Spatialities of peace zones

Abstract

Peace zones are popularly understood as demilitarized geographic areas. While many peace zones have been documented around the world, scholarly research on the topic is surprisingly sparse. Furthermore, the existing literature focuses toward analyzing the complex social and temporal dynamics of peace zones. There is less work that examines the spatial processes that are mobilized in making the peace zones work. Building upon the analytical innovations of the geographic and spatial approaches to peace that highlight the spatialities of scale, space, and place, this article foregrounds the multiple spatialities of peace zones. Through a case study of the peace zone in the indigenous community of Sagada in the Philippines, this article argues that the peace zone is maintained through territoriality, interdependence, and the refusal of violence that weave together the politics of scale, space, and place.