‘To romanticise or not to romanticise the local’: local agency and peacebuilding in the Balkans
Abstract
Over the last decade there has been increasing attention within peace and conflict studies on the so-called ‘local turn’ in peacebuilding where the role of local actors, their agency and their relationship to international actors is strongly emphasised. Still, even with widespread academic optimism about the emancipatory potential of the local, strong caveats of ‘not romanticising the local’ are constantly repeated. By looking at the Balkan countries and their traditional practices of peacebuilding, this article asks whether the local has the potential to be the empowering agent or if such expectations are much too ambitious, both at the academic and policy level. Drawing on the research findings which show the persistence of coercive and noncoercive local peacebuilding practices, the article poses the Paris question once again: should liberal peacebuilding be saved, and if so, where are the locals in this rescue attempt?
Keywords:
critique / liberal peacebuilding / The Balkans / The local / the local turnSource:
Conflict, Security & Development, 2021, 21, 1, 21-41Publisher:
- Routledge
DOI: 10.1080/14678802.2021.1888517
ISSN: 1467-8802
WoS: 000621949000001
Scopus: 2-s2.0-85101192022
Collections
Institution/Community
FPNTY - JOUR AU - Džuverović, Nemanja PY - 2021 UR - http://rfpn.fpn.bg.ac.rs/handle/123456789/836 AB - Over the last decade there has been increasing attention within peace and conflict studies on the so-called ‘local turn’ in peacebuilding where the role of local actors, their agency and their relationship to international actors is strongly emphasised. Still, even with widespread academic optimism about the emancipatory potential of the local, strong caveats of ‘not romanticising the local’ are constantly repeated. By looking at the Balkan countries and their traditional practices of peacebuilding, this article asks whether the local has the potential to be the empowering agent or if such expectations are much too ambitious, both at the academic and policy level. Drawing on the research findings which show the persistence of coercive and noncoercive local peacebuilding practices, the article poses the Paris question once again: should liberal peacebuilding be saved, and if so, where are the locals in this rescue attempt? PB - Routledge T2 - Conflict, Security & Development T1 - ‘To romanticise or not to romanticise the local’: local agency and peacebuilding in the Balkans EP - 41 IS - 1 SP - 21 VL - 21 DO - 10.1080/14678802.2021.1888517 ER -
@article{ author = "Džuverović, Nemanja", year = "2021", abstract = "Over the last decade there has been increasing attention within peace and conflict studies on the so-called ‘local turn’ in peacebuilding where the role of local actors, their agency and their relationship to international actors is strongly emphasised. Still, even with widespread academic optimism about the emancipatory potential of the local, strong caveats of ‘not romanticising the local’ are constantly repeated. By looking at the Balkan countries and their traditional practices of peacebuilding, this article asks whether the local has the potential to be the empowering agent or if such expectations are much too ambitious, both at the academic and policy level. Drawing on the research findings which show the persistence of coercive and noncoercive local peacebuilding practices, the article poses the Paris question once again: should liberal peacebuilding be saved, and if so, where are the locals in this rescue attempt?", publisher = "Routledge", journal = "Conflict, Security & Development", title = "‘To romanticise or not to romanticise the local’: local agency and peacebuilding in the Balkans", pages = "41-21", number = "1", volume = "21", doi = "10.1080/14678802.2021.1888517" }
Džuverović, N.. (2021). ‘To romanticise or not to romanticise the local’: local agency and peacebuilding in the Balkans. in Conflict, Security & Development Routledge., 21(1), 21-41. https://doi.org/10.1080/14678802.2021.1888517
Džuverović N. ‘To romanticise or not to romanticise the local’: local agency and peacebuilding in the Balkans. in Conflict, Security & Development. 2021;21(1):21-41. doi:10.1080/14678802.2021.1888517 .
Džuverović, Nemanja, "‘To romanticise or not to romanticise the local’: local agency and peacebuilding in the Balkans" in Conflict, Security & Development, 21, no. 1 (2021):21-41, https://doi.org/10.1080/14678802.2021.1888517 . .