Abstract
Scholarly works on Ukraine conflict and its resolution tend to focus on the role of states or international organizations. Yet, more and more local civil society organizations (CSOs) are embracing reconciliation as a new agenda in the post-Euromaidan period. In this article, we analyze the role of local Ukrainian CSOs in fostering dialogue and reconciliation in Eastern Ukraine. Research on sub-state actors as legitimate agency in peacebuilding in Eastern Ukraine remains scarce. By drawing on the “everyday peace” perspective, we show that local bottom-up narratives of the conflict differ greatly from the top-down narratives of states and international organizations. Whereas the latter tend to reconfirm the status quo of the conflict or the (neo-)liberal economic approach to peace, local CSOs promote “rehumanizing the other,” which constitutes a quintessential process in achieving sustainable peace in Eastern Ukraine.
Highlights
Since 2014, over 3.8 million people have been affected by the conflict in Ukraine.[1]
The concept of everyday peace recognizes the important role of local civil society organizations (CSOs) in peacebuilding processes
Dominant top-down narratives of conflict often create a particular imagery of the “culprit” or untrustworthy “other” as the cause of the conflict and greatly limit the options for “peace”
Summary
Since 2014, over 3.8 million people have been affected by the conflict in Ukraine.[1]. It is possible to observe that there is a new group of local Ukrainian civil society organizations, which emerged as a result of the Euromaidan, and have taken a role of establishing dialogue and promoting peace and reconciliation in Eastern Ukraine. They channel their actions to IDPs and hosting communities within the country, or to people living in conflictaffected areas across the frontline between government-controlled and occupied territories. They are small in numbers and lack capacity for large-scale projects, but being created by the people directly affected by the conflict, they are dedicated in their work and seek all possible means to achieve their goals of stabilization and normalization of relations between people and communities
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