ABSTRACT
Journeying towards a sustainable peace is, at its heart, a conflict-laden process. Conflict transformation has undergone numerous iterations as language, contexts, and perceptions have adjusted in the field. Emerging as central to the core of the peacebuilding field is the attention towards local ownership and agency. Colonial and postcolonial theorists created new spaces for the discussion regarding the impacts of oppression, the breakdown of cultures and communities, and structural and direct violence. Oliver P. Richmond and Jason Franks assert that in order to determine the range of peacebuilding activities it is imperative to articulate the type of peace being sought. Foucault’s perspective is significant for this discussion because of the observation that there are systemic “rules” indicating what’s in and what’s out, what can be said and what cannot. Anthropologist James Scott’s use of the term “transcripts” indicates that these are conversations held within the community. The links between everyday resistance and everyday peacebuilding are important to build upon.
