Relational Perspectives on Peace Formation: Symbiotic Relations in the Provision of Security and Justice in Post-colonial States

The multiplicity of sources of security and justice in post-colonial states are often categorised according to a series of fixed analytical binaries. Such reductive dichotomies often mask the fluid and evolutionary ecology of these highly networked actors. As a result, the ways in which they co-produce social order is seldom well understood, and the ramifications for peacebuilding remain underexplored. This chapter examines the relationships between providers of security and justice. Using examples from fieldwork in West Africa, it presents a case for a relational approach to peace formation and introduces the concept of symbiosis to develop a framework for evaluating these relations.