Part B (Description of Work)
1.2.1 Current state-of-the-art
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11 empirical data from the various countries for a generalized comparative analysis without first analysing each specific case. The results of the separate case studies will nonetheless play into general debates on the questions under study. The primary cases of the project are: Bihar, Bosnia, Cyprus, Georgia, North East India and Kashmir. These studies will draw on recent research from the larger universe of conflict resolution, including Kosovo, Burundi, Nepal, Rwanda, Sri Lanka, the Sudan, Sierra Leone, Côte d’Ivoire, Cambodia, Aceh and Guatemala.
B.1.2 Progress beyond state of the art
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12 transitional phase between autocracy and democracy. This undermines the assumption of an immediate peace dividend of liberalization. With regard to the objective of the proposed project, however, this literature does not concentrate on the cultural dimensions of civil war and peace. To the contrary, comparisons are made across cultural divides, often at a global scale, which gives research results that are rather culture blind. Furthermore, the international sources of civil war and peace are often neglected through a focus on state- and sub-state units. Hence, the case studies of the present project should also play into some of the discussions of this research field.
The conflict transformation literature is of high relevance to the project due to its focus on internal conflict dynamics and how these may be transformed in a peaceful direction through changes of perceptions, attitudes and identities. This literature starts from a general notion of conflict and seeks generalized sources of peaceful conflict transformation. It is therefore not particularly attentive to the cultural conditions of conflict resolution, except as an ingredient in general recipes of peace. The policy focus is primarily on grassroots, mid-level and track two processes, with an emphasis on ‘bottom-up’ transformation rather than the top-down focus of the operational conflict resolution literature. Another weakness is that it does not engage with the realization of UN peacebuilding mandates or the political and cultural objectives of the states and organizations involved in large-scale peacebuilding and conflict resolution. The third party, typically an NGO, rather acquires an idealized position where it is supposed to subject itself to any solution that would optimize the outcome for the conflicting parties. Hence, this research agenda would benefit from a more in-depth focus on the cultural conditions of current governance and conflict resolution practices. This suggests the need for research approaches that draw on anthropological methodologies.
Literature on globalization in its various forms will be a central source for the project with its analyses of global cultural, political and economic transformations, development and inequality, and their local impact. It addresses the structural conditions to be analyzed under theme C (WP4), as well as general cultural and economic developments relating to theme A and B. A prominent strain of this literature investigates transnational networks of identity and organization, with results that undermine the simple inside/outside nexus that defines existing debates on culture and conflict resolution. Moreover, political theory on the impact of globalization for global political organization and governance represents a suitable framework for debate on alternative conflict resolution concepts. On the other hand, the most optimistic literature on cosmopolitan democracy, often taking the EU as an example to be followed globally, would benefit from further research on the local conditions for the global promotion of democracy and human rights (Duffield, 2001).
Unfortunately, globalization research has generally ignored the significance of ongoing conflict resolution and peacebuilding practices and their cultural meanings, which represents a vantage point for progress beyond the state-of-the-art in this field.
Literature on liberal governance highlights how the same type of prescriptions are recommended to all conflicts and contexts regardless of circumstances and structural factors, leading to the dominance of a specific form of liberal, democratic peace as a standarisation of conflict resolution operations (Doyle and Sambanis, 2005: Paris, 2004; Richmond, 2005; Mac Ginty, 2006). This peace reduces the space for alternative ways of approaching the problem of managing and resolving ethnonational conflicts. Furthermore, recent studies of the international politics of peacebuilding have come up with the diagnosis of liberal peacebuilding and related it to general developments in global politics. This literature has subjected its political and moral premises to critical scrutiny, deconstructed its political self-representation and demonstrated central theoretical problems, ranging from a lack of contextual capacity and understanding, limited capacity to address needs or social justice issues, the interest of donors, inefficiencies of regional
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13 international organisations, contradictions in democratic implementation and rights frameworks, the focus on the security of the territorial state, and cooptation of the resources for peacebuilding by predatory elites. Discrepancies between the intended and actual political impact of liberal peace governance have been revealed, and alternative political theoretical perspectives suggested.
This literature therefore serves as an essential backdrop for this project.
A range of case studies reveal a deep gap between how ‘outside’ actors perceive of peace and how it is experienced by the local population. The meaning of peace takes on significance due to the way it plays into the existing political, social, economic and cultural landscape. Therefore, a central aim should be to ‘identify and address the shortfall between idealised and experienced versions of peace’. Importantly, these expectations of peace will differ not only between India and the EU, but also within India and the EU.
Some of the empirical literature on individual cases of peacebuilding provides insights on the cultural challenges and dynamics of the promotion of peace, democracy and human rights in conflict and post-conflict settings. It contains useful examples of how projects have been maladapted to the cultural contexts, and also of how certain projects have been success stories.
The first phase of the project (WP2) will include a more systematic review of this literature in a search for common themes and insights on the cultural dimension. Nonetheless, the policy implications of the problem of culture are not systematically addressed in these case studies. To the extent that such implications are addressed, the terminology of current policy-oriented literature is applied. A cultural analysis, informed by critical thinking about the problems inherent in conceptualising culture (Geertz, 1973), is well suited to address this problem by examining the conceptual premises and blind spots of current practices. The strategic conflict resolution literature thereby serves as valuable empirical material for discourse analyses of the cultural premises of current conflict resolution policies.
Furthermore, research on EU policies to promote peace, human rights and democracy, and on recent EU operations in Albania, Bosnia, Côte d’Ivoire, DR Congo, Macedonia and Sierra Leone, often repeat the general tendencies of the strategic and critical literature mentioned above (European Commission, 2001; Manners, 2008; Tocci, 2008; Bono, 2006; Merlingen, 2007). The literature on these topics includes policy reports, case studies and theoretical debates on EU peace, security and development activities, including the fields of neighbourhood and enlargement policy. In the security domain, the connection between external and internal security is emphasised, and this nexus also plays into debates on the justification of EU as a global political actor. A highly debated topic of direct relevance to the proposed project is the idea of normative power Europe, especially how European values that constitute the EU as a political body (peace, liberty, human rights, democracy, rule of law, equality etc.) do and ought to impact upon EU internal and external relations. The study of the local conditions of the promotion of these values on the borders and outside Europe will play into this literature in a complementary and rewarding manner. In addition, it will enhance the knowledge base for efficient and legitimate EU policies in the field of conflict resolution, democratization, peacebuilding, stabilization, development cooperation, security and counter-terrorism.
While many violent conflicts in India fit comfortably within categories of ‘communal’, ‘ethnic’ or
‘identity’ conflict, it is worth noting that many on-going conflicts are associated with what is categorised as ‘development’. These are the conflicts concerning land, resources, and the environment. These types of conflicts have been neglected by much of the mainstream conflict resolution literature, so one task of the current project will be to assess what parts of contemporary peace and conflict literature can be usefully applied to the Indian case studies, and
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14 to what extent we need to develop new theories (or adapt old ones) to take account of conflict in India. Moreover, the project is cognisant of how states like India and EU members seek to discursively frame conflicts (as ‘terrorism’, ‘dissent’ or ‘separatism’) etc., and then apply particular ameliorative strategies to them.