrevistas como instrumento de recolección de información y se usó el software Atlas.ti en tanto herramienta de análisis. Las categorías emergentes del análisis fueron: contexto, significados en torno de la construcción de paz, prácticas filosóficas en la infancia, acciones y proyecciones, las cuales permitieron discusiones y el hallazgo de prácticas para la convivencia y ambientes de paz en perspectiva filosófica. La sistematización de los resultados mostró que la convivencia y la resolución de conflictos como espacios para construir paz se optimizan a partir del desarrollo del programa Filosofía para Niños y de la perspectiva filosofía e infancia, apoyadas en el cuidado, el diálogo y el cuestionamiento para la configuración de sujetos y prácticas pedagógicas en las escuelas rurales. ; O artigo apresenta os resultados do projeto de pesquisa Formação de professores para apromoção de uma cultura de paz: uma perspectiva ética e política, que analisa os discursose práticas dos professores nas escolas rurais para a construção da paz e a geração deambientes de convivência e espaços pacíficos. A pesquisa adota uma perspectiva qualitativabaseada na teoria fundamentada. As entrevistas foram realizadas como um instrumentode coleta de dados e o software Atlas.ti foi usado como ferramenta de análise. As categoriasque emergiram da análise foram: contexto, significados sobre a construção da paz, práticasfilosóficas na infância, ações e projeções, as quais permitiram discussões e a descoberta depráticas para a convivência e ambientes de paz numa perspectiva filosófica. A sistematizaçãodos resultados mostrou que a convivência e a resolução de conflitos como espaços paraa construção da paz são otimizadas através do desenvolvimento do programa Filosofiapara Crianças e da perspectiva filosofia e infância, baseadas no cuidado, no diálogo e noquestionamento para a configuração de sujeitos e práticas pedagógicas nas escolas rurais.

Post-war countries are among the most difficult policy arenas for international and domestic actors. The challenge is not only to stop violence and prevent violence from rekindling, but moreover to help countries reset their internal relations on a peaceful path. The indirect, long-term effects of wars further exaggerate this challenge. Many of these relate to political and social aspects of post-war countries. Lasting impressions of human rights abuses committed during wars continue to shape the relations among members of societies for decades to come. Both, socio-economic impacts and political impacts challenge the stability of post-war countries for many years. The challenges to public health have been found to be especially severe and affect disproportionately the civilian population of post-war countries. Environmental and climate change exposes post-war populations further to new risks, exaggerating the human costs of war long after active combat has ceased. These challenges are not new. The problem, however, is that in practice all these elements are simultaneously happening in today's peacebuilding interventions. Yet, practitioners as well as researchers remain settled in a silo mentality, focusing only on one aspect at a time. As such they are unaware of the unintended consequences that their focus has on other important processes. The four essays that lie at the heart of this dissertation provide new insight into the linkages between the social, political and ecological processes in post-war societies and how the interactions of different groups of actors are shaping the prospects for peace. The argument drawn out in this dissertation is that to build peace we need to acknowledge and understand this long-term interplay of social, political, and ecological processes in post-war countries. It will be crucial to understand the potential and dynamics of natural resources and environmental issues in this context. As the essays in this dissertation show, the interactions of these processes divisively shape the post-war landscape. It is therefore essential to build a peace that is ecologically sensitive, while equally socially and politically relevant and desirable. I call this sustainable peace.