Emancipatory peacebuilding
Thiessen, C. (2011). Critical Issues in Peace and Conflict Studies, 115-143.
“Emancipatory peacebuilding: critical responses to (neo)liberal trends” was written by Charles Thissen as a chapter in Critical issues in peace and conflict studies: Peace, theory and pedagogy, which was edited by Thomas Matyok, Jessica Senehi and Sean Bryne. The book chapter doubts the neoliberal turn in peace studies. In his chapter, Thissen proposes that post-war security is closely connected with the concept of emancipation. He tends to use the theory of human security to raise awareness of the importance of human in studying peace and security. Indeed, the author argues that the most important objective of peacekeeping is the emancipation of the people who have suffered in conflict. It is also important to highlight the fact that this emancipation is a bottom-up process which should not be considered an elite or authority-centred approach. The emancipation should promote non-violent resistance in local areas. The second section of the article rethinks the nexus between economic development and security, and argues for the importance of deconstructing the hegemony of neoliberalism in the conflict area and its importance to positive peace. Both state and non-state actors should work together to achieve the aim of long-term peace for their regions.