Peace from Below

About the course

How do local actors - such as governing elites, local communities, ethnic minorities, ex-combatants and other war-affected groups - perceive and react to international interventions to build peace and state institutions in the aftermath of war? This course seeks to address this question. During the last decades the international community has invested considerable time and energy in assisting conflict-ridden countries in making the difficult transition from civil war to peace. The stated objective of such interventions - often referred to as peace- and state-building initiatives - is generally to (re)construct formal state institutions and foster collective identities and norms based on democratic and inclusive ideals. International actors thereby hope to prevent the outbreak of new violence. Recent experiences have, however, shown that such interventions seldom achieve their stated objectives. Not only do peace- and state-building initiatives often generate façade institutions - whereby much power continues to be concentrated in informal networks - many local communities perceive the former as foreign and oppressive interventions that marginalise their political and economic influence.

The aim of the course is to provide an alternative perspective on contemporary peace- and state-building processes, where the experiences and actions of local actors and groups are put in focus. The course will, more specifically, address the following questions: Why is it so difficult to construct formal, functioning state institutions in the aftermath of civil wars? How do local elites govern without institutions? Do informal modes of governance sow the seeds of new violence, or can they also be used to further peace? How do local groups and communities view and respond to international peace- and state-building initiatives?

The course is carried out through lectures and seminars where the students discuss and critically assess the course literature. The acquired knowledge, as well as the ability to integrate knowledge and skills and independently formulate and solve problems, is accounted for a in final academic paper.