Requiem for a Pipedream: Oil, The World Bank, and the Need for Human Rights Assessments

The revenues associated with oil and other extractive industries projects in sub-Saharan Africa\u27particularly as they are contrasted with the living conditions of those for whom these revenues could provide the greatest benefit\u27raise the hope of using natural resources to achieve significant poverty alleviation. From the impoverished villages of the Niger Delta to south Sudan, however, oil wealth has rarely led to widespread poverty alleviation. More often than not, the revenues that should in theory be a great boon to development are in practice associated with disastrous human rights fallout as living standards actually decrease and governance indicators worsen, a phenomenon known as the \u27resource curse.\u27 This Article analyzes the various \u27lessons learned\u27 that have been articulated in the wake of the Chad-Cameroon pipeline project\u27s collapse, and argues that many of them miss the mark

Mapping the nexus of transitional justice and peacebuilding

This paper explores the convergences and divergence between transitional justice and peace-building, by considering some of the recent developments in scholarship and practice. We examine the notion of ‘peace’ in transitional justice and the idea of ‘justice’ in peacebuilding. We highlight that transitional justice and peacebuilding often engage with similar or related ideas, though the scholarship on in each field has developed, largely, in parallel to each other, and of-ten without any significant engagement between the fields of inquiry. We also note that both fields share other commonalities, insofar as they often neglect questions of capital (political, social, economic) and at times, gender. We suggest that trying to locate the nexus in the first place draws attention to where peace and justice have actually got to be produced in order for there not to be conflict and violence. This in turn demonstrates that locally, ‘peace’ and ‘justice’ do not always look like the ‘peace’ and ‘justice’ drawn up by international donors and peace-builders; and, despite the ‘turn to the local’ in international relations, it is surprising just how many local and everyday dynamics are (dis)missed as sources of peace and justice, or potential avenues of addressing the past

Hidden politics of power and governmentality in transitional justice and peacebuilding:The problem of ‘bringing the local back in’

This paper examines ‘the local’ in peacebuilding by examining how ‘local’ transitional justice projects can become spaces of power inequalities. The paper argues that focusing on how ‘the local’ contests or interacts with ‘the international’ in peacebuilding and post-conflict contexts obscures contestations and power relations amongst different local actors, and how inequalities and power asymmetries can be entrenched and reproduced through internationally funded local projects. The paper argues that externally funded projects aimed at emancipating ‘locals’ entrench inequalities and create local elites that become complicit in governing the conduct and participation of other less empowered ‘locals’. The paper thus proposes that specific local actors—often those in charge of externally funded peacebuilding projects—should also be conceptualised as governing agents: able to discipline and regulate other local actors’ voices and their agency, and thus (re)construct ideas about what ‘the local’ is, or is not

Beyond the Post-Conflict Checklist: Linking Peacebuilding and Transitional Justice through the Lens of Critique

While historically seen as being in competition with the demands of peace, transitional justice is increasingly accepted as an important element of post-conflict peacebuilding. Along with the demobilization and disarmament of ex-combatants, security sector reform, rule of law programs, and elections, it has now joined a virtual checklist of initiatives to be carried out in post-conflict countries. The growing sense of shared space between transitional justice and post-conflict peacebuilding initiatives has sparked new interest in sounding out potential connections between both fields. Although the pursuit of synergies is a worthwhile goal, I argue that in developing these connections we must also be attentive to mutual shortcomings. Transitional justice and post-conflict peacebuilding have historically proceeded on separate tracks, yet there has been a remarkable similarity in the critiques and concerns that have been leveled against both fields. More integrated approaches to peacebuilding and transitional justice may exacerbate some of the tendencies that have given rise to these parallel critiques rather than alleviate them. Seeking synergies through the optics of these historic concerns and critiques could be one technique of resistance to these tendencies, leading to the development of innovative techniques for building peace with justice in conflict\u27s wake

Addressing Dilemmas of the Global and the Local in Transitional Justice

Professor Dustin N. Sharp analyzes and deconstructs the concept of the local in the context of transitional justice. While involving the local is a key to success in transitional justice interventions, in practice, the local is often overlooked or restricted by the global. Professor Sharp argues that understanding the global-local dilemma requires at least three things. First, we must understand why transitional justice became the focus for global-local tensions. Professor Sharp indentifies the Western historical and ideological origins of transitional justice as sources for global-local tensions. Second, we must understand local ownership. By describing the components of local ownership (actual control, process, and substance), Professor Sharp presents a more nuanced relationship between the global and local. Third, instead of discarding the concept of the local in favor of more complex theories, we must appreciate its interplay with the centralizing and universalizing tendencies of transitional justice

Addressing Dilemmas of the Global and the Local in Transitional Justice

Professor Dustin N. Sharp analyzes and deconstructs the concept of the local in the context of transitional justice. While involving the local is a key to success in transitional justice interventions, in practice, the local is often overlooked or restricted by the global. Professor Sharp argues that understanding the global-local dilemma requires at least three things. First, we must understand why transitional justice became the focus for global-local tensions. Professor Sharp indentifies the Western historical and ideological origins of transitional justice as sources for global-local tensions. Second, we must understand local ownership. By describing the components of local ownership (actual control, process, and substance), Professor Sharp presents a more nuanced relationship between the global and local. Third, instead of discarding the concept of the local in favor of more complex theories, we must appreciate its interplay with the centralizing and universalizing tendencies of transitional justice

Requiem for a Pipedream: Oil, The World Bank, and the Need for Human Rights Assessments

The revenues associated with oil and other extractive industries projects in sub-Saharan Africa\u27particularly as they are contrasted with the living conditions of those for whom these revenues could provide the greatest benefit\u27raise the hope of using natural resources to achieve significant poverty alleviation. From the impoverished villages of the Niger Delta to south Sudan, however, oil wealth has rarely led to widespread poverty alleviation. More often than not, the revenues that should in theory be a great boon to development are in practice associated with disastrous human rights fallout as living standards actually decrease and governance indicators worsen, a phenomenon known as the \u27resource curse.\u27 This Article analyzes the various \u27lessons learned\u27 that have been articulated in the wake of the Chad-Cameroon pipeline project\u27s collapse, and argues that many of them miss the mark