Beyond Silence, Obstacle and Stigma: Revisiting the ‘Problem’ of Difference in Peacebuilding

Bargues-Pédreny, Pol and Mathieu, Xavier ORCID: 0000-0001-7541-7378 (2018) Beyond Silence, Obstacle and Stigma: Revisiting the ‘Problem’ of Difference in Peacebuilding. Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding, 12 (3). pp. 283-299.

Text Beyond Silence, Obstacle Stigma (FINAL VERSION).docx - Author Accepted Manuscript Download (83kB)

Abstract

Whereas practitioners and mainstream approaches to intervention are concerned about the inability to manage difference in a way that is conducive to peace, critical scholars worry about the inability to write difference without essentializing ‘it’ or reproducing and legitimizing power structures. Can we revert the pessimism regarding the possibility to engage with others sensitively and build peace in a diverse world? In this article, we argue that the current miasma of despair regarding international interventions is the result of three successive errors in the process of seeking to build a peace sensitive to the other: silencing, problematizing and stigmatizing difference. After examining these three errors, we outline three analytical starting points that offer a better understanding of difference: multidimensionality, anti-essentialism, and a focus on power struggles. This discussion opens the Special Issue and hopes to stimulate further conversations on the role of difference in peacebuilding by focusing on its conditions of emergence.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Peacebuilding, Difference, Power, Multidimensionality, Performance, Critique
Depositing User:	Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited:	04 Oct 2019 15:22
Last Modified:	09 Feb 2023 02:29
DOI:	10.1080/17502977.2018.1513622
Related URLs:	Author Publisher
URI:	https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3057007