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Join the ICAR community in welcoming author Thania Paffenholz, who will join us for a discussion of her new work:
Civil Society and Peacebuild: A Critical Assessment
Speakers:
Professor Dennis Sandole
Thania Paffenholz
Questions and Discussion Welcomed
Refreshments will be provided
book and author details follow below:
Civil Society and Peacebuilding: a Critical Assessment
CCDP research explores the role of civil society in conflict-affected countries and the reduction of violence.
Responding to the burgeoning interest in the role of civil society in peacebuilding, Thania Paffenholz, Lecturer and Researcher at the Graduate Institute’s Centre on Conflict, Development and Peacebuilding (CCDP), and a team of researchers collaborated on the recently published edited volume entitled Civil Society and Peacebuilding: A Critical Assessment. This groundbreaking effort identifies the constructive functions of civil society in support of peacebuilding both during and in the aftermath of armed conflict.
The book distils the results of a three-year international research project coordinated by Dr Paffenholz at the Institute’s CCDP. The team brought together 30 researchers from 16 universities and research institutes, four external advisors and experts, 22 external reviewers, and support staff.
Civil society is comprised of a broad spectrum of actors including professional associations, clubs, trade unions, faith-based and non-governmental organisations as well as traditional and clan groups. In conflict-affected environments, civil society is considered important in endeavours to reduce violence and promote peace and reconciliation. In an effort to systematically assess the role of these actors in peacebuilding efforts, the project analysed the relevance and effectiveness of the role of civil society in peacebuilding within different phases of conflict. At the outset of the project, an analytical framework was elaborated consisting of seven civil society functions derived from democracy, development and peacebuilding theory, as well as from existing case study knowledge. The functions are: protection, monitoring, advocacy, socialisation, social cohesion, facilitation, and service delivery.
The research results affirm that civil society can play an important role in peacebuilding, though its engagement occurs mainly in a supportive capacity. The research demonstrates that all seven functions are relevant, depending on the context and phase of conflict/peacebuilding, though their overall effectiveness varies tremendously across cases. The comprehensive analytical framework was applied to thirteen country cases, not only allowing comparative analysis, but also providing a new tool for further research. The authors highlight the external factors that support those constructive functions of civil society and the obstacles to their fulfilment. Seven key findings were concluded from the eleven case studies presented in the book: (1) Civil society has an important supportive role for peacebuilding, (2) There is a value to employing a functional approach in analysing the role played by civil society in peacebuilding, (3) The relevance of the seven civil society functions differs according to the phases of conflict, (4) There currently exists an imbalance between implemented civil society activities and their relevance for peacebuilding, (5) The effectiveness of civil society varies substantially from function to function, (6) Addressing the different conflict lines within societies is a matter of violence prevention, and finally (7) The context of each case matters as it largely determines civil society’s space of action.
The book is a part of a series of CCDP project-related publications. In 2006, the first phase of the project developed the analytical framework published as a World Bank Social Development Paper: Paffenholz and Spurk, Civil Society, Civic Engagement and Peacebuilding, the World Bank Social Development Paper No.100/2006 and Conflict Prevention and Reconstruction, paper No.36/2006. A working paper was published by the CCDP in 2009, in the form of a policy-oriented and results-based summary of the field research undertaken in 13 countries: Paffenholz, Summary of Results for a Comparative Research Project: Civil Society and Peacebuilding, CCDP Working Paper No. 4, Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, 2009).
Finally, the present publication, Civil Society and Peacebuilding: A Critical Assessment, edited by Thania Paffenholz and just published with Lynne Rienner Publishers (Boulder), disseminates the results of the research project to the relevant stakeholders within and beyond the academic community, drawing on the theoretical research and eleven country case studies.
About: Thania Paffenholz
She is lecturer and researcher for peace, conflict and development at the Graduate Institute of International Relations and Development (HEID) in Geneva. She is a political scientist by training and received her Ph.D. in international relations focusing on the theory and practice of mediation and peacebuilding in 1996. After working as a research fellow at the Peace Research Institute Frankfurt (1992-1996) she held a position as peacebuilding officer within the Delegation of the European Commission in Kenya (1996-2000). Thania Paffenholz joined the think tank swisspeace in Berne, Switzerland from 2000-2003, holding the position of Director of the Center for Peacebuilding (KOFF) and was also Member of the Executive Board of swisspeace.
Her main fields of research are: conflict analysis and peacebuilding, conflict-development nexus and the role of development actors in peacebuilding; critical analysis of the aid system’s role in peacebuilding/conflict; international peacemakingstrategies; role of civil society in peacebuilding; evaluation in peacebuilding.
Thania Paffenholz has edited and authored various articles and books on peacebuilding as well as on the role of development in conflict and peacebuilding. Her book publications include ‘Civil Society and Peacebuilding: A Critical Assessment (Lynne Rienner 2010; ‘Aid for Peace’ (Nomos 2007), “Peacebuilding: A Field Guide” (Lynne Rienner Publishers 2001).
She was also member of the Board of the UN Lessons Learned Unit, Department of Peacekeeping Operations (1996-2002) as well as Council Member of the International Peace Research Association (1994-2000) and Member of the Executive Committee of the Peace Studies Section of the International Studies Association (ISA) (2004-2006).
About the CCDP
The Centre on Conflict, Development and Peacebuilding (CCDP) is the focal point for the Graduate Institute’s research on issues related to armed violence, development practices, and peacebuilding initiatives.