Resilience in Peacebuilding: Misunderstandings, Missed Opportunities and Some Ways Forward

Non-Technical Summary: Resilience is a multifaceted concept that focuses on the dynamics of coupled social-ecological systems. Widely used in research and policy it has also generated debate and often proves challenging to implement. While typically used in relation to sustainability and natural resource management topics, it has more recently been adopted in the field of peacebuilding. This article reviews this application, exploring how, in both academia and policy, people have understood and applied the concept to issues of peace and conflict. It also identifies significant theoretical and practical gaps and suggests measures for addressing these to more fully realise the potential available.The Technical Summary: Resilience framed as a methodology, a goal, or a strategy is common in the policy literature around peacebuilding, and yet it receives mixed support in corresponding areas of academia. What emerges therefore appears as a rather confused narrative; some champion what resilience offers, while others express concern about the application of resilience ideas in this context. Underneath these seemingly opposing viewpoints we found valuable information to inform the more successful use of resilience in peacebuilding. We found an overall lack of precision in terminology, as well as a lack of attention to the dynamic context of resilience. In policy processes in particular resilience was found to be used more as a narrative than as a tool for higher-order thinking. Overlooked aspects such as resilience trade-offs, transfers and the masking of resilience loss are all dimensions which a more rigorous application could address. In addition, we found potential for resilience to further inform the understanding of peace as an emergent process. We concluded that resilience as a tool for reflection and analysis offers valuable insights to support new understandings of the dynamics and complex nature of peace and conflict.