As part of the “Coercion in Peacebuilding” project, a joint book is being developed that examines strategies and practices of “new” actors in peacebuilding in particular. In preparation, an international authors’ workshop was held in Accra, Ghana, in November 2023. A workshop report now summarizes the key findings and recapitulates the contributions presented. The report is available for download on the PRIF website.
The workshop in November 2023 was divided into three thematic blocks. The first session, entitled “Conceptualizing Coercion”, was dedicated to conceptualizing and theorizing coercion in peacebuilding. In addition to historical discussions, this session also focused on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and considerations from a gender perspective.
The second and third sessions were dedicated to so-called “new” actors, which have been in the spotlight alongside traditional, mostly Western actors for several years. The contributions addressed the extent to which the approaches of these “new” actors from the Global South differ from conventional approaches. The second thematic block, “Regional Organizations”, dealt with regional organizations as “new” actors in peacebuilding, with a focus on African organizations.
The third session, entitled “Bilateral South-South Cooperation”, also focused on so-called “new actors”. The panelists discussed whether countries such as Brazil, China, Turkey and South Africa are questioning or changing established norms of peacebuilding that have been shaped by international organizations and large traditional partners from the Global North.
With this second international workshop, PRIF continues its collaboration with partner institutions Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Center (KAIPTC) and Institute for Peace and Security Studies (IPSS). The workshop was made possible by the generous support of the Fondation Avec et Pour Autres.