Constructive Transformation: Studying Cases of Political Incorporation 

Civil war and other kinds of violent internal strife often end only when one side achieves victory over the other by use of force. Often these victories, if they come at all, come only after years of violence and bloodshed. Rarely do they result in the kinds of integrated socio-economic systems that are crucial to building lasting peace, especially where ethnic, cultural, or other identity-based differences are at the heart of the conflict.  There are, however, instances where the parties to such conflicts decide to constructively engage with each other through negotiation, third party mediation, or other kinds of de-escalatory techniques, sometimes alone, sometimes together, and sometimes with the help of an external third-party. In these instances, which include the ANC’s rise to political power in South Africa, the moderation of the Renamo rebel group in Mozambique, and the incorporation of the FMLN into the political process in El Salvador, the groups that had challenged state actors through violent means shifted their tactics toward less violent means of waging their struggle. 

The Program on the Analysis and Resolution of Conflicts and the Moynihan Institute of Global Affairs have initiated a project to investigate these ‘constructive transformations.’ We are interested in when, why, and how violent opposition movements and those they are challenging, take steps towards peaceful political incorporation. We are particularly interested in mapping: 1) the processes and dynamics that lead groups that are challenging existing power structures to engage in violent struggle, 2) the processes and dynamics that contribute to the de-escalation of violent struggle and the participation of challengers in peaceful political activities, 3) the dynamics that sustain and nurture this transformation.  To investigate these processes and dynamics we have developed a comparative case study methodology that can be applied to a cross section of cases from the recent and not-so-recent past. The resulting edited volume will provide a conceptual overview to the process of constructive transformation, an empirical framework for conducting analyses of this process, a set of cases that are analyzed using the framework, and a review of the lessons-learned from these cases. Our goal is to have a completed manuscript ready for publication in early 2008.