Even when armed conflicts formally end, the transition to peace is not clear-cut. This comprehensive volume explores the mounting evidence which suggests that it is rather ‘unlikely to see a clean break from violence to consent, from theft to production, from repression to democracy, or from impunity to accountability’. The authors analyse the complex endeavour of transitioning out of war, studying how it is often interrelated with other transformations such as changes in the political regime (democratisation) and in the economy (opening of markets to globalisation). They explore how, in the same way as wars and conflicts reflect the societies they befall, post-war orders may replicate and perpetuate some of the drivers of war-related violence, such as high levels of instability, institutional fragility, corruption, and inequality. This book thus suggests that, even in the absence of a formal relapse into war and the re-mobilisation of former insurgents, many transitional contexts are marked by the steady and ongoing reconfiguration of criminal and illegal groups and practices. This book will be of great interest to students and researchers of political science and peace studies. It was originally published as an online special issue of Third World Thematics.

This book describes how international law regulates the problems that arise where economic activity meets violent conflict.

This book examines the protection of the environment in post-conflict societies, with regard both to the maintenance of natural ecosystems and to the function of environmental protection in the peace-building process, addressing the strengths and weaknesses of different bodies of law.

This book critically examines the nexus between arms availability and armed violence.

Rising Powers in International Conflict Management locates rising powers in the international conflict management tableau and decrypts their main motives and limitations in the enactment of their peacebuilding role. The book sheds light on commonalities and divergences in a selected group of rising powers’ (namely Brazil, India, China, and Turkey) understanding and applications of conflict management and explains the priorities in their conflict management strategies from conceptual/theoretical and empirical aspects. The case studies point to the evolving nature of conflict management policies of rising powers as a result of their changing priorities in foreign and security policy and the shifts observed in the international order since the end of the Cold War. The country-specific perspectives provided in this study have also proven right the potentialities of rising powers in managing conflicts, as well as their past and ongoing challenges in envisaging crises in both their own regions and extra-regional territories. Improving the understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of rising powers as conflict management actors and peacebuilders at regional and international levels, Rising Powers in International Conflict Management will be of great interest to scholars of international relations, conflict studies, and peacebuilding. The chapters were originally published as a special issue of Third World Quarterly.

Based on extensive research conducted in Colombia since 2009, this book addresses the connection between land grabbing and agrarian capitalism, as well as the unfulfilled promises of peace and justice. While land remains a key resource at the core of many contemporary civil wars, the impact of high-intensity armed violence on the formation of agrarian capitalism is seldom discussed. Drawing on nearly 200 interviews, archival research, and geographical data, this book examines land grabbing and the role of violence in capital with a particular focus on one key actor in the Colombian civil war: paramilitary militias. This book demonstrates how the intricate ties between armed conflict and economy formation are obscured by the widespread belief that violence is a radical form of action, breaking with the normal course of society and disconnected from the legal economy. Under this view, dispossession is perceived as diametrically opposed to capitalist accumulation. This belief is enormously influential in precisely those bureaucratic agencies that are in charge of peacebuilding, both domestically and internationally. However, this narrow view of the relationship between armed violence and capitalism belies the close ties between plunder and lawful profit, and obscures the continuity between violent dispossession and the free market. By the same token, it legitimizes post-war inequality in the name of capitalist development. The book concludes by arguing that the promotion of radical democracy in the government of land and rural development emerges as the only reasonable path for pacifying a violent polity. The book is essential reading for students, scholars, and development aid practitioners interested in land and resource grabbing, agrarian capitalism, civil wars, and conflict resolution.

The Research Handbook on Conflict Prevention is a cohesive and comparative analysis of the ways in which organised violence is combatted. Renowned experts dissect the complex problem of conflict prevention by investigating its three main aspects: agency, methods and timing.

Affectedness and Participation in International Institutions looks at the growing involvement of affected persons in global politics, such as young climate activists, indigenous movements, and persons affected by HIV/AIDS. Since the early 2000s, international organisations within various policy areas have increasingly recognised and involved affected persons’ organisations. This has promised to address long-standing legitimacy and democracy deficits of international policy making and norm setting. Yet, the powerful do not easily cede the terrain: Some major states, classic NGOs, and intergovernmental organisations seek to curtail the influence of the newcomers. The authors within this collection study these contestations from an interdisciplinary political science and international law perspective. Based on evidence from a broad range of policy areas, we address some of the crucial questions: What does it mean to be affected? How can affected groups meaningfully participate in international negotiations? Whose voices do still remain excluded? Ultimately, the authors chart whether the rising involvement of the 'most affected' will re-shape global politics and social struggles on the ground. Taking a dual political science and international law perspective, Affectedness and Participation in International Institutions will be of great interest to scholars of civil society in global governance, international law, and international institutions. This book was originally published as a special issue of Third World Thematics.

Converging Social Justice Issues and Movements argues that multiple contemporary converging crises have significantly altered the context for and object of political contestations around agrarian, climate, environmental and food justice issues. This shift affects alliances, collaboration and conflict among and between state and social forces, as well as within and between social movements. The actual implications and mechanisms by which these changes are happening are, to a large extent, empirical questions that need careful investigation. The majority of the discussions in this volume are dedicated to the issue of responses to the crises both by capitalist forces and those adversely affected by the crises, and the implications of these for academic research and political activist work. Interdisciplinary in nature, Converging Social Justice Issues and Movements will be of great use to scholars of agrarian politics, as well as climate and environmental justice studies. The chapters were originally published as a special issue in Third World Quarterly.

For over forty years, Latin American Politics and Development has kept instructors and students abreast of current affairs and changes in Latin America. Now in its tenth edition, this authoritative yet accessible introduction has been updated throughout. Organized on a country-by-country basis, Latin American Politics and Development offers instructors maximum flexibility in organizing courses. Revisions to the Tenth Edition include: An updated theoretical framework to explain changes in the region, including discussions of electoral systems and political actors. Discussions on presidential, parliamentary, and municipal election cycles throughout the region from 2017 through early 2022. Coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic. Examination on the regional decline in democratic norms and practices. A look at the impact of the Trump administration on regional relations, including the decline in democracy. Updates on race, Indigenous groups, women, Afro-Latin Americans, contemporary social movements, religious and other non-elite groups.