This roundtable asks whether contemporary peacebuilding, despite its language of justice and reconciliation, can reproduce the very structures of domination it seeks to overcome. In a fragmented world shaped by polarization, displacement, authoritarianism, climate insecurity, and digital surveillance, peacebuilding often operates through unequal relationships of expertise, funding, governance, and knowledge. The session brings decolonial critiques into conversation with questions of power, technology, and local agency, asking how peacebuilding can avoid becoming a tool of hierarchy, extraction, and control. Rather than rejecting peacebuilding, the discussion explores what forms of peace are possible when communities insist on plural knowledge, democratic accountability, and justice.
Facilitators:
- Silvestre Acedillo, Founder of the Consortium, Host of Roundtable
- Sadie Lockhart, Co-Facilitator
- Jamie Sackett, Co-Facilitator
Speakers:
- Dr, Al Fuertes, Faculty Sponsor, GMU | Commissioner, Truth & Reconciliation Commission, Philippines
- Dr. Sangeeta Mahapatra, Research Fellow, German Institute for Global & Area Studies
- Dr. Catherine Sobrevega, Mennonite Central Committee, Laos
- Jonathan Rudy, Peace Education, Mindanao Peacebuilding Institute | Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC)
- Dr. Mohammed Abu-Nimer, Professor of Peace and Conflict Resolution, American University School of International Service
