‘We have an Infrastructure for Peace... but do we have peace?’ Infrastructures for peace and multidimensional everyday peace in Nepal

Abstract

This dissertation investigates the relationship between peace interventions and people’s experience of peace, in order to contribute to better and evidence-based peacebuilding practice. In the peace and conflict studies field, we still do not fully understand why states, groups, and individuals engage in acts of violence, nor of the interventions that could transform this tendency. The emerging theory of ‘infrastructures for peace’ suggests that violence can be prevented, and peace supported, with infrastructures for peace. The concept –the institutions, mechanisms, resources, and skills through which conflicts are resolved and peace is sustained within a society– has been adopted as a policy framework by the United Nations and the governments of Kenya and Ghana. Using mixed methods, including interviews with over 1,600 respondents in Nepal, I explore how infrastructures for peace work and what their relation is to peacebuilding priorities in Nepal. Findings show that, looking through the lens of infrastructures for peace, a web of relationships that constitutes a country’s peace system becomes visible, including gaps and overlaps in services. This makes it possible to identify peacebuilding priorities on the basis of (1) the peace needs of the population, (2) people’s own peace services preferences, and (3) the peace needs and services that are associated with less violence and more peace. This dissertation contributes to the theoretical and empirical debates on peace infrastructures, the state of peace in Nepal, and the effectiveness of peacebuilding interventions. It also provides a method to investigate everyday peace and peace infrastructures in a systematic and quantitative way. Finally, this dissertation contributes to the policy debate by offering the possibility of applying the model in other countries; making concrete recommendations for decision-makers and peace workers; and providing national and district estimates of conflict, violence and peace, as well as entry points for peacebuilding in Nepal.