Local Ownership of Peacebuilding in Afghanistan

Local Ownership of Peacebuilding in Afghanistan is a convincing and empathetic investigation into one of the often-mentioned but little-understood phrases in international intervention: ownership. Chuck Thiessen has professional experience in Afghanistan and so the book rests on more than a short stint of fieldwork. It brings new insights to light on a subject that is of great interest to students and practitioners. -- Roger MacGinty, University of Manchester
In almost all conflict-affected environments, the issue of local ownership is central to any prospect of success in peacebuilding. Yet there seems to be a huge lack of clarity about how local ownership of peacebuilding programs could actually be enabled in post-conflict reconstruction processes. This insightful book does just that—addresses that lack of clarity! It sets two challenging questions to respond: first, why does the international community often struggle to ensure local control over peacebuilding prioritisation, project design, and evaluation; and equally importantly, second, what can be done about it? The book takes us through the local ownership journey of Afghanistan since the international military intervention of 2001, which has so far, been a very bumpy ride and now, seems to be facing a cul-de-sac! This path-breaking book should be a key reading for practitioners and scholars alike. -- Alpaslan Özerdem, Coventry University
Chuck Thiessen outlines the complexity and tension between the international community's ownership of local peacebuilding efforts and local Afghans striving to shape peacebuilding efforts on the ground. This pathbreaking study is a must-read for policy makers, peacebuilders, and international donors. -- Sean Byrne, PACS, University of Manitoba
In Local Ownership of Peacebuilding in Afghanistan: Shouldering Responsibility for Sustainable Peace and Development, Chuck Thiessen takes discussion of local ownership of the peacebuilding process to the next level through his analysis of (neo)conservative and emancipatory approaches to sustainable peace processes. This text makes a significant contribution to our understanding of how local ownership is key to all peacebuilding activities. Personal narratives of government, NGO, and Afghan civilians are used to communicate the need for local ownership of peace development. Changing definitions of local ownership are also investigated. A strength of the text is how the author integrates his many years of experience on the ground in Afghanistan to illuminate his recommendations. All-in-all, Local Ownership of Peacebuilding in Afghanistan: Shouldering Responsibility for Sustainable Peace and Development is a book that will be referenced extensively by those wanting to gain a more nuanced understanding of peacebuilding in an emancipatory context. -- Thomas Matyók, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro