Civil Society and Peacebuilding in the Southern African Development Community Countries: A Critical Perspective

Abstract

Civil society organizations are present at all levels of contemporary peacebuilding efforts. The international community has devoted substantial efforts toward building and strengthening the capacities of civil society organizations and harnessing their potential as peace actors. Our search for available literature revealed that there is a scarcity of contributions dealing with the role of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) in the enforcement of peace within the region. To address this gap, the chapter provides a critical exploration of the link between civil society and peacebuilding. The chapter further discusses the role that civil society organizations play in peacebuilding across the SADC region. Our discussion takes its perspective from the SADC Protocol on “Politics, Defence & Security Co-Operation” enacted in 1996. Theoretically, our discussion is guided by the theory of structural functionalism that was popularized by Radcliff-Brown in the 1950s. Structural functionalism theory encourages the understanding of civil society organizations as initiatives or as social systems that support and sustain global efforts in strengthening peacebuilding efforts. To achieve the aims of this chapter, we employed Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA). Secondary data sources such as newspapers and online articles covering civil society and peacebuilding issues were analyzed. The chapter concludes with recommendations for the SADC member states to foster peace and development, and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).