19: Conflict Transformation and Peace Processes - Peace Without Justice Is Just a Ceasefire

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Learning Objectives

Understand what is meant by conflict transformation, how it differs from conflict resolution and conflict management and why it is critical to sustainable peace.
View peace agreements and peace processes in historical perspective and see how the concept of peace at the conclusion of violent conflict has changed during the 20^th century, especially the second half.
Consider that the contemporary state is an institution distinct from small-scale societies and empires and learn what distinguishes it from these other forms of socio-political order.
Interrogate the relationship between peace—the cessation of armed conflict—and justice, which addresses the underlying grievances of parties to a conflict.
Learn about four conflicts that concluded with efforts to transform the conflict into a sustainable post-conflict peace by negotiating new terms of relationship between the former parties to a conflict (South Africa through a new constitution, and Bosnia, Northern Ireland and the Middle East through peace processes).
Identify similarities and differences in these four negotiated processes.
Assess current conditions in the four cases from the perspective of whether progress was made toward conflict transformation.

Franke Wilmer

Conflict resolution, conflict management, and conflict transformation are all important concepts in the area of peace research, but what makes conflict transformation different and how does it fit in with peace “processes” that seem to be more common than “peace agreements/settlements?” When leaders of parties to a conflict are unwilling to engage in dialogue and process through action, can grass roots initiatives create a demand for conflict transformation, if not a transformation themselves? Must people wait for their leaders to act or can citizen-led diplomacy and dialogue create a “demand” for peace and conflict resolution? This chapter will consider the cases of South Africa, Bosnia (former Yugoslavia), Indigenous-settler relations, and the Middle East (Israel and Palestine). When there is no effort to effectively transform the root grievances into dialogue and constructive engagement with an aim to at least talking about issues of justice (and injustice), parties to conflict continue to harbor grievances that either render the conflict intractable or, ultimately, erupt into future cycles of violence.