Search

What strategies can be employed to conceptualize peace? In recent years, scholars have introduced an impressive array of “peace with adjectives” in order to make sense of some of the normative and empirical underpinnings of peace. Negative, positive, everyday, virtual, illiberal, partial, insecure, relational, emancipatory, agonistic, and feminist are some of the qualifiers that have been associated with the concept. While the growing attention to conceptualization is a welcomed development, we argue that the proliferation of new terms has led to increased fragmentation in the field of peace studies. Conceptual fragmentation impedes cumulative knowledge production and generates missed opportunities for fruitful discussions across theoretical and conceptual divides. In this article, we aim to provide more clarity to our field by mapping existing peace conceptualizations and identifying the strategies employed by scholars to construct innovative new terms. In our review, we identify 61 concepts and suggest that these conceptual innovations in peace research belong to one of three analytical strategies: developing diminished subtypes, conceptual narrowing, and conceptual expansion. Building on this categorization, we make recommendations for how peace researchers can enhance clarity and deepen constructive discussions between different conceptual approaches., ¿Qué estrategias se pueden utilizar para conceptualizar la paz? En los últimos años, los académicos han presentado una impresionante variedad de «paz acompañada de adjetivos» con el fin de dar sentido a algunos de los fundamentos normativos y empíricos de la paz. Algunos de los calificativos que se han asociado al concepto han sido: negativa, positiva, cotidiana, virtual, iliberal, parcial, insegura, relacional, emancipatoria, agonística y feminista. Si bien la creciente atención que se está prestando a la conceptualización es un desarrollo bienvenido, argumentamos que la proliferación de nuevos términos ha provocado una mayor fragmentación en el campo de los estudios de la paz. La fragmentación conceptual impide la producción acumulativa de conocimiento y provoca que se pierdan oportunidades para generar debates fructíferos a través de las divisiones teóricas y conceptuales. En este artículo pretendemos aportar más claridad a nuestro campo mediante el mapeo de las conceptualizaciones de paz existentes y la identificación de las estrategias que utilizan los académicos para construir nuevos términos innovadores. En nuestra revisión, identificamos 61 conceptos y sugerimos que estas innovaciones conceptuales dentro de la investigación en materia de la paz pertenecen a una de entre tres posibles estrategias analíticas: desarrollo de subtipos disminuidos, contracción conceptual y expansión conceptual. Partiendo de esta categorización, hacemos recomendaciones sobre cómo los investigadores en el campo de la paz pueden lograr una mejora con relación a la claridad y profundizar en los debates constructivos que se generan entre los diferentes enfoques conceptuales., Quelles stratégies employer pour conceptualiser la paix ? Ces dernières années, les chercheurs ont introduit un éventail impressionnant de « paix avec adjectifs » afin de faire sens de certains fondements normatifs et empiriques de la paix. Négative, positive, quotidienne, virtuelle, illibérale, partielle, précaire, relationnelle, émancipatrice, agnostique, féministe… Tous ces mots ont été employés pour qualifier ce concept. Bien que l'attention croissante à la conceptualisation soit une évolution bienvenue, nous affirmons que la prolifération de nouveaux termes a engendré une fragmentation croissante du domaine des études sur la paix. La fragmentation conceptuelle entrave la production de connaissances cumulatives et crée des occasions manquées de discussions productives par delà les divisions théoriques et conceptuelles. Dans cet article, nous cherchons à contribuer à plus de clarté dans notre domaine en retraçant les conceptualisations existantes de la paix et en identifiant les stratégies employées par les chercheurs pour créer de nouveaux termes innovants. Notre revue de la littérature identifie 61 concepts et suggère que ces innovations conceptuelles dans la recherche sur la paix appartiennent à l'une des trois stratégies analytiques suivantes : le développement de sous-types 'diminués', le rétrécissement conceptuel et l'expansion conceptuelle. En nous appuyant sur cette catégorisation, nous émettons des recommandations pour aider les chercheurs à être plus clairs et à approfondir les discussions constructives entre différentes approches conceptuelles.

In this article, we suggest that taking a relational view of peace seriously is a fruitful avenue for expanding current theoretical frameworks surrounding peace as a concept. Paving the way for such an approach, this article conducts a review of the literature that takes on peace as a relational concept. We then return to how a relationship is conceptualized, before turning to how such components would be further defined in order to specify relational peace. Based on this framework, we argue that a peaceful relationship entails deliberation, non-domination, and cooperation between the actors in the dyad; the actors involved recognize and trust each other and believe that the relationship is either one between legitimate fellows or one between friends. The article clarifies the methodological implications of studying peace in this manner. It also demonstrates some of the advantages of this approach, as it shows how peace and war can coexist in webs of multiple interactions, and the importance of studying relations, and how actors understand these relationships, as a way of studying varieties of peace., P19-1494:1 RJ, Varieties of Peace: A Relational Approach

In this article, we revisit the 'local turn' debate in the peacebuilding literature, and explore its most recent and promising approach to 'the local', focussing on post-war cities and on urban dimensions of peacebuilding. There is still substantive contestation and frustration in the peacebuilding research field with regards to the conceptual fuzziness of 'the local', and with the continual failures of international interventions to actually take into account local perspectives, promote local agency and establish local ownership. In this article, we explore to what extent recent urban approaches to peacebuilding can help alleviate some of the conceptual problems that has persisted in the literature. We reflect on and raise questions about what a focus on cities and urban perspectives is contributing to the study of local peacebuilding more specifically. We suggest three facets of analytical added value: (1) an increased understanding of how the particularities of urban and rural space affects peacebuilding locally and potentially beyond; (2) how cities and urban space are interrelated with traditional territoriality; and (3) the methodological benefits of the city/urban as (local) analytical entry point. We also discuss potential pitfalls and limitations of urban approaches to peacebuilding, and identify prospective pathways for further research.

