The Frontlines of Peace: An Insider's Guide to Changing the World PDF
Preview The Frontlines of Peace: An Insider's Guide to Changing the World
The Frontlines of Peace ALSO BY SÉVERINE AUTESSERRE Peaceland: Conflict Resolution and the Everyday Politics of International Intervention The Trouble with the Congo: Local Violence and the Failure of International Peacebuilding Further Praise for The Frontlines of Peace “Peacebuilding rests on the courage and wisdom of those people closest to conflict, and we must invest in them in ways that dignify their work and commitment. Autesserre’s book makes clear how to do this. The Frontlines of Peace is a must-read.” —John Paul Lederach, Professor Emeritus of International Peacebuilding, University of Notre Dame The Frontlines of Peace An Insider’s Guide to Changing the World SÉVERINE AUTESSERRE 1 3 Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide. Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press in the UK and certain other countries. Published in the United States of America by Oxford University Press 198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016, United States of America. © Séverine Autesserre 2021 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law, by license, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reproduction rights organization. Inquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above. You must not circulate this work in any other form and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer. CIP data is on file at the Library of Congress ISBN 978– 0– 19– 753035– 1 DOI: 10.1093/ oso/ 9780197530351.001.0001 1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2 Printed by LSC Communications, United States of America Published with the support of the Gerda Henkel Foundation, Duesseldorf. To Monique Alligier and André Autesserre, who gave me life And to Philippe, Fanny, Ariane, Ayten, Elisabeth, Leigh, Catherine & Alan, Kim & Jack, and my medical team, who helped me keep it Contents Foreword ix Preface: War, Hope, and Peace 1 PART I PEACE POSSIBLE 1 Island of Peace 23 2 Role Models 45 PART II PEACE, INC. 3 Insiders and Outsiders 69 4 Designed Intervention 93 PART III THE NEW PEACE MANIFESTO 5 Peace by Piece 123 6 Recasting Roles 151 7 The Home Front 177 Appendix: Sources 193 Acknowledgments 205 Index 207 Foreword by Leymah Gbowee, 2011 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate As I read this book— one telling the story of ordinary individuals who successfully opposed violence—t he word “hope” kept coming to mind, as it reminded me of my own journey. More specifically, I am reminded of hope’s pertinence in creating a movement powerful enough to end Liberia’s civil war. And much like some characters you will encounter in this book, my expe- rience with violence was intimate and intense. As a 17-y ear- old, I watched bewilderedly as armed men—e ngaged in a power struggle—d rove bullets through my envisioned future, and the political became personal. I watched for many months as every glimmer of hope of a successful resolu- tion to the ongoing conflict faded. I grew sick of international donors tossing money at the problem, and greedy politicians brawling, when they could have been endeavoring to secure peace. As each day went by, my children’s future looked gloomy. Men who sat at peace conferences returned with no solution to our problems. All the while, women sat idly at home, oblivious to treaty conversations. Frustrated by the stagnancy of peace efforts, we women—o f all ages, means, religions, and tribes— united to champion our cause and that of our children. We resorted to every possible tactic we could imagine: street protests, sit-i ns, pickets, prayers, fasting, and vigils. We also employed sex strikes in an effort to get our partners to heed our requests for peace. All aforementioned tactics did not garner the needed attention to bring the rebels and government officials to one accord. So, we formed a human barri- cade to prevent our politicians from exiting the ongoing peace talks. And when that didn’t work, we threatened to rip our clothes off. In many African cultures, it’s considered a terrible curse for men to see their mothers naked—a nd so they backed off. Eventually, on August 18, 2003, they finally signed the peace agree- ment that ended our 14- year- long conflict. My story speaks to this simple truth: the people whom foreign interveners are ostensibly trying to save— mothers, rural villagers, inner- city dwellers, etc.— have the precise know- how and motivation to bring a deadly conflict to an end. This reflects the conclusion Séverine has reached through her 20 years of
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