'Trapped Reconciliation': Examining the Contribution of Reconciliation in Post-conflict Peacebuilding - The Case 01 Sri Lanka Since 2009

Abstract

This paper contributes to both practice and theoretical development of how reconciliation can impact on "positive peace" as a significant peacebuilding effort of a post-conflict society. The study examines Sri Lanka as a unique case. In Sri Lanka, on the one hand, reconciliation is a national goal. On the other hand, it is an everyday need for mutual trust and healing of those affected by thirty years of war. It is debated how reconciliation, evident for six or seven years at grassroot and national levels, can contribute to post-conflict peace in the country. The research paper has prioritized how truth seeking, healing and justice are core contributory factors of reconciliation that impact the structural changes of the conflict that affected Sri Lanka. These structural changes are caused when using different peacebuilding approaches such as the "bottomup approach" and the "top-down approach". However, reconciliation has experienced a number of vital challenges to bringing about effective outcomes. These challenges are the complex nature of the process, diverse interests of people, politicized decisionmaking, policy gaps and many more. While investigating important empirical findings about the reconciliation process in Sri Lanka, the research critically examines the use of different reconciliation approaches and its contribution to facilitate effective outcomes.