Coordinated ethnographic peace research: assessing complex peace interventions writ large and over time

Abstract

Post-conflict interventions are often promoted for their presumed positive long-term influence on peace and justice. Concerns linger, however, that they can also let the state off the hook by replacing, and thereby undermining, its capacity over time. Unfortunately, scholarly research assessing the longterm influence of post-conflict interventions is rare, and practitioner evaluations are primarily shortterm processes regarding individual, temporally bounded projects. This paper explores the potential of, and challenges to, coordinated ethnographic peace research for assessing the longer-term influences of post-conflict interventions writ large on state capacity. A key challenge is identified in the complex interactions between projects implemented a) in parallel, b) at different scales, and/or c) in different time periods; which together mean that any influence observed may be overdetermined and hard to link back to a specific peace or justice project. But, as will be argued, coordinated ethnographic peace research provides hope of overcoming these challenges.

Peace geographies and the spatial turn in peace and conflict studies: Integrating parallel conversations through spatial practices

“…A central point of overlapping interest, for instance, is developing a better understanding of the spatial conditions, behaviors and perspectives that shape everyday dynamics of peace and conflict. Methodologically, this has translated into a shared emphasis on ethnographic and participatory research, such as community mapping (Forde, 2016(Forde, , 2019a(Forde, , 2019bKoopman, 2014), working with local communities to construct everyday peace indicators (Firchow, 2018;Firchow & Mac Ginty, 2017), and accompaniment (Courtheyn, 2016(Courtheyn, , 2018bKoopman, 2011bKoopman, , 2014, as well as an emphasis on embodiment and reflexivity (Arias López et al, 2021;Brigg & Bleiker, 2010;Millar, 2021b).…”