A trans-scalar approach to peacebuilding and transitional justice: Insights from the Democratic Republic of Congo
| Author | Sara Hellmüller |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/00108367211059448 |
| Published date | 01 December 2022 |
| Date | 01 December 2022 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
https://doi.org/10.1177/00108367211059448
Cooperation and Conflict
2022, Vol. 57(4) 415 –432
© The Author(s) 2021
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DOI: 10.1177/00108367211059448
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A trans-scalar approach to
peacebuilding and transitional
justice: Insights from the
Democratic Republic of Congo
Sara Hellmüller
Abstract
Peace research has taken a local turn. Yet, conceptual ambiguities, risks of romanticization, and
critiques of co-option of the “local” point to the need to look for novel ways to think about the
interactions of actors ranging from the global to the local level. Gearoid Millar proposes a trans-
scalar approach to peace based on a “consistency of purpose” and a “parity of esteem” for actors
across scales. This article analyzes the concept of trans-scalarity in the peace process in Ituri,
a province in the northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Drawing on qualitative
data from more than a year of research in the DRC, I argue that while a trans-scalar approach
was taken to end violence, it was not applied to transitional justice initiatives. The result was a
negative, rather than a positive peace. By showing the high, but still untapped, potential of trans-
scalarity, the article makes three contributions. First, it advances the debate on the local turn
by adding empirical insights on trans-scalarity and further developing the concept’s theoretical
foundations. Second, it provides novel empirical insights on the transitional justice process in
the DRC. Third, it links scholarship on peacebuilding and transitional justice, which have often
remained disconnected.
Keywords
DR Congo, peace research, peacebuilding, transitional justice, trans-scalarity
Introduction
Peace research has taken a local turn. In a wave of criticism of the liberal approach to
peacebuilding, a consensus emerged among peace scholars that increased attention to
local actors, capacities, and perceptions was indispensable to build lasting peace
(Autesserre, 2010; Mac Ginty and Richmond, 2013; Paris, 2002). Scholars emphasized
the need to re-conceptualize the “local” in the strategy, implementation, and outcomes
of peacebuilding (Campbell et al., 2012: 4; Tadjbakhsh, 2011: 4). However, besides
Corresponding author:
Sara Hellmüller, Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Chemin Eugène-Rigot 2, P.O.
Box 1672, 1211 Geneva 1, Switzerland.
Email: sara.hellmueller@graduateinstitute.ch
1059448CAC0010.1177/00108367211059448Cooperation and ConflictHellmüller
research-article2021
Article
416 Cooperation and Conflict 57(4)
ambiguity about what the “local” means (Buckley-Zistel, 2021; Kappler, 2015) and the
potential romanticization of everything “local,” critiques have also been raised about
the co-option of the local turn by liberal peacebuilding (Richmond, 2012). Rather than
leading to an emancipatory version of peacebuilding based on genuine cooperation
between actors across different levels, the turn toward the local was said to deepen the
imposition of liberal values because it came to mean that local actors should own exter-
nally designed projects (Hellmüller, 2012; Von Billerbeck, 2016). In an attempt to over-
come these challenges and go beyond binary conceptions of “local” versus “international”
actors, critical peace scholars suggested to focus on hybridity (Mac Ginty, 2010;
Richmond and Mitchell, 2012; Tom, 2013) or friction (Björkdahl et al., 2014; Björkdahl
and Höglund, 2013) in peacebuilding. Yet, as Millar (2020: 274) argues, in order to
counterbalance the dominance of the international, scholars often overemphasized local
agency and neglected the influence of the broader global context in which conflicts are
located. As an alternative, he suggests a “trans-scalar peace system” based on a “con-
sistency of purpose” and a “parity of esteem” for actors across global, regional, interna-
tional, national, and local scales (Millar, 2021).
Research on transitional justice has also taken a local turn. Similar to peace scholars,
authors studying transitional justice point to the inadequacy of international template
approaches (Gready and Robins, 2014; Iliff, 2012; Shaw et al., 2010) and recognize that
a more nuanced understanding of local transitional justice is needed (Kochanski, 2020).
However, while it is now widely acknowledged that transitional justice needs to be
firmly grounded in local contexts, the way in which the actors involved in transitional
justice processes interact across different levels has not been sufficiently explored.
This article fills this gap by analyzing the concept of trans-scalarity proposed by
Millar (2021) in the peace process in Ituri, a province in the northeastern Democratic
Republic of Congo (DRC), from 1999 to 2003. I argue that while the efforts to end physi-
cal violence in Ituri were trans-scalar, this was not the case for transitional justice initia-
tives. The overall result was a negative peace, defined as an end of active and widespread
violence, and not a positive peace, which would have included a comprehensive transfor-
mation of relationships (Galtung, 1969).
The article is based on empirical data gathered between 2011 and 2014 through over
130 interviews, focus group discussions (FGDs), and informal discussions with more
than 195 persons in the DRC. It is structured into two parts. In the theoretical part, I
review the literature on the local turn in transitional justice and show how a trans-scalar
approach could help move the debate on local-international interactions forward. In the
empirical part, I analyze trans-scalarity in the peace process in Ituri by comparing the
approaches taken to end violence with those taken to promote transitional justice.
By showing the high, yet often untapped, potential of a trans-scalar approach, the
article makes three contributions. First, it provides a nuanced analysis of the local turn in
the peacebuilding and transitional justice literature by adding empirical insights on trans-
scalarity and by further developing its theoretical foundations. Second, the article extends
the existing body of knowledge on transitional justice by providing novel empirical
insights from the DRC, a relatively understudied context in the transitional justice litera-
ture.1 Finally, the article links scholarship on peacebuilding and transitional justice,
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