Policy Press
4 Prewrapped peacebuilding
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Abstract
This chapter mounts a critique of youth work and peacebuilding within a neoliberal policy and practice landscape. Inclinations towards quick fixes and ‘one-size-fits-all’ approaches are identified that result in decontextualised and depoliticised practices, at odds with youth work as an empowering and participatory practice. An enduring tension between social control and social change is discussed with reference to multiple models of youth work from different international contexts. Drawing on literature from critical peace studies, similar dynamics are observed with pressure for a ‘local turn’ in liberal peacebuilding where top-down approaches are replaced with notions of locally owned and community-driven peace processes. The chapter outlines how youth sector peacebuilding is doubly subjected to these limitations. Homing in on the north of Ireland as an illustrative case, iterations of local policy and its impact upon youth sector peacebuilding in the region are examined. This analysis critiques an absence of creative involvement and participation of young people in devising locally owned, nationally significant peacebuilding strategies and democratic processes.
Abstract
This chapter mounts a critique of youth work and peacebuilding within a neoliberal policy and practice landscape. Inclinations towards quick fixes and ‘one-size-fits-all’ approaches are identified that result in decontextualised and depoliticised practices, at odds with youth work as an empowering and participatory practice. An enduring tension between social control and social change is discussed with reference to multiple models of youth work from different international contexts. Drawing on literature from critical peace studies, similar dynamics are observed with pressure for a ‘local turn’ in liberal peacebuilding where top-down approaches are replaced with notions of locally owned and community-driven peace processes. The chapter outlines how youth sector peacebuilding is doubly subjected to these limitations. Homing in on the north of Ireland as an illustrative case, iterations of local policy and its impact upon youth sector peacebuilding in the region are examined. This analysis critiques an absence of creative involvement and participation of young people in devising locally owned, nationally significant peacebuilding strategies and democratic processes.
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents iii
- List of figures and tables iv
- List of abbreviations v
- About the authors vi
- Foreword vii
- Introduction: A critical approach to youth sector peacebuilding 1
- Working with young people in a contested society 16
- Power and legitimacy: entering the world of the peacebuilder 34
- Prewrapped peacebuilding 52
- A peacebuilding typology 69
- Morphology: an analytical tool for peacebuilding 86
- Four viewpoints on youth sector peacebuilding 99
- A new model of youth sector peacebuilding 121
- Radicalising youth sector peacebuilding 133
- Peace activism with and by young people 146
- Conclusion: Reclaiming a political practice 164
- Appendix 168
- Notes 170
- References 171
- Index 196
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents iii
- List of figures and tables iv
- List of abbreviations v
- About the authors vi
- Foreword vii
- Introduction: A critical approach to youth sector peacebuilding 1
- Working with young people in a contested society 16
- Power and legitimacy: entering the world of the peacebuilder 34
- Prewrapped peacebuilding 52
- A peacebuilding typology 69
- Morphology: an analytical tool for peacebuilding 86
- Four viewpoints on youth sector peacebuilding 99
- A new model of youth sector peacebuilding 121
- Radicalising youth sector peacebuilding 133
- Peace activism with and by young people 146
- Conclusion: Reclaiming a political practice 164
- Appendix 168
- Notes 170
- References 171
- Index 196
