Building peace after war: What we can learn from the reintegration of ex-combatants
In post-war societies one of the most urgent questions that needs to be addressed is about the integration of war experineces and the transformation of cultures of violence to foster peace and stability. The Research Center for Peace and Conflit (InnPeace) and the City of Innsbruck invite Walt Kilroy to share his profound insights about the role of ex-combatants in peace processes in countries like Sierra Leone and Liberia. Their lived experiences provide a reference to other regions in this world to tackle the question of how to build peace after war.
Programmes to reintegrate ex-combatants into civilian life after experience of war have become a central element in the wide range of activities under the heading of “peacebuilding”. Their implementation is however a difficult and open-ended process. Looking at the dilemmas and difficulties of such processes can in fact help us to understand why so little in peacebuilding is straightforward or immediate. By taking a holistic, integrated approach, and learning from complexity thinking, a study of reintegration can in fact reveal something of the nature of post-war environments.
The Innsbruck Peace Lecture Series at the Research Center for Peace and Conflict (InnPeace) invites distinguished speakers from within the discipline of Peace and Conflict Studies as well as applied conflict transformation work to the University of Innsbruck. In the spirit of the university’s ‘third mission’ to engage in a broader public debate, the lectures are organized with local partners outside conventional university settings. After the lectures guests are invited to a reception to deepen the conversations in a relaxed atmosphere.
Walt Kilroy
Dr. Walt Kilroy is Associate Director of the Institute for International Conflict Resolution and Reconstruction (IICRR) at Dublin City University, where he is also an Assistant Professor (www.iicrr.ie). His research and teaching focus on conflict, peacebuilding, peacekeeping, civilian protection, and development, and the interaction between these processes.
His book on reintegration programmes for ex-combatants after war in Sierra Leone and Liberia was published by Palgrave Macmillan in 2015, and is based on PhD fieldwork in West Africa.
He coordinated the three-year project called PESTUGE, involving eight universities at funded by the EU’s erasmus+ programme. It developed the teaching of peace studies in the Republic of Georgia. He previously worked in development and in journalism. Full biography here.
This event is organized by the Research Center Peace and Conflict (InnPeace) in Cooperation with the City of Innsbruck.
The 3rd Innsbruck Peace Lecture is organized by the Research Center for Peace and Conflict (InnPeace) and the Unit for Peace and Conflict Studies in cooperation with the City of Innsbruck, with the kind support of the Governorate of Tyrol, the Research Area Cultural Encounters – Cultural Conflict and the Many Peaces Magazine.
