MACMILLAN Confronting Peace: Local Peacebuilding in the Wake of a National Peace Agreement (Rethinking Political Violence)

Most recent works about the efforts of local communities caught up in a civil war have focused on their efforts to remain places of security and safety from the violence that surrounds them―neutral peace communities or zones. This book, in contrast, focuses on local peace communities facing new challenges and opportunities once a peace agreement has been signed at the national level, such as those in South Africa, the Philippines, Burundi, East Timor, Sierra Leone, and the present peace process in Colombia between the FARC and the Colombian Government. The communities’ task is to make a stable and durable peace in the aftermath of a violent civil war and a deal on which local people have usually had little or no influence. Such agreements seek to involve them in both short and longer term peace-building, and expect local communities to cope with problems of armed ex-combatants, IDPs and refugees, law and order in the absence of much state presence, high unemployment and the need for widespread and massive reconstruction of physical infrastructure damaged or destroyed during the war. How local communities have coped with the demands of “peace” is thus the theme that runs through each of these individual chapters, written by authors with direct experience of grassroots communities struggling with such “problems of peace.”   Review “This fourth in a series of studies on the relationship between national and local level peacebuilding strategies is fundamental reading for scholars interested in what happens at the local level after a national peace agreement has been signed. A diverse group of pracademics in the peace sector from around the world reflect on how the problems that arise from national level peace differ from those confronting local communities. The editors provide a carefully cogent analysis of the case studies presented in order to give readers a highly applied, thorough and useful guide to the challenges and possibilities available to local actors in a post-agreement context.” ―Pamina Firchow, Associate Professor of Conflict Resolution and Coexistence at Brandeis University's Heller School for Social Policy and Management, USA   “The wider field of peace and conflict studies has long confronted the challenge of ending wars. After thirty years of research tracking negotiations, mediation and agreements, perhaps nothing is more urgent than better understanding of the realities captured in this book. The challenge of confronting peace. The authors and the approach give the volume a deep legitimacy, as the key in this effort requires us to understand the specific processes and innovations needed to bolster and face the many faceted developments that emerge in the aftermath of peace processes and accords. These reflections, research and proposed recommendations offer empirical evidence and grounded learning for improving the chances that social and political transitions can offer both the hope of ending war and of solidifying the changes needed to sustain a more robust peace.” ―John Paul Lederach, Professor Emeritus, University of Notre Dame, USA     “This book, with its impressive weaving together of peace practice and research, points to a potential new wave in conflict analysis and engagement – making peace with conflict. That is, as the case studies in this book amply illustrate, “post” conflict peacemaking is rarely about the end of conflict. Rather, as illustrated in two main “negative” case studies, where peace agreements have so far failed to hold (in Colombia and the Philippines) and other cases of failed peace, seeking and pursuing peace in the face of ongoing conflict is about the daily engagement and commitment of local communities. This is a brave text about the benefits and perils if peace.”  ―Jay Rothman, President, the ARIA Group, USA and Israel From the Back Cover Most recent works about the efforts of local communities caught up in a civil war have foc