Bringing the Local Back In: Haiti, Local Governance and the Dynamics of Vertically Integrated Peacebuilding

Abstract

In recent years, 'the local' has moved to the forefront of the contemporary peacebuilding debate, as evidenced both by growing scholarly interest in 'the local turn' in peacebuilding and by the emphasis on legitimate, inclusive politics in policy discussions surrounding the New Deal for Engagement in Fragile States. What is less clear, however, is how community-level peacebuilding activities can be effectively integrated with longstanding efforts to build peace by building viable, accountable state-level institutions; there remains, in other words, a conceptual and empirical gap between top-down and bottom-up peacebuilding processes. This article draws upon a case study of community-level peacebuilding and violence reduction in the urban slums of the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince to illustrate the importance of vertical integration for sustainable peacebuilding. It argues that in the absence of explicit linkage-in particular through local-level institutions of governance-with broader statebuilding processes, community-based peacebuilding efforts may ultimately prove to be more palliative than transformative.

Justice and rule of law failure in Haiti: A view from the Shanties

“…One might add that this top‐down approach has given rise to reform interventions with performance indicators employing metrics that reinforce donors’ own terms and vision for achieving “success” (Andersen, ; Jensen, ; Larzillière, ; Rivard Piché, ). In Haiti, the security dimension that characterizes the state‐centric approach of judicial reform emphasizes a top‐down donor‐driven governmentality of bodies with (sporadic) investments in security forces, judicial powers, and secure internment that maintain an unjust sociopolitical status quo, all wrapped within a corrupt and authoritarian political system in crisis for more than three decades (Baranyi, ; Berg, ; Donais, ; Donais & Knorr, ; Dupuy, ; Gélineau & Zeichmeister, ; Hauge, ; Hauge et al, ; Marcelin, ; Rivard Piché, ; Seitenfus, ; Walby and Monaghan, ).…”

“…In 2017, food security, according to the World Food Programme (2017), "Haiti has one of the highest levels of food insecurity in the world: more than half of its total population is chronically undernourished and 22% of children are chronically malnourished." For additional discussion on security-development nexus and international presence in Haiti see Andreas et al (2013), Gordon (2014), Baranyi (2011Baranyi ( , 2019, Donais (2015), Donais and Burt (2015), Donais and Knorr (2013), and McCandless and Abu-Nimer (2011). of the justice system in Haiti.…”

“…Likewise, Shamsie () highlighted how, after the Haiti earthquake in January 12, 2010, international donors’ security and development nexus approach overshadowed investment in the country's agricultural sector. In 2017, food security, according to the World Food Programme (), “Haiti has one of the highest levels of food insecurity in the world: more than half of its total population is chronically undernourished and 22% of children are chronically malnourished.” For additional discussion on security‐development nexus and international presence in Haiti see Andreas et al (2013), Gordon (), Baranyi (), Donais (), Donais and Burt (), Donais and Knorr (), and McCandless and Abu‐Nimer ().…”

“…In Haiti, the security dimension that characterizes the state-centric approach of judicial reform emphasizes a top-down donor-driven governmentality of bodies with (sporadic) investments in security forces, judicial powers, and secure internment that maintain an unjust sociopolitical status quo, all wrapped within a corrupt and authoritarian political system in crisis for more than three decades (Baranyi, 2019;Berg, 2013;Donais, 2015;Donais & Knorr, 2013;Dupuy, 2005;Gélineau & Zeichmeister, 2016;Hauge, 2018;Hauge et al, 2015;Marcelin, 2012;Rivard Piché, 2017;Seitenfus, 2011;Walby and Monaghan, 2011).…”

Atomised and Subordinated? Unpacking the role of International Involvement in ‘The Local turn’ of Peacebuilding in Nepal and Cambodia

“…In such cases, local dynamics fail to contribute to the synergetic effects that are essential to successful peacebuilding (Donais & Knorr 2013). Typically, local peacebuilding programmes exhibit worthwhile ambitions, proper execution, and excellent project results, but as Lederach (1997) pointed out -local interventions need to be vertically integrated and horizontally connected to the wider processes and actors in the peacebuilding endeavour in order to be significant in the larger scheme of things (Donais 2015). Moreover, breaking the common atomism of local peacebuilding programmes not only entails connecting them with other institutional entities, but also involves successfully meshing them with the everyday lives of common people (Marijan 2017).…”