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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Grounding Local Peace Organisations: A Case Study of Southern Sudan
Authors:Hilhorst, DorotheaISNI
Leeuwen, Mathijs vanISNI
Year:2005
Periodical:Journal of Modern African Studies
Volume:43
Issue:4
Period:December
Pages:537-563
Language:English
Geographic terms:Sudan
South Sudan
Subjects:peacebuilding
civil society
women's organizations
Women's Issues
Politics and Government
Miscellaneous (i.e. Demography, Refugees, Sports)
organizations
External link:https://www.jstor.org/stable/3876318
Abstract:Since the early 1990s, building peace during and after conflict has been moving away from the conference tables of diplomats to informal settings created by local NGOs. The vast majority, if not all, of the peacebuilding policy and literature argues for strengthening local civil society organizations as vehicles for peace. This paper starts from the observation that there is a dire lack of organizational perspective to the processes set into motion. Current local peacebuilding policy, the authors argue, is based on analyses that are far removed from the everyday practices of the actors engaged in peacebuilding. The paper offers instead a qualitative approach that gives central attention to the dynamics of peace organizations and the way conflict is experienced in the everyday life of local people. It analyses the case of one local women's peace organization in southern Sudan: the Sudanese Women's Voice for Peace (SWVP). Peacebuilding is done by people, and the dynamics of their organization are crucial for its success. The paper argues that a process approach to peace organizations will enhance agencies' efforts for local peacebuilding. Such an approach focuses on the question of how actors in and around organizations give meaning to an organization. The paper outlines this approach, presents five central properties of local peace organizations, and discusses what lessons can be learnt from this perspective for the practice of peacebuilding. Bibliogr., notes, ref., sum. [Journal abstract]
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