{"id":25713,"date":"2025-05-14T13:10:49","date_gmt":"2025-05-14T13:10:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peacerep.org\/?post_type=publication&p=25713"},"modified":"2025-08-07T13:12:03","modified_gmt":"2025-08-07T13:12:03","slug":"ngos-and-romanticisation-of-the-local-turn","status":"publish","type":"publication","link":"https:\/\/gentest.cahss.ed.ac.uk\/dev-peacerep\/publication\/ngos-and-romanticisation-of-the-local-turn\/","title":{"rendered":"NGOs and romanticisation of the local turn: a (re)appraisal of professional peacebuilding by NGOs in Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"

Author: <\/strong>Ibrahim Magara<\/p>\n

This article critically examines local peacebuilding programmes and approaches designed and implemented by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in the African context. It highlights the structural and functional shortcomings inherent in peacebuilding NGOs on the continent while interrogating the implications of the romanticised \u2018local turn\u2019 paradigm in peace theory and praxis. Employing an autobiographical approach, I draw on personal experiences and both formal and informal interactions with colleagues in the sector \u2013 during and beyond my tenure as a peacebuilding practitioner \u2013 to critically assess the professionalised and project-based peacebuilding initiatives undertaken by NGOs. This methodological approach distinguishes the article from existing studies, which predominantly rely on case studies and comparative analyses. The article develops a typology of professional NGO-based peacebuilders \u2013 categorising them as ambitious, career-oriented, or sceptical \u2013 and utilises this framework to scrutinise the professionalisation and \u2018NGO-isation\u2019 of peacebuilding in Africa. In doing so, it exposes fundamental weaknesses in project-based peacebuilding programmes while also demonstrating how African peacebuilding professionals contribute to the romanticisation of the local turn in peace scholarship. Ultimately, the article underscores the urgent need to critically reassess the intertwined processes of professionalisation and \u2018NGO-isation\u2019 within peacebuilding efforts in Africa and beyond.<\/p>\n

This article was published online in Third World Quarterly.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This article critically examines local peacebuilding programmes and approaches designed and implemented by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in the African context.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":166,"featured_media":25714,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_FSMCFIC_featured_image_caption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_nocaption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_hide":""},"categories":[235],"tags":[658],"authors":[2066],"class_list":["post-25713","publication","type-publication","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-publication","tag-publication","authors-magara"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nNGOs and romanticisation of the local turn: a (re)appraisal of professional peacebuilding by NGOs in Africa - PeaceRep<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This article critically examines local peacebuilding programmes and approaches designed and implemented by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in the African context.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"NGOs and romanticisation of the local turn: a (re)appraisal of professional peacebuilding by NGOs in Africa - 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