The Cultural Dimension of Peace: Decentralization and Reconciliation in Indonesia (Rethinking Peace and Conflict Studies)

This study outlines the emerging cultural turn in Peace Studies and provides a critical understanding of the cultural dimension of reconciliation. Taking an anthropological view on decentralization and peacebuilding in Indonesia, it sets new standards for an interdisciplinary research field. "The Cultural Dimension of Peace and Reconciliation outlines an emerging cultural turn in Peace Studies. Taking an anthropological view of decentralization and peace processes in Indonesia as its central focus, it provides an informed understanding of the cultural dimension of reconciliation that is essential for the reintegration of societies that have undergone mass violence and long-lasting conflict. Bräuchler's study warns of one-sided instrumentalization or harmonization theories, and promotes a critical stance towards the use of 'culture', 'tradition' and 'the local' in peacebuilding. Her focus is on intra-state violence between groups defined by ethnicity, religion or other sub-national (or transnational) collective identities. Based on multi-sited and multi-temporal ethnographic fieldwork, this book develops an approach that opens up spaces and sets a new standard for Peace and Conflict Studies and the anthropology of peace"-- Provided by publisher Front Matter....Pages i-xxii The Emerging Cultural Turn in Peace Research....Pages 1-37 Decentralization, Revitalization, and Reconciliation in Indonesia....Pages 39-67 Conflict and Peacebuilding in Maluku....Pages 69-100 Reconciliation and the Revival of Tradition....Pages 101-120 The Reinvention of Traditional Leadership....Pages 121-145 Indigenous People, Migrants, and Refugees: A Clash of Individual and Cultural Human Rights....Pages 147-177 Concluding Reflections: Toward a New Anthropology of Peace....Pages 179-208 Back Matter....Pages 209-259