While previous research has focused on the conflicts and division in Mitrovica, Kosovo, the present article explores how peace and conflict are intertwined in the post-war city by focusing on sites where communities live side by side in an otherwise segregated city. A key finding is that the most conflictual residential areas in northern Mitrovica also are places where what we call peace acts, peace issues and peace perceptions are found. Our research suggests that even in spaces in the city where a history of violence is entrenched, the situation can seldom be reduced to be seen only as purely conflictual; rather, these ‘hotspots’ often prove to be spaces where reproduction of peace – however quotidian – also occurs at the same time. This points us to the complexity of the realities of peace, where remnants of war and potential for a co-existing peace often overlap and are sometimes intrinsically intertwined., Vetenskapsrådet, projekt 2013-633

In this paper we suggest that taking a relational view of peace serious is a fruitful avenue for expanding current theoretical frameworks surrounding peace as a concept. Paving the way for such an approach, this paper conducts a review of the literature which takes on peace as a relational concept. We then return to how a relationship is conceptualized, before turning to how such components would be further defined in order to specify relational peace. Based on this framework, we argue that a peaceful relation entails non-domination, deliberation and cooperation between the actors in the dyad, the actors involved recognize and trust each other and believe that the relationship is one between legitimate actors and ultimately an expression of friendship. It clarifies the methodological implications of studying peace in this manner. It also demonstrates some of the advantages of this approach, as it shows how peace and war can co-exist in webs of multiple interactions, and the importance of studying relations, and how actors understand these relationships, as a way of studying varieties of peace., Varieties of Peace

Power sharing is increasingly recognized as an important tool forcreating sustainable peace in war-torn societies. However, we have limitedknowledge concerning why political, territorial, and military power-sharingpacts are reached and implemented. This article addresses this gap by providinga global study examining the signing and implementation of powersharing pactsin intrastate armed conflicts. We focus on how the type of political regime caninfluence these choices and theorize about the strategic incentives for warringparties in different types of regimes to sign and implement different pacts.Our large-N analysis is based on data on power-sharing provisions in eighty-threepeace accords in forty intrastate armed conflicts between 1989 and 2004. Inline with our theoretical expectations, we find that political and militarypacts are more likely to be signed in autocracies, whereas territorial pactsare more common in democracies. Somewhat surprisingly, we find no difference inthe implementation patterns across regimes.

Publicerad 2017-07-16, Varieties of Peace

GFM: samverkansgruppen för god forskningsmiljö

The UN ambition to promote democratization via peacebuilding operations in post-civil war cases has largely failed. Suboptimal choices for democratization, such as power-sharing, are chosen as a result of the bargaining power of the former warring parties. Many issues, such as who belongs to the citizenry, are not settled and political parties not defined by the conflict lines have little chance of gaining power. While past experience shows that there is not one single pathway of democratization after civil war, it is suggested that these issues are important for democracy after civil war. For democracy to take root, it is also necessary to engage more seriously with the local networks and individuals who work to change behaviour and attitudes to become more democratic., Demokrati utifrån? Internationella interventioner i Afghanistan, Somalia, Sydafrika och Bosnien-Hercegovina

Under de drygt två hundra år som förflutit sedan det moderna forskningsuniversitetet såg dagens ljus i dåtida Preussen har vetenskap bevisligen gjort världen bättre. Fyra k:n – kunskap, kreativitet, kritikoch kollegialitet – har utgjort nyckeln till denna exempellösa framgång. Akademins framsteg har dock inte vilat på den demokratisk-politiska logik som genomsyrar dagens samhälle, utan på en parallell och alldeles egen verklighet där ett fritt sökande upprätthållits genom att forskare drivits av sitt engagemang och sin nyfikenhet. När denna anda får råda inom vetenskapen blir det också bra för samhället i stort. Men i det projektsamhälle som alltmer tar form och där tiden, resultaten och utvärderingen är centrala, framstår akademins och vetenskapens sätt att fungera som provocerande. Liksom stora delar av den offentliga verksamheten lever i dag akademin under trycket av kortsiktig resultatleverans.Hur kunde det bli så, och vad gör vi åt det? Denna problematik är temat för Det hotade universitetet, som är redigerad och författad av engagerade forskare, tidigare universitetsrektorer och ämbetsmän som är förskräckta över en utveckling där djup kunskap, vildsint kreativitet, kritiska samtal och kollegialt ansvar kastas på sophögen. Denna utveckling kan inte, och får inte, fortsätta. Då rycker vi undan mattan för mänskliga framsteg och ett civiliserat samhälle. Det är hög tid att försvara de värden som akademin har stått för sedan lång tid tillbaka – inte för att de är traditionella, utan för att de är det modernaste vi har.

Demokrati utifrån? Internationella interventioner i Afghanistan, Somalia, Sydafrika och Bosnien-Hercegovina

Democracy from the outside?/Demokrati utifrån?

In Afghanistan, peacebuilding is conducted in parallel to the military involvement. This article unpacks some of the frictional encounters that emerge during efforts to promote local ownership of the security sector reform which seeks to prepare Afghan actors for taking full responsibility for security from 2014. It contributes to the research field both empirically by shedding light on the insider attacks in the context of police training, and theoretically by developing the challenges of local ownership in relation to international support to institutional reconstruction. The outcomes of these frictional encounters include a lowering of the ambition of the international engagement to ‘Afghan good enough’, an orphaned peace process, and an uneasy coexistence of informal and formal security organisations.