LISA STRÖMBOM

The project claims that the possible success of peace processes depends on the extent to which they can tame and foster long-standing violent conflicts into inclusive and plural dialogic interactions among the citizens – suppressing and channeling – although not eradicating conflict. The project advances a conceptual framework where institutional inclusion and identity-change are the two central pillars by which peace is measured. The main endeavor for this project is to advance the concept of agonistic peace, which was developed in the field of international political theory, and to this date it has never been applied in empirical research. The concept will be developed for analyses of inclusion and plurality in peace processes, which can contribute with the generation of peace of a more sustainable nature.

This project thus takes on the task of reconceptualising peace, creating an analytically rigorous, yet context-dependent understanding of peace, serving as a spring-board for new and more sustainable peace practices. The project conducts a comprehensive study of the Colombian, Israeli-Palestinian and Northern Ireland peace processes, which will be investigated in order to test the hypothesis and suggest new ways forward in terms of making peace processes more agonistic. Through a mixed-methods design, and an innovative and ambitious combination of interviews, institutional ethnography and quantitative analyses of survey material in order to probe the research questions, the project aims for far-reaching societal impact.