This book explores the indigenous peace cultures of the major ethnic groups in South Sudan (Dinka, Nuer, Anuak and Acholi) and analyses their contribution to resolving the civil war. The book utilises qualitative narrative inquiry ethnographic methods to explore the indigenous institutions and customs (customary laws, beliefs and practices) employed in resolving ethnic conflicts and argues for their application in civil war resolution. This book contributes to the decolonial literature/knowledge by discussing the subtle norms, the role of youth, women, and elders, the concepts of resilience and proximity, and their significance in peacebuilding. The book shows that for sustainable peace to happen, subtle roles and disputants' indigenous knowledge should be part of national peace negotiation strategies. This book will interest NGOs, students and scholars of indigenous knowledge, women, youth, conflict and peacebuilding, African Studies and Development in the Horn of Africa and sub-Sahara regions.

A key book for conflict and peace studies, reveals the gendered nature of peacebuilding, its consequences, and the importance of women playing a part in peace processes in Africa.

We know that since the end of the Cold War, conflicts in non-Western countries have been frequent, frequently violent, largely intra-state, and protracted. But what do we know about conflict management and resolution strategies in these societies? Have the dominant Western approaches been transplantable, suitable, effective, durable, and sustainable? Would conflicts in non-Western societies be better handled by the adaptation and adoption of customary, traditional, or localized mechanisms of mitigation? These and similar questions have engaged the attention of scholars and policy-makers. Indigenous Conflict Management Strategies: Global Perspectives is offered as a global compendium on indigenous conflict management strategies. It presents diverse perspectives on the subject. Fully aware of the tendency in the literature to over-generalize, over-romanticize, and over-criticize the localized and customary mechanisms, the book takes a slightly different approach. It presents a variety of traditional conflict management approaches as well as several cases of the successful integration of the indigenous and Western strategies in the contemporary period. The main features, strengths, challenges, and weaknesses of a multitude of indigenous systems are also presented.

Why have war and coercion dominated the political realm in the Sudans, a decade after South Sudan’s independence and fifteen years after the Comprehensive Peace Agreement? This book explains the tragic role of international peacemaking in reproducing violence and political authoritarianism in Sudan and South Sudan. Sharath Srinivasan charts the destructive effects of Sudan’s landmark north–south peace process, from how it fuelled war in Darfur, the Nuba Mountains and the Blue Nile to its contribution to Sudan’s failed political transformation and South Sudan’s rapid descent into civil war. Concluding with the conspicuous absence of ‘peace’ when non-violent revolutionary political change came to Sudan in 2019, Srinivasan examines at close range why outsiders’ peace projects may displace civil politics and raise the political currency of violence. This is an analysis of the perils of attempting to build a non-violent political realm through neat designs and tools of compulsion, where the end goal of peace becomes caught up in idealised constitutional texts, technocratic templates and deals on sharing spoils. When Peace Kills Politics shows that these methods, ultimately anti-political, will be resisted—often violently—by dissatisfied local actors.

Nowhere in the world is the demand for peace more prominent and challenging than in Africa. From state collapse and anarchy in Somalia to protracted wars and rampant corruption in the Congo; from bloody civil wars and extreme poverty in Sierra Leone to humanitarian crisis and authoritarianism in Sudan, the continent is the focus of growing political and media attention. This book presents the first comprehensive overview of conflict and peace across the continent. Bringing together a range of leading academics from Africa and beyond, Peace and Conflict in Africa is an ideal introduction to key themes of conflict resolution, peacebuilding, security and development. The book's stress on the importance of indigenous Africa approaches to creating peace makes it an innovative and exciting intervention in the field.

This volume addresses two primary research concerns: first, considering extraversion (or extroversion) as a term for characterizing a region that is "mobilizing resources from their (possibly unequal) relationship with the external environment", a dynamic that constitutes a possible African potential; and, second, a survey of competing systems and strategies with a focus on relationships between formal and informal institutions in terms of their collaborations and conflicts. In addition, this volume contains three chapters examining very recent African responses to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic from a variety of perspectives. The final part of this volume contains an important contribution to the conceptualization of 'African Potentials'. This has proven to be a significant conceptual innovation, that allows intellectual access to alternative ways of thinking about latent ideas of universality.

Every day, men and women risk their lives to stop violence in religiously charged conflicts around the world. You may not know their names - but you should. Peacemakers in Action, Volume 2 provides a window into the triumphs, risks, failures, and lessons learned of eight remarkable, religiously motivated peacemakers including: • A Methodist bishop in the Democratic Republic of the Congo who confronts armed warlords on his front lawn • A Christian who travels to Syria to coordinate medical aid and rebuild postwar communities • A Muslim woman, not knowing how Kabul's imams will react, arrives to train them on how to treat women – respectfully. Volume 2 offers students of religious and grassroots peacebuilding informative techniques and methods for organizing community action, establishing trust in conflict, and instilling hope amid turmoil. The book also features updates of case studies presented in Volume 1.

The Research Handbook on Conflict Prevention is a cohesive and comparative analysis of the ways in which organised violence is combatted. Renowned experts dissect the complex problem of conflict prevention by investigating its three main aspects: agency, methods and timing.

This work, carried out prior to the creation of The Republic of South Sudan, focuses on the Christian perspective of reconciliation and peace in South Sudan. In a country gripped in what was set to be, until recently, Africa’s longest running civil war the Sudanese state had been, on many occasions, inherently unjust, repressive, and extremely violent against sections of its own citizens resulting in long lasting conflict and war. This conflict stretches deep into the history and geography of the region. This study investigates people’s views and trends to find out whether the end of hostilities would mark the end of interpersonal, group, tribal, and interethnic conflict created by the war. It asks, are people ready to forgive those who have wronged them during the war without demanding justice? What would constitute true peace in Sudan? Do the church and the government in Sudan each have a role in bringing sustainable peace? Findings of the research show an overwhelming desire for reconciliation and peace but with very different ways of reaching it. It is however recognized that to constitute true peace in South Sudan there is need for equality and justice, observation of the law, democratic governance, complete transformation, equitable distribution of resources and services, and freedom of worship. For this to be achieved both the church and government must play critical roles. Memories of the war are still fresh in people’s minds. The government must recognize the trauma people have suffered, deal with the roots of the conflict and address the crimes committed so that wounds inflicted can be healed and people can then live harmoniously. The church must teach people the biblical understanding of peace and reconciliation through repentance and forgiveness so that peace can have true meaning.

Peacekeeping has become a major international undertaking throughout the world, from Africa to the Americas, from Europe to Southeast Asia. Yet until now, there has been no systematic analysis of the key role of gender in post-cold war conflicts and of post-conflict peacekeeping efforts. This groundbreaking volume explores how gender has become a central factor in shaping current thinking about the causes and consequences of armed conflict, complex emergencies, and reconstruction. Drawing on expertise ranging from the highest levels of international policymaking down to the daily struggle to implement peacekeeping operations, this work represents the full span of knowledge and experience about international intervention in local crises. Presenting a rich array of examples from Angola, Bosnia Herzegovina, East Timor, El Salvador, the former Yugoslavia, Guatemala, Haiti, Kosovo, Liberia, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, and Serbia, the authors offer important insights for future peacekeeping and humanitarian missions.