ABSTRACT
This chapter begins with an extended personal reflection on the meanings of the term local. Part of the crisis, or at least deficiency, in internationally sponsored peacebuilding is that there is a disjuncture between local and international hopes and practices in relation to building peace. It is recognised that the local and the international are not homogenous entities. They are relational concepts and it is difficult to conceive of one without the other. This brings serious problems, especially for the local, in that it is not seen in its own right. The broader problem, however, is that many actors from the Global North particularly those institutionalised in diplomatic institutions and international organisations have epistemological biases towards collecting and believing particular types of information. The chapter concludes that that many liberal peace agents cannot get beyond attempting to instrumentalise the local and thereby miss the opportunity to have meaningful relationships with it.
