Peacebuilding, Memory and Reconciliation：Bridging Top-Down and Bottom-Up Approaches

This book aims to bridge the gap between what are generally referred to as ‘top-down’ and ‘bottom-up’ approaches to peacebuilding.
After the experience of a physical and psychological trauma, the period of individual healing and recovery is intertwined with political and social reconciliation. The prospects for social and political reconciliation are undermined when a ‘top-down’ approach is favoured over the ‘bottom-up strategy’- the prioritization of structural stability over societal well-being.
Peacebuilding, Memory and Reconciliation explores the inextricable link between psychological recovery and socio-political reconciliation, and the political issues that dominate this relationship. Through an examination of the construction of social narratives about or for peace, the text offers a new perspective on peacebuilding, which challenges and questions the very nature of the dichotomy between ‘top-down’ and ‘bottom-up’ approaches.
This book will be of much interest to students of peacebuilding, peace and conflict studies, social psychology, political science and IR in general.

Bruno Charbonneau is Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science, Laurentian University, Canada. He has a PhD in Political Studies.
Geneviève Parent is Assistant Professor in Conflict Studies at St Paul University, Canada, and has a PhD in Criminology.

Introduction: History, Memory, Politics of Peace, Bruno Charbonneau & Geneviève Parent Part I: Conceptual Issues 1. The Post-Conflict Paradox: Engaging War, Creating Peace, Patricia A. Maulden 2. A Critique of "Bottom-Up" Peacebuilding: Do Peaceful Individuals make Peaceful Societies, Sandrine Lefranc Part II: Case Studies 3. Familial Trauma in Democratic Spain: Memory and Reconciliation through Generations, Lorraine Ryan 4. Living to tell the Story: Healing, Social Denial and Redress in Uruguay, Gabriela Fried Amilivia 5. Justice, Healing and Reconciliation in Cambodia, Julian Poluda, Judith Strasser and Chhim Sotheara 6. Exploring the Role of Apology in Cambodia's Reconciliation Process, Angel Ryono 7. Governmental Apologies and Political Reconciliation: Promise and Pitfalls, Graham G. Dodds 8. Co-Creating Peace: Confronting Psycho-Social-Economic Injustices in the Israeli-Paelstinian Context, Julia Chaitin 9. Restorative Moments: From First Nations People in Canada to Conflicts in an Israeli-Palestinian Dialogue Group, David Senesh 10. Towards Peace and Reconciliation after the Great War: Letter-Writing to the League of Nations, Carl Bouchard 11. Can History Heal Trauma? The Role of History Education in Reconciliation Processes, Karina V. Korostelina 12. Conclusion: Making "Bottom-Up" Peacebuilding Relevant, Bruno Charbonneau & Geneviève Parent