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Peacebuilding in Contemporary Africa explores the challenges and opportunities faced by countries and societies transitioning from armed conflicts to peace in contemporary Africa. It evaluates the effectiveness, outcomes and failures of existing peacebuilding initiatives implemented by stakeholders, and proposes new strategies and approaches to facilitate the transition. The book investigates both micro- and macro-level conflicts in various parts of Africa, as well as the efforts made to resolve them and build peace. The book pays particular attention to grassroots-based micro-level conflicts often disregarded in peacebuilding literature, which tends to focus on macro-level, neo-liberal state reconstruction and peacebuilding efforts.
The book adopts an evidence-based, policy-relevant approach to peacebuilding in Africa. The various chapter contributors offer a lucid analysis and critique of some of the prevailing paradigms and strategies of peacebuilding practiced in Africa. Together, the authors recommend innovative strategies to mobilise and coordinate governance institutions and partnerships at all levels (international, regional, national, and local) to prevent conflict escalation in volatile states and advance the rebuilding of violence-affected states and communities.
Peacebuilding in Contemporary Africa provides a much-needed perspective from African scholars, and will be of interest to students, researchers, policy makers and practitioners with an interest in promoting legitimate policy interventions and sustainable peace in Africa.
List of contents
PART I Conceptual Debate 1. Introduction: Peacebuilding in Contemporary Africa 2. The Peacebuilding and Development Debate: Is Contemporary Peacebuilding Development in Disguise? PART II Neglected Dimensions of Peacebuilding: Micro-Level Conflicts 3. Peacebuilding in Micro-level Inter-Community Conflicts in West Africa: Examples from Ghana and Nigeria 4. Marginalization and Violent Conflict in the Karamoja Region of Uganda 5. Peacebuilding in Micro-Level Inter-Community Conflicts: Examples from Selected Countries in Southern Africa PART III Conventional Wisdom and Practices in Peacebuilding: Macro-Level Conflicts 6. Peacebuilding in Sierra Leone One and Half Decades after the Civil War: At What Stage Does a Country Cease to be Post-Conflict? 7. The Task of Rebuilding Liberia 8. Conflict Intervention, Insecurity and the Challenges of Peacebuilding in South Sudan 9. Boko Haram Insurgency, Terrorism and the Challenges of Peacebuilding in the Lake Chad Basin 10. Obstacles to Peace and Security in North Africa PART IV In Search of Alternative Strategies 11. Peacebuilding through Peace Education in the Horn of Africa: A Transformative Cosmopolitan Perspective 12. Transiting from Armed Conflict to Peace in Contemporary Africa: Changing Tides, Research Findings and Future Directions
About the author
Kenneth Omeje is Senior Research Associate at the University of Johannesburg, South Africa; Research Fellow at the Centre for African Studies, University of the Free State, South Africa; Visiting Professor at the Institute for Peace and Security Studies in Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia; and Visiting Professorial Fellow at the Nigerian Defence Academy, Kaduna, Nigeria. He has previously held the positions of Professor of International Relations at the United States International University in Nairobi, Kenya and Senior Research Fellow at the John and Elnora Ferguson Centre for African Studies, University of Bradford, UK.
Summary
This book explores the challenges faced by societies transiting from armed conflicts to peace in contemporary Africa. In particular, the book investigates micro-level conflicts, as they are often disregarded in peacebuilding literature. This book will interest researchers of Development Studies, African Studies, Politics, and Peace Studies.
