Healing the Wounds: Essays on the Reconstruction of Societies after War

Source: (2004) Portland, Oregon: Hart Publishing.

As indicated by its title, this book consists of a set of essays on healing wounds and reconstructing societies after conflict and war. The book takes its starting point from the nature of war in the contemporary period. According to many current theoreticians of war, there is a new form of war distinct from the previous form of war involving nation-state against nation-state. Wars we see now tend to be xe2x80x9cdecentralized.xe2x80x9d They are less likely to be conducted by nation-states against nation-states, but rather by a variety of violent actors: for example, police-like armed units; security forces; groups and organizations of religious, political, and social fanatics; informal militias; and so on. Fighters often do not wear uniforms, and armies do not meet in open battle. There is little of war xe2x80x9cfrontsxe2x80x9d and limitations based on boundaries between political areas or war zones. With this changed nature of war, there must be changes in ideas about how to bring about peace. There must be great patience and imagination in the search for peace. It is in this context that these essays were written. The essays are grouped into two parts in the book: Part I is on the theory of the reconstruction of peace after violent conflict and war; and Part II is on power, structures, processes, and history in the reconstruction of peace. Part II is itself divided into two sections xe2x80x93 the first focusing on African experiences of reconstructing peace, and the second focusing on Asian experiences of reconstructing peace. Contributors xe2x80x93 listed in the beginning of the book xe2x80x93 primarily consist of expert academics from Europe and the United States. Additionally, for some of the essays there are abstracts at the beginning of the book.