From constructivist to critical engagements with peacebuilding: implications for hybrid peace

From a critical perspective, what might we learn from applying
constructivism to peacebuilding? We analyse a common clash
that arises in the context of peacebuilding: between ontological
assumptions based on liberal individualism and those based on local
relatedness. We find that this clash has both epistemological and
methodological consequences for critical research on peacebuilding,
which highlights why the shift to more reflexive understandings of
hybrid peacebuilding provides space for making more complex and
less certain ontological assumptions in conflict-affected societies.
While this raises ethical considerations, this processual position
offers an advance on older, static ‘enlightenment’ approaches to
peacebuilding debates.