Culture, anthropology and ethnography in peace research

Current transformations within the field of peace studies such as the local turn require closer attention to culture as a specifier of the local and as a context that greatly influences how concepts such as conflict, reconciliation, justice, and peace are locally defined, perceived, adopted, rejected, or not existent. The chapter points at shortcomings in the recent local turn in peace research and the ethnographic turn in international relations and argues for a broader understanding of peacebuilding as something growing from within and a long-term endeavor that does not stop once violence ended and “peace” has been established, without looking into issues of broader structural violence and local societal and cultural complexities. The chapter outlines the relevance of an anthropological approach that embraces both the discipline’s methods and theoretical concepts and promotes a critical and creative interdisciplinary dialogue in the field of peace studies.