Local Practices and Normative Frameworks in Peacebuilding

Peacebuilding without cultural sensitivity is empty; cultural sensitivity without cosmopolitan values is blind. Sustainability considerations require that peacebuilding approaches are locally accepted, and this local acceptance depends not least on the degree to which these approaches are commensurate with local understandings and cultural practices. The problem with the recommendation of focusing on local cultures, however, is that these practices are neither monolithic nor necessarily compatible with the aim of working towards less violent societies. Some value basis is therefore inevitable. Essentially, peacebuilding agendas need to start with fostering mutual recognition among former adversaries. On the basis of mutual recognition and on the grounds of values such as equality and compassion as framework principles, more detailed guidelines for political and socioeconomic rearrangements can be negotiated, while ideals of discourse ethics partially entail and partially supplement this value ground.