Civil Society in Fragile Contexts

Policies to promote peace in conflict-torn societies increasingly include “civil society (CS) building” as an aim; however, in such settings, it is often difficult – if not impossible – to distinguish between state and society, or between “civil” and “uncivil”. Local legitimacy (representativeness and a strong support base) and international legitimacy (living up to norms of inclusiveness and nonviolence) rarely overlap. This poses complex challenges for those aiming to strengthen CS in support of peace. This chapter illustrates those challenges by exploring the experiences of the staff of a Dutch peacebuilding organization with identifying local CS partners in Ituri (DRC)