Social Justice, Restorative Justice, and EU Peacebuilding in the Arab-Islamic World

Summary, in English

As in most cultural contexts and theoretical conceptualizations of peacebuilding, the fulfilment of justice and the sustainment of peace are intimately related in the Arab-Islamic frame of reference. In the Qur’an and Islamic philosophy, there is a direct correlation between establishing a just social order and the notion of peacebuilding (Abu-Nimer 2006). Guidelines are set forth for building a socioeconomic milieu that will generate harmony within the community, and in consequence a self-sustaining form of peace. Likewise, there is interplay between justice and peace in traditional Arab rituals for conflict resolution, where the objective of the peacebuilding activity is underpinned by an effort to achieve justice. Such correlations are not particularly unique to the Arab-Islamic cultural context, and very similar ideas exist in the West: maintaining social harmony and resolving conflicts between two parties are based on ideas of “rightness” and “fairness” that are themselves achieved by the application of justice. However, differences do exist in this justice-peace interplay between the Arab-Islamic context and the West; indeed, the conceptualization of justice – what it is, what it looks, how it is achieved – is subject to culturally specific notions and rites. This in turn plays a significant role in how Arab society is structured in political and economic terms, and in processes of conflict resolution. This chapter seeks to explore the different contours of this relationship between culturally relevant notions of justice and peace that are present in the Arab world today, and to provide a brief overview of how this affects approaches to, and expectations of, peacebuilding activities. In particular, the article seeks to understand the implications of the justice-peace nexus for the European Union’s peacebuilding efforts in the Middle East. A sizeable body of research has been conducted on EU peacebuilding in the region, focusing primarily on the EU’s main policy programmes – the EuroMediterranean Partnership (EMP, also known as the Barcelona Process) and the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP), as well as specific actions in favour of the Middle East Peace Process. Studies, carried out by both the academic and policy communities, have usually focused on political and economic elements of the EU’s policies as well as their institutional structures (Gillespie 1997; Vasconcelos and Joffé 2000; Fernandez and Youngs 2005; Varwick and Lang 2007). Much research has focused in particular on the effort to promote political reform in the Arab states (Gillespie and Youngs 2002; Kelley 2006; Yacoubian 2008) and the types of institutional and political obstacles that have been encountered, such as problems of ownership and the application of conditionality (Asseburg 2003; Aliboni et al. 2006; Brach 2006). These studies have also considered the normative element of the EU’s peacebuilding approach in the Middle East, seeking to understand to what extent the Union is a normative actor and is able successfully to export its own political models and values (Manners 2002; Diez 2005; Diez and Pace 2007; Seeberg 2008). More recently, new research has been conducted on certain dilemmas the Union is facing in its peacebuilding activities, namely when EU interests and values find themselves at crossroads (Haddadi 2004; Bicchi and Martin 2006; Menotti 2006; Galli 2008). Work has also been conducted on the EU’s role specifically in the resolution of the Arab-Israeli conflict, often mentioning the “payer-versus-player” debate and the constraints on peacebuilding that arise from power asymmetries between the main players (Le More 2005; Turner 2006; Altunisik 2008; UNCTAD 2008). One common element in the literature cited above has been the focus on EU peacebuilding within the liberal peace tradition and its applicability in the Middle East, given vastly different interests at the level of elites and political margins of manoeuvre. In addition, research has been conducted to understand notions of peacebuilding in the Arab-Islamic framework (these studies are cited throughout this text; see also Salem 1993; and Jabbour 1996). A number of studies have focused specifically on the issue of non-violence and peace from the religious perspective, exploring in particular how religious beliefs and values shape conflict resolution. The question of social justice has also been examined from different angles to understand economic, social and political trends in the region. Likewise, a number of studies have been produced that document differences in conflict resolution – both in terms of norms and processes – between the West and the traditional Arab setting. These studies provide important insight into understanding the relationship between justice and peace in the Arab-Islamic cultural framework and how it affects institutional structures and practices. This present chapter aims to contribute to the literature by mapping cultural reference points of the justice-peace nexus in the Arab-Islamic context and its implications for the EU’s peacebuilding efforts towards the region. The first section explores several facets of the relationship between justice and peace, looking in particular at the culturally relevant notions of social justice and restorative justice and their relationship to social peace and conflict resolution, as well as the associated link to specific values such as honour and dignity. This section also presents how these notions play out in traditional forms of conflict resolution and peacebuilding at the communal and interpersonal level. The second section analyses the EU’s peacebuilding agenda towards the region in light of this Arab-Islamic frame of reference, highlighting the differences between how stability and social peace are conceived, as well as the expectations gap between what the EU offers in its peacebuilding role and what is expected of it by the Arab street. While by no means exhaustive, this study thus contributes to our understanding of what a just peace in the Middle East might look like in terms of both process and structure, and how third-party actors can more successfully contribute to achieving it.

• Author: Sarah Anne Rennick; Hasan Al-Momani
• Editor: Karin Aggestam; Annika Bjorkdahl
• Department/s: Department of Political Science
• Publishing year: 2012
• Language: English
• Publication/Series: Rethinking Peacebuilding : The Quest for Just Peace in the Middle East and the Western Balkans
• Document type: Book chapter
• Publisher: Routledge
• Topic: Political Science
• Status: Published
• ISBN/ISSN/Other: ISBN: 9781138789463