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- Author: Jamie Pring x
- Manchester Political Studies x
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This chapter aims to examine possible processes of recognition,
mis-recognition and/or non-recognition in the process of including an armed
non-state actor (ANSA) in a peace mediation process. In particular, it
examines the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement – In Opposition (SPLM-IO) in
the mediation of the Inter-governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) in
South Sudan from December 2013 to the signing of the peace agreement in
August 2015.
The mandate of the mediation and its assessment of the
conflict enabled the recognition of the grievances put forward by the
SPLM-IO and eventually its formal establishment and inclusion in the peace
process. However, the simultaneous inclusion of unarmed non-state groups,
the cultural predispositions of elites in South Sudan and the institutional
identity of the mediating organisation, IGAD, limited the level of
recognition given to the SPLM-IO. This also reinforced its preference for
continuing violence and breaking ceasefire agreements alongside its
participation in the mediation. Furthermore, the mainly bilateral treatment
of the conflict in 2013, inherited from the previous IGAD mediation process,
perpetuated the non-recognition of other ANSAs, which contributed to the
violence in 2013 and the division of the SPLM into two, as well as the
recurrence of violence and the proliferation of ANSAs from 2016. The
analysis draws on the concept of mis-recognition to further nuance the
relationship between inclusivity in mediation processes and the recurrence
of violent conflict, and on 128 expert interviews which the author conducted
with African local and regional actors during her field research trips in
2017 and 2018.