ABSTRACT
Research on negotiating with criminalised actors generally assumes the criminal label as a given, neglecting the significance of criminalisation itself. This chapter addresses this gap arguing that the processes of criminalisation and decriminalisation embody important incentive structures affecting peace negotiations. Specifically, for conflict transformation to effectively occur, criminalisation needs to be orientated away from a criminalisation of actors and instead target specific acts to legitimise non-violent political expression and negotiations. These arguments are advanced through a comparative study of Northern Ireland and South Africa, adopting a conflict transformation framework to analyse the implications of criminalisation across the levels of structure, issue, and actor transformation.
