2025/10/01 by Jamal Abdi · 1 voice
Social Sciences · #Action (physics) #Collective action #Context (archaeology) #Democracy #Global Peace and Security Dynamics #Peacebuilding #Peacebuilding and International Security #Politics and Conflicts in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Middle East
paper · doi:10.1080/21647259.2025.2569076
published in Peacebuilding 13(4), 421-432 (Taylor & Francis)
openalex publication_date 2025/10/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/15
This article posits that self-led peacebuilding in general – and large-scale self-led peacebuilding in particular – can be construed as a collective action problem. The latter, an area that has received little attention in peace research, constitutes the focal point of this article and is explored through a case study of Somaliland. In Somaliland, communities that had fought on opposing sides of the civil war voluntarily negotiated peace and built an inclusive democratic state without external involvement in the political process. Drawing on archival research, interviews with key actors in Somaliland’s peacebuilding process, and theories of cooperation and collective action, the article unpacks the factors that enabled the large-scale cooperation that facilitated self-led peacebuilding. It is argued that widespread socially rational behaviour and the moral authority of xeer principally induced the pro-sociality that enabled self-led peacebuilding in Somaliland. The article concludes by discussing the lessons Somaliland may hold for other conflict-affected societies.