This book suggests a new explanation for why international peace interventions often fail to reach their full potential. Based on several years of ethnographic research in conflict zones around the world, it demonstrates that everyday elements - such as the expatriates' social habits and usual approaches to understanding their areas of operation - strongly influence peacebuilding effectiveness. Individuals from all over the world and all walks of life share numerous practices, habits, and narratives when they serve as interveners in conflict zones. These common attitudes and actions enable foreign peacebuilders to function in the field, but they also result in unintended consequences that thwart international efforts. Certain expatriates follow alternative modes of thinking and acting, often with notable results, but they remain in the minority. Through an in-depth analysis of the interveners' everyday life and work, this book proposes innovative ways to better help host populations build a sustainable peace.

At turns surprising, funny, and gut-wrenching, this is the hopeful story of the ordinary yet extraordinary people who have figured out how to build lasting peace in their communities The word "peacebuilding" evokes a story we've all heard over and over: violence breaks out, foreign nations are scandalized, peacekeepers and million-dollar donors come rushing in, warring parties sign a peace agreement and, sadly, within months the situation is back to where it started--sometimes worse. But what strategies have worked to build lasting peace in conflict zones, particularly for ordinary citizens on the ground? And why should other ordinary citizens, thousands of miles away, care? In The Frontlines of Peace, Severine Autesserre, award-winning researcher and peacebuilder, examines the well-intentioned but inherently flawed peace industry. With examples drawn from across the globe, she reveals that peace can grow in the most unlikely circumstances. Contrary to what most politicians preach, building peace doesn't require billions in aid or massive international interventions. Real, lasting peace requires giving power to local citizens. The Frontlines of Peace tells the stories of the ordinary yet extraordinary individuals and organizations that are confronting violence in their communities effectively. One thing is clear: successful examples of peacebuilding around the world, in countries at war or at peace, have involved innovative grassroots initiatives led by local people, at times supported by foreigners, often employing methods shunned by the international elite. By narrating success stories of this kind, Autesserre shows the radical changes we must take in our approach if we hope to build lasting peace around us--whether we live in Congo, the United States, or elsewhere.

This Element traces the history of and recent developments in the unstable relationship between global civil society (GCS) and China. It analyses the normative impacts GCS has had on China – including the Chinese state and domestic civil society – and the possibilities created by Beijing's new 'going out' policies for Chinese civil society groups. It examines the rhetoric and reality of GCS as an emancipatory project and argues that 'universal values' underpinned by principles of human rights and democracy have gained currency in China despite official resistance from the government. It argues that while the Chinese party-state is keen to benefit from GCS engagement, Beijing is also determined to minimize any impact outside groups might have on regime security. The Element concludes with some observations about future research directions and the internationalization of Chinese civil society.

This book asks how we understand the relationship between ethics and power in humanitarian action.

Originally published in 1992, this Asian-authored book presents a cultural description and interpretation of American high school adolescent life and ethos, based on anthropological fieldwork in a semi-rural school and its surrounding community in Oregon. It combines a realistic account of late 1980s adolescent culture and a confessional tale of the Asian ethnographer’s fieldwork experiences among American youngsters. The three main parts of the book focus on a portrayal of adolescent daily life, an interpretation of these young people’s cultural values and ideals, and a reflection on the ethnographer’s fieldwork experiences respectively. Part 1, Adolescent Life, includes five chapters presenting a brief version of a key informant life history, a profile of the school, a portrait of the community, a sketch of a typical school day, and adolescent life out of school. Divided into four chapters, Part 2, Adolescent Ethos, identifies three dimensions of adolescent ethos and analyzes dynamics between the dimensions and reflecting ideals. The last chapter of this part, ‘The Duality of Ideals’ discusses how adolescents negotiated themselves in a complicated web of various ideals pressing on them. Part 3, Doing Ethnography, reports procedural and personal aspects of doing ethnographic research in two separate chapters. The former discusses each step from locating a field to writing an ethnography; the latter describes personal feelings and scholarly thoughts which occurred during and after fieldwork. Adopting the most inconspicuous, unobtrusive form of research methods (she even dressed like them and acted with and among them), the ethnographer tried to listen to the young people’s voices, peek into their lives from outside, and look out at the world through their eyes.