Peace Constituencies in Peacebuilding: The Mesas de Concertación in Guatemala

How do people build peace in the midst of armed confrontation or during post-conflict periods marked by outbreaks of violence? Many scholars argue that a peacebuilding process is sustainable only if it is owned by the population (e.g., Jeong, 2006: 33). This is why it is essential to study the role of local actors in this process. In practice, however, local peace initiatives are often overlooked because they do not fit into the agendas of international agencies. As Prendergast and Plumb (2002: 346–7) argue, 'The potential contributions of local civil society organisations (CSOs) are often ignored or unrecognised by academics and policy makers, who look principally at larger strategic issues and do not view these actors working on "softer" issues such as people-to-people reconciliation as relevant to the larger picture of peace implementation.'