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Enlightening the Heart of Darkness: UN perceptions and their relation with local agency in peacebuilding

Strangert, Viktor LU and Jederlund, John LU (2020) FKVA22 20192
Department of Political Science
Abstract
Perceptions have the capacity of indirectly shaping agendas and affecting behaviours. It is a concept briefly touched upon in peacebuilding research, as a tool of tracing dominant practices of international interveners. This paper aims to contribute to this literature, by analysing how perceptions of the UN relate with lacking local agency in peacebuilding practice. In a case study of MONUC’s intervention in the DRC, this link is supported by Autesserre’s theories of peacebuilding cultures and knowledge hierarchies. The UN perceives peacebuilding as mainly a statebuilding mission; the DRC as inherently violent and dysfunctional; and the conflict as predominantly a consequence of illegal natural resource exploitation. Our findings suggest... (More)
Perceptions have the capacity of indirectly shaping agendas and affecting behaviours. It is a concept briefly touched upon in peacebuilding research, as a tool of tracing dominant practices of international interveners. This paper aims to contribute to this literature, by analysing how perceptions of the UN relate with lacking local agency in peacebuilding practice. In a case study of MONUC’s intervention in the DRC, this link is supported by Autesserre’s theories of peacebuilding cultures and knowledge hierarchies. The UN perceives peacebuilding as mainly a statebuilding mission; the DRC as inherently violent and dysfunctional; and the conflict as predominantly a consequence of illegal natural resource exploitation. Our findings suggest that these perceptions – reinstated in dominant peacebuilding cultures – reinforce marginalisation of the knowledge and opinions of local actors. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Strangert, Viktor LU and Jederlund, John LU
supervisor
organization
course
FKVA22 20192
year
type
L2 - 2nd term paper (old degree order)
subject
keywords
perceptions, peacebuilding, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), local agency, peacebuilding cultures
language
English
id
9001042
date added to LUP
2020-03-03 08:43:33
date last changed
2020-03-03 08:43:40
@misc{9001042,
  abstract     = {{Perceptions have the capacity of indirectly shaping agendas and affecting behaviours. It is a concept briefly touched upon in peacebuilding research, as a tool of tracing dominant practices of international interveners. This paper aims to contribute to this literature, by analysing how perceptions of the UN relate with lacking local agency in peacebuilding practice. In a case study of MONUC’s intervention in the DRC, this link is supported by Autesserre’s theories of peacebuilding cultures and knowledge hierarchies. The UN perceives peacebuilding as mainly a statebuilding mission; the DRC as inherently violent and dysfunctional; and the conflict as predominantly a consequence of illegal natural resource exploitation. Our findings suggest that these perceptions – reinstated in dominant peacebuilding cultures – reinforce marginalisation of the knowledge and opinions of local actors.}},
  author       = {{Strangert, Viktor and Jederlund, John}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Enlightening the Heart of Darkness: UN perceptions and their relation with local agency in peacebuilding}},
  year         = {{2020}},
}