The unfortunate omission of entangled resistance in the ‘local turn’ in peace-building: the case of ‘forced marriage’ in the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC)

Abstract

ABSTRACT The concept of resistance within the peace-building literature has received considerable attention as well as becoming central to the critique of liberal interventions. Scholars approach to resistance within the ‘local turn’ literature has resulted in more elaborate studies; even so, local agency is typically narrowed down and conceptualised as a response to what is considered as problematic aspects of peace-building interventions. By analysing the resistance to/against the inclusion of ‘forced marriage’ as a crime against humanity in the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), this paper suggests that the study of resistance within the local turn must be broadened. The case study reveals how different forms of resistance are performative of and intertwined with other forms of resistance as well as how resistance evokes local power reactions. In addition to this, the paper also demonstrates that external international interveners sometimes mobilise local resistance, which results in the formation of strong but uneasy alliances against local political elites. All in all, the resistance is far more complex than most local turn literature suggests.