Peacebuilding is often presented as a universal good: a framework for rebuilding institutions, restoring relationships, preventing violence, and supporting vulnerable communities. Yet peacebuilding does not operate in a vacuum. It is shaped by systems of knowledge, authority, funding, governance, and technology that influence whose voices are heard, whose priorities are advanced, and whose experiences remain marginalized.
Rethinking Peacebuilding is an ongoing research and public scholarship initiative of The Roundtable Consortium that critically examines the assumptions, structures, and power relations that shape contemporary peacebuilding practice. Drawing from conflict analysis, critical peace studies, decolonial scholarship, migration governance, human trafficking research, digital governance, and community-centered approaches to social change, the project explores both the promise and limitations of existing peacebuilding models.
Rather than asking whether peacebuilding should be accepted or rejected, this initiative investigates a more challenging question:
"How can peacebuilding become more accountable, plural, locally grounded, and responsive to lived realities while continuing to support the institutions, relationships, and solidarities necessary for sustainable peace?"
Through essays, research briefs, roundtable discussions, and interdisciplinary inquiry, the project examines critical tensions at the heart of contemporary peacebuilding, including protection and governance, inclusion and coloniality, institutional authority and local agency, and the growing role of digital technologies in shaping peacebuilding practice.
Consistent with The Irreverent Approach, this project seeks to question prevailing assumptions, explore alternative frameworks, and expand the conversation about what meaningful, just, and effective peacebuilding can become in the twenty-first century.
