Trapped in the liberal peace: the European Union approach to peacebuilding via Civil Society

The EU’s involvement in conflict resolution is driven by its belief in the “liberal peace” principle: peace is achieved through the consolidation of liberal democracy and human rights. This has led the EU to pursue peacebuilding, not only or primarily through agreements between armed groups, but rather by supporting and empowering local civil society actors, who are seen as the most likely bearers of liberal values. However, not all civil society groups are seen as worthy of support. Rather, the EU privileges those groups it sees as “civic” in their orientation, focusing on individual rights, rather than “ethnic” organizations or movements that demand collective rights. “Civic” groups are seen as most likely to contribute to the desecuritizing of ethnic relations, whereas “ethnic” organizations are seen as likely to securitize the conflict. This chapter argues that EU experience to date has had limited success in this regard. There are two reasons for this: first, EU funding leads to an artificial civil society disconnected to its citizens; second, and perhaps more importantly, the approach exacerbates securitization, because it rests on false views about the link between `civic’ and `ethnic’ organizations, and about the link between individual and collective rights in the sequencing of conflict resolution. It is blind to the dangers of majoritarianism hiding behind `civic’ NGOs, and ignores the emancipatory potential contained within `ethnic’ organizations or movements.