Abstract
AbstractThis introductory chapter provides an overview, main objectives, key arguments and the significance of the study. This book is a result of collective efforts by those who are interested in advancing the discourse on hybrid peacebuilding in Asia in two aspects. First, by drawing on a diverse array of relevant theoretical perspectives gained from the discussion on complexity, identity and feminism, it aims to operationalise hybrid peacebuilding theory from various perspectives of Asia, which was designed to serve as a descriptive lens to elucidate the dynamic and interactive nature of the process of hybridisation. This attempt is concurrently administered by a critical effort to refine the typology of the ‘local mid-space gatekeepers’ proposed in Hybrid Peacebuilding in Asia (Uesugi 2020). Second, by investing empirically the mechanism of hybridisation in the peacebuilding process in Cambodia and Mindanao, it seeks to demonstrate, without falling into the pitfalls of binary, how mid-space actors in these settings served or failed to serve as bridges to close cleavages in the conflict-affected society. These in-depth empirical findings are complemented by another set of case studies which focuses on two leading peacebuilding actors in Asia, China and Japan, to illustrate the need to expand the horizons of the research on hybrid peacebuilding to include the impact of non-Western approaches on the practice of peacebuilding.
Highlights
Operationalisation of Hybrid Peacebuilding in Asia Yuji UesugiOverview of the BookThis study expands on the recent discussion presented in Hybrid Peacebuilding in Asia (Uesugi 2020) which examined complex processes of negotiated and/or mediated hybridisation shaped through interactions among myriad of stakeholders including local, national, regional and international actors
While focusing explicitly on Asia, many of the arguments presented in this book are relevant to a general discussion surrounding the field of peacebuilding, and they can advance our understanding of hybrid peacebuilding both in theory and practice in Asia and beyond
A perspective that subscribes to the notion of ‘local turn’ (Mac Ginty and Richmond 2013; de Coning 2013; Randazzo 2016; Lee 2020) or ‘local ownership’ (Donais 2012; Lee and Özerdem 2015; Lee 2019) is dominant in both theory and practice of peacebuilding
Summary
This study expands on the recent discussion presented in Hybrid Peacebuilding in Asia (Uesugi 2020) which examined complex processes of negotiated and/or mediated hybridisation shaped through interactions among myriad of stakeholders including local, national, regional and international actors. While the focus of this study is related closely to the key arguments presented in the aforementioned study, it constitutes a stand-alone academic work seeking to revitalise the reappraised discussion on hybridity and peacebuilding led by Mac Ginty and Richmond (2016) from a distinctive angle of Asia. To complement the abovementioned theoretical discussion, this study presents four empirical case studies from Asia; the first two offer insider’s perspectives—Cambodia and Mindanao, the southern Philippines—and the other two provide outsider’s perspectives from China and Japan. These Asian peacebuilders operate in ‘statecentricity’, in which national security is prioritised over realising human-centred governance (Howe 2018).
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