Peacebuilding Through Community-Based NGOs : Paradoxes and Possibilities

Today's international arena is characterised by complex interactions and information flows among a host of actors, resulting in diffused vulnerabilities and accountabilities and an overall reduction in the predictability of outcomes. This book explores the contested but increasingly relevant role nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) play in processes aimed at bringing about international peace and security and in the invention of alternatives for resolving conflict. Through case studies of the activities of Partners in Health in Haiti, Women in Black in Serbia and the Community Foundation for Northern Ireland, the authors highlight the range of ways these organisations are involved in post-conflict social reconstruction efforts and with whom and for what purposes they interact as they do so. They argue for analyses that take into account the rich mosaic that is the civil society sector rather than treating all of these entities with one broad brush. At once a celebration and a critique, Zanotti and Stephenson's book provides guidance for those seeking to understand the complexities and potential of civil the society sector for facilitating social justice and transformation.