Deadline: 31 January 2011
Call for Essays: The Democratic Republic of the Congo: A Vanquished War, A Consolidating Peace?
Gerrie Swart & Sadiki Koko (Guest Editors)
PEACE REVIEW: A JOURNAL OF SOCIAL JUSTICE is an international journal distributed in more than 50 nations. We seek essays on the above theme for a special issue.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo has endured a long, difficult, and brutal chapter in its fifty-year history of independence, characterized by chaos, turmoil, instability, violence, conflict, and one of the most brutal wars Africa has witnessed to date. It is regrettably a chapter that has defied a satisfactory and peaceful conclusion--and one that continues to be written each and every day, adding further casualties in its wake with each passing year. As the country prepared to celebrate its 50th anniversary of independence on June 30, 2010 from erstwhile colonial power Belgium, there was yet again a real danger that the "politics of forgetting" could once again set in--forgetting that this vast country is nowhere near being "at genuine peace" with itself and the rest of the Great Lakes Region. The country had accumulated a history of protracted violence, with little or no shared experience of genuine peace to offset these negative interactions. Throughout its various incarnations, as the Congo Free State (1885-1908), the Belgian Congo (1908-1960), the Congo Republic (1960-1971), Zaire (1971-1997), and finally the Democratic Republic of the Congo (since 1997), an enduring feature and image that has held sway in all narratives has been that of an entity immersed in an unrelenting sense of statelessness, further embedded in a perpetual state of chaos.
Since the conclusion of the difficult peace process that was initiated to end what became known as "Africa's World War" (1998-2002), the country has faced numerous challenges towards consolidating its shaky return to peace and stability. The first major and critical development towards restoring semblances of normality and confidence in the country's future was the highly-anticipated first democratic election in 2006--the first since the country's independence from Belgium in 1960. Five years later, the country is set to hold its second major presidential and parliamentary election, set for November 2011. It therefore appears timely to provide an assessment and review of the Democratic Republic of the Congo's future as it embarks on what is likely to be a challenging and critically important year--not only its attempts to consolidate its uncertain democracy, but also consolidating its increasingly fragile peace.
The overall aim of this issue is to serve as an "audit" and appraisal of the DRC's post-conflict peace dividend--in particular to undertake a post-peace accord appraisal of the various gains achieved and also the numerous setbacks that continue to challenge the behemoth that is the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in its long and arduous journey to peace, prosperity, and national unity.
This special issue seeks to include and feature essays from around the world, and especially from the African continent focusing on the following important issues:
* Victims or Victors? The Future of Women and the Gender Movement in post-War DRC
* The Eastern DRC: No War, No Peace? An Appraisal
* Keeping the Peace: The Future Role of MONUSCO
* Peace with Justice? The ICC, the DRC and Prospects for Successful War Crimes Prosecutions
* Can the Ballot Trump the Bullet? Reflections on the 2006 Elections and the Forthcoming 2011 Elections
* A Permanent Refuge? Prospects for the Return of the Refugee Population to post-War DRC
* Prospects for the Construction of a Security Community in the Great Lakes Region: Challenges and Pitfalls
* Rebels Without a Cause? Prospects for the Full Demobilization, Disarmament and Reintegration of the rebel movements in the DRC
* Preventing Africa's Second World War: The Status of Post-conflict Reconstruction, Peacebuilding and Reconciliation in the DRC
* An Inclusive and Civil Peace? The Future Role of Congolese Civil Society
* "Righting the Wrongs": The Human Rights Movement in the DRC
* Free, Fair...Futile? Prospects for Securing a Conflict-Free 2011 Election
Interested writers should submit essays (2,500-3,500 words) and 2-3 line bios to Peace Review no later than January 31, 2011. Essays should be jargon- and footnote-free.
See Submission Guidelines at: http://usf.usfca.edu/peacereview/guidelines.htm
Peace Review is a quarterly, multidisciplinary transnational journal of research and analysis focusing on the current issues and controversies that underlie the promotion of a more peaceful world.
Peace Review publishes essays on ideas and research in peace studies, broadly defined. Essays are relatively short (2,500-3,000 words,) contain no footnotes or exhaustive bibliography, and are intended for a wide readership. The journal is most interested in the cultural and political issues surrounding conflicts occurring between nations and peoples.
For more information on the journal and issues of style and formatting, see: http://usf.usfca.edu/peacereview/PRHome.html
Send submissions to Peace Review by email: peacereview@usfca.edu
Kerry Donoghue
Managing Editor, Peace Review (2010 Utne Press Award Finalist)
University of San Francisco
2130 Fulton Street
San Francisco, CA 94117-1080
Phone: 415-422-2910
Email: peacereview@usfca.edu