About the Book
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 communitiesThe 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, Séverine 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.Now including teaching and book club discussion guides, 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.
Table of Contents:
Foreword
Preface: War, Hope, and Peace
PART I: PEACE POSSIBLE
Chapter 1: Island of Peace
Chapter 2: Role Models
PART II: PEACE, INC.
Chapter 3: Insiders and Outsiders
Chapter 4: Designed Intervention
PART III: THE NEW PEACE MANIFESTO
Chapter 5: Peace by Piece
Chapter 6: Recasting Roles
Chapter 7: The Home Front
Appendix: Sources
Acknowledgments
Book Club Discussion Guide
Teaching Guide
Index
About the Author :
Severine Autesserre is an award-winning author, peacebuilder, and researcher, as well as Professor and Chair of Political Science at Barnard College, Columbia University. She is the author of The Trouble with the Congo and Peaceland, in addition to articles for publications such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, Foreign Affairs, and Foreign Policy.
Autesserre has been involved intimately in the world of international aid for more than twenty years. She has conducted research in twelve different conflict zones, from Colombia to Somalia to Israel and the Palestinian territories. She has worked for Doctors Without Borders in places like Afghanistan and Congo, and at the United Nations headquarters in the United States. Her research has helped shape the intervention strategies of several United Nations departments, foreign affairs ministries,
and non-governmental organizations, as well as numerous philanthropists and activists. She has also been a featured speaker at the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates, the U.S. House of
Representatives, and the United Nations Security Council.
You can find a teaching guide and a book club discussion guide at the links below.
Teaching Guide: https://severineautesserre.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Teaching-Guide-The-Frontlines-of-Peace.pdf
Book club discussion guide: https://severineautesserre.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Frontlines-Book-Club-Guide.pdf
Review :
Having worked as an international aid worker in 12 different conflict zones, Autesserre, through her memoir and reporting, lays down a compelling account advocating for the need for grassroots initiatives for peacebuilding. The book comes as another addition to the authorâs extensive work addressing the failure of international interventions in building sustainable peace.
[Autesserre] offers a crucial contribution to the growing body of literature which seeks to challenge the common assumptions, narratives, methodologies and strategies that have dominated the aid and peacemaking industry thus far. ... [The book] provides a great introductory insight into the world of peacebuilding, both theoretically, in terms of both mainstream and critical strategies and discourses, and practically, in terms of working with (or rather to ameliorate) international peacebuilding organizations.
Autesserre's contrast of Peace, Inc., with local, creative initiatives that can build peace (in the United States as well as around the globe) offers a clear picture of two very different approaches, and it provides a compelling argument for why ordinary people can have outsized effects on violence.
Autesserre's book provides some fascinating insights into how localised peace approaches can work, and some of the paths that have not worked. The book represents an excellent introduction for students, as well as an important step forward in providing greater clarity around localized peace for both academics and peacebuilders.
Autesserre is the rare breed of academic who writes with passion, clarity, and a storyteller's eye for detail... she brings to the table nuance, rigor, passion, and firsthand knowledge, having previously cut her teeth as a peacebuilder herself... her contribution to this discussion, given the enormity of the stakes, is a much needed one. The UN is in dire need of critics like Autesserre—thoughtful observers to assess its shortcomings and hold it accountable. This is a bone worth picking.
Séverine Autesserre has persistently made noteworthy and invaluable contributions to the literature on peacebuilding and conflict management, and The Frontlines of Peace is no exception to this trend... Séverine Autesserre has provided her readers with a roadmap for changing the world of peacebuilding; such change, however, will take time, as well as willingness and collaboration from both insiders and outsiders engaging in conflict management withinconflict zones.
...the book is worth mining for serious scholars of peacekeeping.
For anyone who really cares about improving the work of this flawed but still all too necessary field, Autesserreâs book makes for essential and uncomfortable reading.
Severine Autesserre's The Frontlines of Peace is a story above anything else. It is a story that encompasses other mini-stories from different areas in the world that have suffered different kinds of conflict and violence... While providing well-thought but yet simply structured answers... Autesserre's book also contains her witty and sharp sense of humor... What makes this page-turner even more worth reading is the fact that Severine Autesserre not only criticizes what doesn't work, but she also gives readers and practitioners great examples of what works.
A fascinating book.
Severine Autesserre tells the story of ordinary women and men who manage to reduce violence in their communities every day, whether in the Congo, Colombia, or the United States. It's a captivating and inspiring story that invites readers to act. I hope it will encourage you to get more involved in the fight against violence and impunity, and to build peace at home and for our common humanity.
Peace is possible but difficult. No one is omniscient about what turns swords into ploughshares, and it's essential that we always question our assumptions, learn from experience, and listen to experts who know both the big ideas and the facts on the ground. The Frontlines of Peace offers new insights into one of humanity's most noble endeavors.
Severine Autesserre combines a scholar's rigor and an activist's passion. With authority gained from hard experience, she shows how true peace must be built from the ground up and the inside out. A world in flames should heed her message.
Peacebuilding rests on the courage and wisdom of those people closest to conflict, and we must invest in them in ways that dignify their work and commitment. Severine Autesserre's book makes clear how to do this. The Frontlines of Peace is a must-read.
In this remarkable book, Severine Autesserre draws on decades of experience in conflict zones and offices of international organizations to show how meaningful peace depends on local peacebuilding initiatives. Building on her inspiring and sometimes heart-breaking encounters with local activists about their work to address violence, redress suffering, and manage emergent conflict, it offers compelling recommendations for how to effectively support the necessary work of activists on the ground.
Not just another book about international politics. It will change the way you see the world around you.
A seamless blend of autobiography, research reports from zones of peace, and Auteserre's scholarly discussion of how peacebuilding actually works in places that have suffered from violent conflict, The Frontlines of Peace will reward specialists, students, and general readers.
[A] fascinating and insightful book.
I recommend Severine Autesserre's The Frontlines of Peace to anyone who wants to understand in depth the dynamics of post-conflict peace and state building.
