Resistance to illiberal peacebuilding

Towards a New Research Agenda

Bibliographic Data

ID5680979
AuthorsElisabeth Olivius (0000-0002-2400-9144, Umeå University, corresponding author), Lars Waldorf (0000-0002-4012-8194, Northumbria University), Malin Åkebo (0000-0001-6971-6435, Umeå University), Nilanjana Premaratna (0000-0001-6163-7118, Newcastle University)
Year2025
Volume25
Issue4
Pages433-459
Publication date2025-07-04
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueConflict Security and Development (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1467-8802 • E-ISSN: 1478-1174
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/14678802.2025.2551561
OpenAlexW4413795169
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited77

In recent years, liberal peacebuilding has been increasingly displaced by illiberal peacebuilding – illiberal norms and practices that prioritise regime control, stability, and order through economic co-optation, repression of dissent, and the promotion of hegemonic narratives. While studies have examined how illiberal peacebuilding is practiced in various contexts, few have thus far asked how people respond to, and possibly resist, illiberal ideas and practices of peacebuilding. Rather, the existing research on resistance and peacebuilding has primarily focused on local resistance to top-down, often internationally driven liberal peacebuilding. In this article, we address this gap by bringing resistance studies and peacebuilding into greater dialogue and by exploring civil society resistance to illiberal peacebuilding in Myanmar and Sri Lanka. We examine how civil society and social movement actors have resisted regime efforts to build peace through illiberal norms and practices and instead worked to imagine and construct alternative forms of peace that are more inclusive and egalitarian, though not necessarily liberal

Peacebuilding · Political science · Asian Geopolitics and Ethnography · Peacebuilding and International Security · Politics and Conflicts in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Middle East · Public Administration

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