Panel 55: Peace Agreements and (Re)Constituting Political Order in Africa

In the past decade a number of African states have concluded peace agreements, in most cases with an aspiration to end large-scale violent conflicts involving the central government and insurgent organisations as the protagonists. This has, for instance, been the case in Angola (2002), the Central African Republic (2008), the Democratic Republic of Congo (2008), Liberia (2003), Sierra Leone (2001) and Sudan (2005 and 2006). However, a number of these agreements have failed to function as roadmaps for peaceful transition from war to peace.

It has often been suggested that a major failure of peace agreements in Africa is generally that they have not been inclusive enough and have not altered meaningfully the status quo of political and economic power, redistributing decision-making, coercive power and resources. Another issue that has become apparent is the focus on the importance of strength of a comprehensive political order within such states. While some have argued for the importance of state strength, others have pointed out the significance of considering the socio-political order(s) within, and often extending beyond, state territory.

This panel is intended to provide a forum for debate concerning peace agreements, peace-building, and (re)consolidation of comprehensive political order in African states. Although it is principally intended to focus on empirical case studies, it also warmly welcomes theoretical contributions concerning states in conflict and post-conflict situations and their socio-political order(s) in an attempt to gain better understanding of factors leading towards consolidation or weakening of local and national political stability.