Local agreements and civicness in conflict: two new special issues

Journal of Peacebuilding: Local Agreements in Protracted Conflicts

This special issue summarises previous research by LSE CCRG aimed at understanding the processes and outcomes of agreements forged at the local or sub-national level in intractable conflicts.

In their introduction, Mary Kaldor, Rim Turkmani, Marika Theros write:

This article introduces a Peacebuilding special issue on local agreements in intractable conflicts. By ‘local’, we refer to any type of agreement that covers a geographical area less than the entire national territory although the issues and actors may be national, regional, international as well as local. Our main finding is that local agreements are a pervasive feature of contemporary conflict, owing to the fragmented decentred character of conflicts. Local agreements are not necessarily about peace; they may be a form of surrender, or about tactical alliances and deployment of armed groups. The overall conclusion is that local talks can contribute to what the paper defines as a peace logic, if they involve local civilians and multilateral actors, and are based on a detailed knowledge of context. Expanding this type of process on a large-scale may be the best opportunity for addressing the social condition that characterises contemporary intractable conflicts.

Read the full special issue on the publisher’s website.

Journal of Society: Civicness in Conflict

This special issue contains articles from PeaceRep researchers based at LSE CCRG, including Mary Kaldor, Rim Turkmani, Marika Theros, and Nisar Majid.

In the introduction to the special issue, Mary Kaldor (LSE CCRG) and Henry Radice write:

Civicness is defined in three ways: (i) as a logic of public authority, that speaks to ideas of rights-based, inclusive rather than exclusive political orders; (ii) as a form of behaviour, acting ‘as if’ such a logic existed; and (iii) as a political position, articulated against uncivic politics, in particular the combination of endemic corruption, ethnic or religious sectarianism and economic and social injustice. The introduction traces some conceptual, historical and vernacular entry points, before summarizing empirical research that points to the prevalence of civicness in all three senses in contemporary conflicts. It emerges even without free and secure spaces, and it often represents a strategy of survival. We also suggest that whether or not civicness is merely a way of surviving in conflict contexts or whether it represents an opening for challenging the dominant war logics depends to a degree on the character of international involvement.

Read the full special issue on the publisher’s website.