From fear to collaboration : community peacebuilding in the context of a victor's peace in Sri Lanka

Abstract

This thesis focuses on the relatively under-research disciplinary area of community based peacebuilding in the context of victor's peace in Sri Lanka following the state's civil war with the Tamil Tigers. These events led to several challenges for liberal peacebuilding, including persistent militarisation, and indeed a decade after the end of the civil war, most of these socioeconomic, and political challenges remain unresolved due to the high level of militarisation. In such circumstances, community peacebuilding efforts appear to be particularly challenging. It has thus been suggested that the area of community peacebuilding requires more research and the inclusion of more elements that integrate local knowledge and cultural practices. This study provides a contextual understanding of contemporary community peacebuilding practices within a context of victor's peace in Sri Lanka, especially the post-war challenges facing minority communities. The prevailing practice in community development in the Asia Pacific leans towards a top-down approach, despite community development being driven bottom up. There is a need for a new approach to community development. This study adopts an interdisciplinary approach to examine the interplay between community development and peacebuilding. Considering the importance of local peace, Lederach's peacebuilding pyramid is used as the theoretical approach for this study. that it is imperative that peacebuilding is developed from the periphery of communities with the support of non-profit and grassroots organisations. Findings from four selected case study towns of Negombo, Killinochchi, Mullaitivu and Kurunagala indicate that encouraging local participation and incorporating local knowledge into their activities enhances inter-ethnic relations. Through these projects, a safe space was provided for self-expression and dialogue, which played a crucial role in the process of post-war community peacebuilding. Thus, community leaders took charge of reducing tensions between communities by promoting social solidarity. These micro solidarities within communities foster non-violent coexistence in divided societies. This study contributes significantly to the literature on post-war peacebuilding and community development through its detailed study of victor's peace in Sri Lanka, which offers an insight into aspects of community peacebuilding. Key argument of the study is that top-down approach of victor's peace hinders the ability of voluntary sector and the communities for peace. This study posits that voluntary sector in conjunction with community leaders strengthen capacities and raise awareness within communities on social, political, and economic contradictions causing for their oppression.

Date of Award	2022
Original language	English