Towards a decentring of standardised peace mediation governance
A postcolonial reading of an interventionist travelling model in African contexts
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.35295/osls.iisl.2158Keywords:
Peace mediation, African Union, United Nations, travelling model, translation, de/coloniality of knowledge, global legal pluralism, South Sudan, SudanAbstract
Peace mediation has not only become a guiding paradigm for global governance, but also part of the toolkit of international peace diplomacy. Mediation promises to transform conflicts, promote peace and security, and prevent crises. Numerous international and (sub-)regional governance actors therefore compete for influence in a growing mediation market. Internationalised mediation approaches and practices are deeply rooted in Anglo-Eurocentric politico-philosophical thoughts and ‘liberal’ mediation theory. Peace mediation theory and discourse are remarkably silent on the question of entrenched knowledge hierarchies and their (re)production - a gap that becomes also visible in peace mediation in African contexts. This article critically reflects on the African Union’s peace mediation approaches against a backdrop of path dependencies of Eurocentric perceptions and internationally transferred standardised instruments. It problematises standardised peace mediation governance with its de-contextualisation, de-politicisation, and de-pluralisation effects and shows how hegemonic assumptions and principles embedded in the travelling mediation model are translated into peace mediation practices in African contexts. It furthermore criticises the coloniality implicit in these embedded hegemonic assumptions and principles, proposing angles for decentring and reimagining mediation as a decolonial device, operating across diverse conflict resolution knowledges.
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