PUBLICATIONS - Books | Working Paper Series | Network Reports
BOOKS
New book release - The Democratization Project: Challenges and Opportunities
Resulting out of last years conference the Swedish Network of Peace, Conflict and Development Research will be publishing the book 'The Democratization Project: Challenges and Opportunities' by Anthem Press (London) in 2009.
Democratization is a field where unexpected and sudden events have repeatedly challenged conventional wisdom. Fore example, who in the mid-1970s would have foreseen the democratization of Cambodia, Albania, South Africa or East Timor? Our current 'wave' of democratization is complex and diverse and understanding it requires a variety of theoretical approaches.s
Most of the literature on democracy assumes that it is the best form of government. Theoretical works on democratic transition and democratization have also emphasized the internal conflict resolution capacity of democracy. It has been reasoned that democracy reduces the likelihood of discrimination, especially of ethno-political minorities, and thus the possibility of political repression. However, the democratic peace theory has not been explicitly tested with reference to third world post-colonial states, where most internal violent conflicts take place. Certainly, there is a dearth of practical advice for policy makers on how to design and implement democratic levers that can make internal peace and stability endure in the South.
This volume, drawing on the work of a variety of scholars, will contribute to identifying and understanding the challenges and opportunities of this 'democratization project' to the peace and development of the world both at the domestic level in selected countries, trends in regions of the world, and in the global system of the post-Col War Era.
Editors
Ashok Swain is Professor of Peace and Conflict Research, Uppsala University
and Director, Uppsala Center for Sustainable Development.
Ramses Amer is Associate Professor and Coordinator, Swedish Network of Peace,
Conflict and Development Research.
Joakim Öjendal is Professor of Peace and Development Research, Gothenburg
University.
Notification about the book by Anthem Press.
Globalization and Challanges to Building Peace
An edited volume titled Globalization and Challenges to Building Peace, edited by the steering committee of the Network, is scheduled to be published in October 2007. The book is based upon a selection of the papers presented at Globalization and Peacebuilding, the 2006 annual conference of the Network. The publisher with whom we are working to produce the volume is Anthem Press.
Description: The world has gone through a major transformation in the last two decades. The end of the Cold War in Europe has led to massive increase in the private capital flow and, also, has brought an information and telecommunication revolution. In this new interdependent and interconnected world, international trade and investment has overtaken the importance of national economies. Globalization has created new opportunities as well as many risks and challenges. Globalization generates new wealth and encourages technological innovations, but at the same time it has failed to support and promote sustainable human development and thus can be accused of generating anguish and deprivation. This has already resulted in growing civil unrests and in some cases contributed to armed conflicts in the developing world. However, peace and conflict research has till now somehow overlooked the influence of increasing globalization on the formation and management of such emerging conflicts.
The study of globalization also tends to overlook a proven fact that the management of conflicts in the South has been invariably influenced by the global powers and their strategic politics. This impresisve edited volume makes an attempt to assess: what concrete measures exist and are likely to be effective in addressing the causes of conflict and building peace in an increasingly interdependent world?
Table of Contents:
1. Building Peace in the Era of Three Waves - Ashok Swain, Ramses Amer and Joakim Öjendal
2. The Problem of Peace: Understanding the ‘Liberal Peace’ - Oliver P. Richmond
3. Pre-emptive Self-Defence New Legal Principle or Political Action? - Ramses Amer
4. Beyond Criminal Justice: Promoting the Rule of Law in Post-conflict Societies - Richard Sannerholm
5. Peace by Pact: Data On the Implementation of Peace Agreements - Anna Jarstad and Ralph Sundberg
6. Refugee Repatriation as a Necessary Condition for Peace - Patrik Johansson
7. Catapulting Conflicts or Propelling Peace: Diasporas and Civil Wars - Jonathan Hall and Ashok Swain
8. UN Peace Operations as Norm Entrepreneurs: The Challenge of Achieving Communicative Action on Human Rights - Katarina Månsson
9. To practice what they preach: International transitional administrations and the paradox of norm promotion - Annika Björkdahl
10. Re-Examining the Roots of War in West Africa in a Globalizing World - Cyril I. Obi
11. The African Union (AU) and its commitment to non-indifference: can the AU be an actor for the promotion of human security? - Linnea Bergholm
12. Hamas between Sharia Rule and Demo-Islam
13. Environmental Scarcity and Intrastate Conflicts: The Case of Nepal - Fiona J. Y. Rotberg
14. Narcotics: The New Security Threat for China - Niklas Swanström
Bibliography
WORKING PAPERS SERIES IN PEACE, CONFLICT AND DEVELOPMENT RESEARCH
1. Teresa S. Encarnacion Tadem: The Philippine Left and Problematizing
Peace Building in Muslim Mindanao. 2007-1.
2. Susanne Alldén: Internalizing the Culture of Human Rights: The Search for Justice for Women in Post-Conflict East Timor. 2007-2.
Together with the international advisory board, the Network has chosen to introduce a working paper series, Working Papers in Peace, Conflict and Development Research, which will publish selected papers presented at Network events. The working paper series will be available freely from the website and will be advertised through the Peace Network Newsletter, the website and at Network events. If you would like your paper to be considered for publication as a working paper, please contact Series Editor Ramses Amer.
PAPER SUBMISSION
If you have presented a paper at a conference or workshop organized by the Network, you are most welcome to submit it for publication in the series. For more information, please contact Editor Ramses Amer.
NETWORK REPORTS
2006 Annual Review. (Uppsala: Swedish Network of Peace, Conflict and Development Research, 2007).
The report provides an introduction to the work of the Network, including events, publications and disseminated materials, and reviews the main activities of the Network during the course of the year 2006. Download report.
Challenges to Peacebuilding in the Developing World. 2006 Conference Report. (Uppsala: Swedish Network of Peace, Conflict and Development Research, 2007).
On 9 November 2006, the Swedish Network of Peace, Conflict and Development Research, in cooperation with Sida/SAREC, brought together over 55 participants at Sida headquarters in Stockholm for a discussion of the current challenges to peacebuilding faced by the developing world. The participants represented 11 countries, 19 universities and 18 independent organizations & institutes.
During two sessions, six speakers drawn from Malaysia, the UK, Brazil, Ethiopia, the Philippines, and Columbia presented their ideas on external actors and internal armed conflicts, democracy and peacebuilding. Four discussants were asked to reflect upon their presentations, drawing upon their experiences in Egypt, Argentina, the UK and India. Together, the discussion covered a broad range of topics and reflected trends in current thinking around the world in these research areas, particularly from Asia, Africa and Latin America. Download conference report.