The Relevance of Private Actors in the Transnational Sphere for Just Peace Governance

Working Paper No. 13/2012 by Research Department III

Justice conflicts and their management through various forms of governance take centre stage in PRIF's new research program "Just Peace Governance".

 

Against the background of the increasing importance of private actors in International Relations, the Working Paper "The Relevance of Private Actors in the Transnational Sphere for Just Peace Governance" by the members of Research Department III conceptualizes the roles of these non-state actors in conflicts over issues of recognition, procedural or distributive justice.

 

Rebel groups, organized crime, transnational corporations, civil society organizations or ethnic diasporas - on the one hand, these actors add to the multiplication of justice claims in the transnational realm; on the other hand, they often contribute to new and innovative forms of governance in order to regulate justice conflicts. In the Working Paper, the question is posed under which conditions the inclusion of private actors' justice claims may promote or hamper peaceful conflict resolution. This basic ambivalence of private actors is conceptualized with a view to all three central concepts of the new research program: peace, governance, and justice.