Institutional Affiliation
Education University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Start Date
2-11-2023 1:30 PM
End Date
2-11-2023 3:00 PM
Proposal Type
Presentation
Proposal Format
On-campus
Proposal Description
Title of the proposal: What is Peace for Victims? Understanding the Pitfall of Liberal Peacebuilding in the Chittagong Hill Tracts from ‘Below’
Liberal peace settlements are inherently vulnerable since almost 40 percent of ‘peace agreements’ turned into a war over the first decade (Collier, 2008: 105). It has produced a widespread debate on the benefits and approaches of liberal peace-building efforts today as the peace interventions violate central liberal peace-ideas such as adherence to the democratic procedure in decision-making. By posing a moral question of how an organization can promote liberal peace and implement the related practices without including the individual ideas and traditions of the local population, this study argues that “peace-building from below” is an essential condition of durable peace and a reform of the liberal peace-concept may only result in gradual changes on the ground. But how to bring about a qualitative change in the Liberal Peace Idea, making peace sustainable and locally accepted? The simple answer is that the first thing we need to know is the views of the victims about peace and the threat of peace. Grounded on this logic, this article examines how indigenous people in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) notice the conflict-resolution/peace process and how they identify the peace factors and the existent threats to peace. More precisely, this paper explores how indigenous people identify the nature of peace-building and the influential factors of peace that reduce the Bengalis-Indigenous conflict in the CHT.
Based on in-depth interviews of 32 indigenous people who are purposefully selected, the findings show that the respondents entirely believe that peace means an absence of discrimination. This belief embraces a broader definition of peace (positive peace), which is not included in liberal peace. The indigenous people perceived that among the peace factors, a democratic political process characterized by the power of local actors instead of civil-military bureaucracy, well-designed welfare programs, behavioral change of the Bangladeshi military and law enforce agency and realization of the limit of war (e.g., no one will get total victory), are very important. From this study, readers will know how local indigenous people identify the ongoing peace-building process, the threat of peace, and the factors that influence peace. Simultaneously, the policymakers will know the indigenous peoples’ opinion about the peace, instead of the dominant view of the Western ‘liberal peace’ that follows a top-down approach.
Included in
Political Science Commons, Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration Commons
What is Peace for Victims? Understanding the Pitfall of Liberal Peacebuilding in the Chittagong Hill Tracts from ‘Below’
Title of the proposal: What is Peace for Victims? Understanding the Pitfall of Liberal Peacebuilding in the Chittagong Hill Tracts from ‘Below’
Liberal peace settlements are inherently vulnerable since almost 40 percent of ‘peace agreements’ turned into a war over the first decade (Collier, 2008: 105). It has produced a widespread debate on the benefits and approaches of liberal peace-building efforts today as the peace interventions violate central liberal peace-ideas such as adherence to the democratic procedure in decision-making. By posing a moral question of how an organization can promote liberal peace and implement the related practices without including the individual ideas and traditions of the local population, this study argues that “peace-building from below” is an essential condition of durable peace and a reform of the liberal peace-concept may only result in gradual changes on the ground. But how to bring about a qualitative change in the Liberal Peace Idea, making peace sustainable and locally accepted? The simple answer is that the first thing we need to know is the views of the victims about peace and the threat of peace. Grounded on this logic, this article examines how indigenous people in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) notice the conflict-resolution/peace process and how they identify the peace factors and the existent threats to peace. More precisely, this paper explores how indigenous people identify the nature of peace-building and the influential factors of peace that reduce the Bengalis-Indigenous conflict in the CHT.
Based on in-depth interviews of 32 indigenous people who are purposefully selected, the findings show that the respondents entirely believe that peace means an absence of discrimination. This belief embraces a broader definition of peace (positive peace), which is not included in liberal peace. The indigenous people perceived that among the peace factors, a democratic political process characterized by the power of local actors instead of civil-military bureaucracy, well-designed welfare programs, behavioral change of the Bangladeshi military and law enforce agency and realization of the limit of war (e.g., no one will get total victory), are very important. From this study, readers will know how local indigenous people identify the ongoing peace-building process, the threat of peace, and the factors that influence peace. Simultaneously, the policymakers will know the indigenous peoples’ opinion about the peace, instead of the dominant view of the Western ‘liberal peace’ that follows a top-down approach.
Additional Comments
Not applicable