Beyond Relationalism in Peacebuilding

ABSTRACT

This conclusion notes the rise of relationalism in theorizing peacebuilding and the advantages of this approach as evident in the contributions to this special issue. Nevertheless, it cautions against such a move and in particular, some of the ontological and epistemological consequences of the relational turn as evident in recent poststructuralism, postcolonial approaches and practice theory. It contrasts this with the critical realist approach – whose relationalism has been ignored by the current turn – allowing both relationalism and a belief in objectivity and preference for certain knowledge claims.

KEYWORDS:

• Peacebuilding
• relationalism
• difference
• Bourdieu
• critical realism

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor

Jonathan Joseph is Professor of International Relations at the University of Sheffield and an Alumni Senior Fellow at the Käte Hamburger Kolleg/Centre for Global Cooperation Research. He is author of The Social in the Global: Social Theory, Governmentality and Global Politics (Cambridge 2012) and most recently a comparative study of resilience building in global politics – Varieties of Resilience: Studies in Governmentality (Cambridge 2018). He is an editor of Review of International Studies.