Abstract
One of the reasons behind peacebuilding’s state of affirmation is the failure to deliver on its goal of supporting the negotiation and implementation of an inclusive political settlement. Instead, the most likely outcome of peace processes is a situation of formalised political unsettlement, which is produced by the institutionalisation of radical political disagreement. Despite often being able to tame violence, formalised political unsettlement is a difficult, tough-to-love constellation that enshrines the contestation about a polity. Yet, formalised political unsettlement can also be seen as an opportunity for pragmatic transitions. Its institutional fluidity, its unsettled character and the inability of the conflict parties to win their default positions offers opportunities for engaging in transitional processes.
Keywords
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- 1.
http://fundforpeace.org/fsi/, accessed 18 September 2018.
- 2.
http://www.g7plus.org/, accessed 16 September 2018.
- 3.
Evidence of Adam Tomkins, cited in House of Commons European Scrutiny Committee; ‘The EU Bill and Parliamentary sovereignty’, 10th Report (2010–2011) para. 24 (An unsettled constitution).
- 4.
The Memorandum of Agreement on the Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) was part of the negotiation process between the Government of the Philippines and the MILF. The Supreme Court describes the MOA-AD in its decision ‘by stating that the same contained, among others, the commitment of the parties to pursue peace negotiations, protect and respect human rights, negotiate with sincerity in the resolution and pacific settlement of the conflict, and refrain from the use of threat or force to attain undue advantage while the peace negotiations on the substantive agenda are on-going.’ After a complaint by several political stakeholders, the Supreme Court decided on 14 October 2008 that the agreement was unconstitutional since the president would have extended his powers beyond the limits of the constitution. Hence, the agreement was not signed.
- 5.
ECHR Case 27996/06 and 34836/06 (merged from two initial cases). The court found the limitations on political representation in Bosnia and Herzegovina on the three ethnopolitical constituencies (Bosniaks, Bosnian Croats, Bosnian Serbs) to be in violation of the human rights of non-aligned minorities .
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Pospisil, J. (2019). Conceptualising Formalised Political Unsettlement. In: Peace in Political Unsettlement. Rethinking Peace and Conflict Studies. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-04318-6_3
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