¹This article is based on a presentation to MINUGUA conference, October 27–29 2004, Guatemala City: Construyendo la Paz: Guatemala desde un enfoque comparado. The presentation is based on field studies: ongoing micro-level study of peacebuilding in Huehuetenango which began in 1998; on regional comparisons with post-war El Salvador, Nicaragua, Peru and mid conflict Colombia. It also comes out of research in a conflict situation in the North of England, on young men who rioted in Bradford, England in 2001. Secondly, it comes from participation in numerous international peacebuilding conferences over the last decade involving many practitioners, donors and policy makers and academics in the field.

Abstract

Jenny Pearce enters a plea to learn some of the lessons from the vast amount of resources, human and capital, in peace building. She identifies some of the key lessons emerging from peacebuilding thinking and practice over the last decade. She looks at the three 'levels' in which the global peacebuilding project has been developed: the 'international community', the 'nation state' and 'civil society' and proposes the ground rules for future sustainability which prioritizes people, rejects violence and establishes a global economy for peace.