New winners and losers in North Waziristan: Understanding tensions between top-down projects and local knowledge in the post-conflict setting (2015–2019)

Abstract

There is a growing academic literature on the role of cultural sensitivity in post-conflict peace-building. However, the role of local knowledge in a post-conflict reconstruction setting is rarely discussed explicitly. Attempting to fill the gap, this research paper aims at understanding why local knowledge is imperative to achieve just and equitable post-conflict reconstruction policies and practices. Using qualitative field data, the paper is based on the experiences and lessons learned from the post-conflict reconstruction efforts (2015–2019) in the tribal district of North Waziristan (NW), Pakistan. The paper finds out that while establishing human security as a benchmark, top-down reconstruction policies and projects ignore local knowledge and, in fact, exacerbate pre-existing fragilities by creating new winners and losers. The refashioning of the social order, along with notions of justice and equity, in the post-conflict setting results in local disputes among families and tribes. The paper argues that cultural-sensitive reconstruction planning is even more pertinent and pragmatic in “close-knit community” settings, where people remain dependent on continuous social and economic relationships with each other. Rather, a less sensitive approach to cultural factors most often fosters discord, thereby reinforcing tensions and power inequalities.