The Cultural Dimension of Peace: Decentralization and Reconciliation in Indonesia (Rethinking Peace and Conflict Studies) - Hardcover

Bräuchler, Birgit

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 113750434X ISBN 13: 9781137504340

Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015

Synopsis

The Cultural Dimension of Peace and Reconciliation outlines an emerging cultural turn in Peace Studies. Taking an anthropological view of decentralization and peace processes in Indonesia as its central focus, it provides an informed understanding of the cultural dimension of reconciliation that is essential for the reintegration of societies that have undergone mass violence and long-lasting conflict. Brauchler's study warns of one-sided instrumentalization or harmonization theories, and promotes a critical stance towards the use of 'culture', 'tradition' and 'the local' in peacebuilding. Her focus is on intra-state violence between groups defined by ethnicity, religion or other sub-national (or transnational) collective identities. Based on multi-sited and multi-temporal ethnographic fieldwork, this book develops an approach that opens up spaces and sets a new standard for Peace and Conflict Studies and the anthropology of peace.

About this title

Review:

"Birgit Bräuchler has written an excellent monograph on the potential of culture for reconciliation ... . The book covers new ground in the ongoing debate over scope conditions for sustainable peacebuilding. It is a rich source of material for scholars and practitioners seeking to understand how the revival of cultural traditions can foster a normalisation of social relations at an everyday level of interaction in post-conflict settings." (Sabine Mannitz, Peacebuilding, May, 2017)

"Bräuchler's nuanced and sophisticated analysis provides new insights into the evolving relations between Islam, Christianity, and adat in contemporary postconflict Moluccan society. She explains the success of the revival of adat in peace and reconciliation processes but clearly identifies the limitations of this approach in a democratised and decentralised Indonesia." (Richard Chauvel, Bulletin of Indonesian Economic Studies, 2017)

"This book provides the reader with straightforward narratives and analyses that will appeal to both specialists and a wider audience who wish to investigate decentralization, democratization, local politics, and peacebuilding in post-New Order Indonesia and will attract both specialists and a broader audience within anthropology, peace and conflict studies, and other social sciences. ... this book will deservedly pave the way for a deeper and more nuanced understanding of a new anthropology of peace." (Yanwar Pribadi, Aseasuk News, Issue 60, 2016)

About the Author:

Dr Birgit Bräuchler is Visiting Professor of Social and Cultural Anthropology at Goethe-University Frankfurt. She is the author and editor of several books and has published widely in peer-reviewed journals. Her research interests lie in Peace and Conflict Studies; cultural rights and traditions; and Southeast Asia, especially Indonesia.

About this edition

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 113750434X
• ISBN 13: 9781137504340
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 281