Introduction – Peacebuilding Amidst Violence

Abstract

This is a literature-reviewing and conceptualizing article introducing a Special Issue that is addressing the broad field of 'peacebuilding amidst violence'. We take as a point of departure that peacebuilding (as we know it) is widely failing to deliver on its promises. Moreover, the atypical nature and persistence of violence in post-war phases are further undermining the prospect of linear transition from war to peace as typically expected in peacebuilding ventures. We extend, however, our argument and claim that in spite of creative 'turns', the concept has exhausted its adaptive capacity, and both conceptually and empirically has few options left. We investigate the three possible, as we see it, remaining options, which all include paradigmatic changes, namely the closure of, the refusal of the failure of, and the reenacting of, peacebuilding. Although the 're-enacting' is the preferred way forward for the authors of this introductory article, it rather opens up for the ensuing articles presented in the issue than concludes of the desirability and feasibility of that path.

Exploration of Local Peace Committees in Community-Based Peacebuilding: Five African Cases

“…The committee locally built peace Leone were formal LPCs. They operated in small-scale geographic spaces closest to a population, where practices therein were easily understood by its inhabitants and whose peace and other needs were common (Öjendal, Leonardsson, & Lundqvist, 2017).…”

“…For local peace to be fostered by LPCs, appropriate actions must be taken by relevant political and other actors to fertilize the ground, especially in conflict and immediate post-conflict settings. In cases where local elites, officials, and actors present themselves as stumbling blocks to efforts to build peace because of corruption and greed, and unwilling and unable to bring the local people together, it undermines local efforts at building peace (Öjendal, Leonardsson & Lundqvist, 2017). For example, the local elites in South Sudan have been obsessed with the immediate benefits of international aid and thus they give little or no attention to the peace and stability of the country or its peace process (Ylönen, 2012).…”

The Civil Society Building Peace Amid War: A Conceptual Proposal

“…Finally, the role of CS promoting peace amid war could show a pattern, with an initial flurry of engagement and activities, but declining over time and being overly dependent on international funding (Öjendal, Leonardsson & Lundqvist, 2017).…”

Peace that antagonizes: Reading Colombia’s peace process as hegemonic crisis

“…The surge of violence and disruptive conflicts after armed struggle ends, not just in Colombia but around the globe, has sparked criticism of the conceptualization of peace processes as linear and frictionless transitions (Öjendal et al, 2021). Correspondingly, a growing body of literature on Colombia’s most recent peacebuilding efforts points to the persistence of ‘chronic violence’ (Pearce and Perea, 2019: 248) in the form of militarization (Rodriguez, 2018), social inequality and ‘militaristic neoliberalism’ (Sachseder and Meger, 2020), or war legacies and state abandonment (Holmes and Pavon-Harr, 2019).…”