Civil Society, Conflicts and the Politicization of Human Rights

This is a book about violent conflict, but also about peace. The contributors examine how violence is generated, managed, and exploited, and how it can be eradicated in ethnopolitical conflicts, and how societies can be dragged out of conflict onto the transition toward peace.

The usual take on these phenomena focuses on the role of government actors, both national and international. Civil Society, Conflicts and the Politicization of Human Rights examines the other side of the coin: the nongovernmental component in ethnopolitical conflicts. Civil society actors, defined here as conflict society organizations (CoSOs), have become key players as both violators and promoters of human rights. Nevertheless, the precise relationships underpinning the human rights-civil society-conflict nexus have not been fully examined.

This volume analyzes the impact of civil society on ethnopolitical conflicts through their human rights–related activities and identifies the means to strengthen the complementarity between civil society and international governmental actors in promoting peace. These aims are addressed by examining four case studies: Bosnia-Herzegovina, Cyprus, Turkey's Kurdish question, and Israel–Palestine.

Raffaele Marchetti is assistant professor of international relations at the School of Government and the department of political science, LUISS University, Italy.

Nathalie Tocci is deputy director of the Istituto Affari Internazionali, head of the Institute's department "The EU and the Neighbourhood," and associate editor of The International Spectator.