Top-down and bottom-up narratives of peace and conflict

Mac Ginty, Roger; Firchow, Pamina

Abstract

Based on findings from the Everyday Peace Indicators project, the article considers how top-down and bottom-up narratives and understandings of conflict often differ. The article posits that top-down narratives are often the result of a peculiar framing system that imposes imaginaries on conflicts and those experiencing them. The bottom-up narratives, based on research in South Africa, South Sudan, Uganda and Zimbabwe, show that localised perceptions of peace, safety and security are not only articulated in different ways to top-down narratives but also raise different issues.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Online Publication Date: Jun 21, 2016
• Publication Date: Aug 1, 2016
• Deposit Date: May 2, 2019
• Journal: Politics
• Print ISSN: 0263-3957
• Electronic ISSN: 1467-9256
• Publisher: Political Studies Association
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 36
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 308-323
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0263395715622967
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1297437