sterio and levy: social cohesion and inclusivity

Tags: Williams - Research Handbook on Post-Conflict Statebuilding

Social Cohesion & Inclusivity - Ailena Sterio & Jessica C. Levy

• Defined as

  The complexity & multidimensionality of the force, or “glue” that holds a society together and enables its members to predicibly develop

• un development program (UNDP) and search for common ground program

• why?

  • can rebuild what has been torn apart
    • most post-conflict socities have a high level of mistrust, described in Kalyvas - The Logic of Violence in Civil War
  • ensures vulnerable populations no longer face harm
    • without social cohesion programs, these groups may get sidelined
  • prevents future conflicts
  • supports & rebuilds local capacity
  • new opportunities to bring in groups that were marginalized before

Three Approaches

Community Driven

• Focuses on democratization towards local groups and partipation of communities
• Community driven reconstruction (CDR) - focuses on rebuilding infrastructure
• Community driven development (CDD) - focuses on improving existing infrastructure
• Both hope to address root of conflict

Social Acculturalization

Social processes that occur in a context in which newcomers and members of the host culture are in contact with each other… and must in one form or another adapt to their new cultural environment

• Includes separation & marginalization vs assimlation vs reintegration
• Most literature focuses on the processes of voluntary reintegration

Education

• Education can exasterbate or alleivate social inequalities or marginalization of groups
  • Killing of mother tongue
  • Ethnic divisions such as those in rwanda or burundi
  • Can also expose, teach, and find common national identity

Reconciliation in Total

• Grassroots and middle range (actors who have power by network and not by position such as religious leaders, community leaders, businesspeople, etc) are most effective here

Common Challenges

• Marginalized communities
  • Youth and women are often not considered, or are considered mere stage props
• Conflict created communities
  • Refugees, IDPs and ex-combatants
  • New identities may have formed during conflict and is hard to break
• Enduring divisions
  • bosnia -> communities did not want to go back to their old locations where they would be an ethnic minority
  • rwanda -> completely shattered social fabric

Case Studies

nepal

• social cohesion & democratic partipation program in 2016 led by un development program (UNDP)
• also found that violence in communities ended up brining them together, potential group violence coping mechanisms

cambodia

• khmer rouge
• only family bonds remained
• minimal progress has been made in fostering social cohesion
• existing programs have largely been top down
• 2013 study found that cambodians continue to rely on family bonds

nigeria

• 2009 niger river delta insurgency
• programs run by both civil society and IOs
• muslim/christian divide looms large
• IOs lack meaningful partnerships with civil society groups

Best Practices

• Aim for multiple level/cross cutting approaches
  • Not just the people it targets, programs should try to bring in multiple sectors
• Value openness and flexibility
  • Hard to establish baseline metrics
• Build and take advantage of local capacity
  • Always identify local capacity where it exists
• Aim for inclusivity