Paper short abstract:

Societal needs and demands in peacebuilding democratization settings are not met. As well, on the ground, governance is implemented over the need for government. The democratic process transforms through Culture of Violence, a metanarrative of fear and memories from war impregnates the democratic process.

Paper long abstract:

The international intervention in Afghanistan expands on the light of the ideas that justified the creation of democratic systems in post-conflict settings in 1992 Agenda for Peace (Boutros-Ghali, B.)., this research draws on the critiques to the ‘governance’ approach, that after almost twenty years of endeavour, this blueprint has become. It describes the effects, influences, and transformations that sprung from underestimating societal needs and demands at the local level (Chandler) in peacebuilding settlements. It does so through the prism of violence and fear (developed into the concept ‘Culture of Violence’). It suggests that the culture of violence is an underrated confining condition (Path Dependency, and Bourdieus’ Habitus) which transforms the democratic process on the ground into power balances, legitimacies, and decision-making processes based on values and social structures that, as Connerton posed it, are ‘Images from the past which legitimize the present social order’ instead of supporting new democratic institutions and values (Connerton). This recall of the past is used as a source of power in violent contexts. This research suggests that fear, as an effect of violence, is, in peacebuilding settings, the means to forms of power exercise (Foucault). As a response this paper draws on the communitarian literature, especially the paradigm of ‘me and us’ (Etzioni), to analyse how communitarian societies approach peacebuilding new political settings.