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A Tool of Healing or a Tool for Funding? Discourses in Intervention in Post-Conflict Liberia

Nellemann, Christel LU (2014) SIMV07 20141
School of Social Work
Master of Science in Global Studies
Graduate School
Abstract
The present paradigm on transitional justice dictates that diverse interventions are needed in the aftermath of conflict. The West African country Liberia suffered from 14 years of civil war that ended in 2003 and is now the location for several interventions run by local NGO’s funded from abroad. In the rural post-conflict communities of Liberia’s Northern region, Lofa County, The Community Healing Project seeks to reach reconciliation, peaceful co-existence and healing. The project is run by the local NGO, Liberia Association of Psychosocial Services (LAPS), and financed by DIGNITY – Danish Institute Against Torture. One element in the project has been to produce a book documenting the massacres from the war committed in four communities... (More)
The present paradigm on transitional justice dictates that diverse interventions are needed in the aftermath of conflict. The West African country Liberia suffered from 14 years of civil war that ended in 2003 and is now the location for several interventions run by local NGO’s funded from abroad. In the rural post-conflict communities of Liberia’s Northern region, Lofa County, The Community Healing Project seeks to reach reconciliation, peaceful co-existence and healing. The project is run by the local NGO, Liberia Association of Psychosocial Services (LAPS), and financed by DIGNITY – Danish Institute Against Torture. One element in the project has been to produce a book documenting the massacres from the war committed in four communities in Lofa County. It is the book as a discursive tool that this thesis seeks to explore through critical discourse analysis. Based on Norman Fairclough’s (1992, 2003) theory and method the thesis unfolds how LAPS position itself as organization by constructing meaning in their discursive practice through the book and how the discourses that LAPS draw on to construct meaning allow certain possibilities of action in the rural post-conflict communities that LAPS is engaged in. The study of the dialectical relationship between discourses and social interaction generates reflections about the hegemonic discourses that constitute and constrain post-conflict interventions, the interactions that can transform these discourses and LAPS’ position as an organization in the middle trying to negotiate between global agendas and local needs. (Less)
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author
Nellemann, Christel LU
supervisor
organization
course
SIMV07 20141
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
post-conflict, Liberia, non-governmental organization, intervention, discourse, critical discourse analysis
language
English
id
4612578
date added to LUP
2014-09-09 14:50:05
date last changed
2014-09-09 14:50:05
@misc{4612578,
  abstract     = {{The present paradigm on transitional justice dictates that diverse interventions are needed in the aftermath of conflict. The West African country Liberia suffered from 14 years of civil war that ended in 2003 and is now the location for several interventions run by local NGO’s funded from abroad. In the rural post-conflict communities of Liberia’s Northern region, Lofa County, The Community Healing Project seeks to reach reconciliation, peaceful co-existence and healing. The project is run by the local NGO, Liberia Association of Psychosocial Services (LAPS), and financed by DIGNITY – Danish Institute Against Torture. One element in the project has been to produce a book documenting the massacres from the war committed in four communities in Lofa County. It is the book as a discursive tool that this thesis seeks to explore through critical discourse analysis. Based on Norman Fairclough’s (1992, 2003) theory and method the thesis unfolds how LAPS position itself as organization by constructing meaning in their discursive practice through the book and how the discourses that LAPS draw on to construct meaning allow certain possibilities of action in the rural post-conflict communities that LAPS is engaged in. The study of the dialectical relationship between discourses and social interaction generates reflections about the hegemonic discourses that constitute and constrain post-conflict interventions, the interactions that can transform these discourses and LAPS’ position as an organization in the middle trying to negotiate between global agendas and local needs.}},
  author       = {{Nellemann, Christel}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{A Tool of Healing or a Tool for Funding? Discourses in Intervention in Post-Conflict Liberia}},
  year         = {{2014}},
}