The research is inspired by the question: what drives a resilient social contract in countries affected by conflict and fragility? Comparative findings aim to elucidate how the social contract manifests, adapts to, and is understood in different contexts.
The research investigates three “drivers” of a resilient social contract that have been developed through a deep examination of the relevant bodies of literature and subject to extensive discussion with the project team of advisers.
Project and Document Summary This comparative findings (full) report provides evidence and insight with detailed explanations of our summary findings across nine country cases, into what drives social contracts that are inclusive and resilient, and how they manifest and adapt in different contexts, transcending what are often unsustainable, ephemeral elite bargains into more inclusive ones, with durable arrangements for achieving and sustaining peace. The project involves international scholars, policy advisers and authors from the countries examined: Afghanistan, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Colombia, Cyprus, Nepal, Somalia, South Sudan, South Africa, Tunisia, Yemen and Zimbabwe. The project activities took place from 2016 to mid 2018 and include case research in these countries, a series of policy and scholarly dialogues and this summary. This Full Report (with Cases) introduces the project context, the project’s research framing, and findings from nine of the 11 case studies. Numerous validation workshops and policy dialogues in the case study countries and elsewhere inform the findings. Policy recommendations for
Project and Document Summary COVID-19 has brought crisis to the doorstep of every country in the world, spotlighting politicalincoherence and failed policy visions, deep vulnerabilities of systems and institutions acrosssectors, and polarised state and societal relations. This is occurring in underdeveloped anddeveloped countries alike. At the same time, there is growing awareness that such crises also createopportunities to refashion the rules of the game in transformative ways. This paper unpacks the question of how COVID-19 and the crisis-driven responses to addressthe pandemic can contribute to wider national goals relating to forging or strengthening nationalsocial contracts – that tie bold new policy visions to robust and resilient systems and institutionalarrangements, that transform harmful structural legacies and strengthen social contracts – that canadapt, evolve and sustain in the face of crisis, and that hold promise for ever-greater levels of well-being for all in society. To investigate this topic, the paper first introduces the discussion of buildingback better from crisis, and
Executive Summary This working paper makes a case for rethinking the social contract concept in the contemporary era, in countries affected by conflict and/or fragility. Inspired by policy efforts to rethink the concept as a means to better address the challenges of peacebuilding and statebuilding, the paper aims to theoretically ground the topic and offer a heuristic framing that supports the evolution of scholarship, policy and practice. It is laid out in the following sections: Introduction: This section sets the context, pointing to the deep challenges undermining the state from above, transnationally and below. It highlights limitations of policy efforts in areas of peacebuilding and statebuilding to address these and the scholarly critiques surrounding their strategic design and delivery –all of which suggest the need for greater focus on the social contract. Enduring themes of the social contract: Historical and contemporary theorising efforts are scanned and their limitations assessed, making a case for the concept’s rich applicability across
Project and Document Summary This comparative findings summary report provides evidence and insight across nine country cases into what drives social contracts that are inclusive and resilient, and how they manifest and adapt in different contexts, transcending what are often unsustainable, ephemeral elite bargains into more inclusive ones, with durable arrangements for achieving and sustaining peace.
Project and Document Summary “Forging Resilient National Social Contracts” is a twelve-country research and policy dialogue project that aims to revitalise the social contract concept in contexts affected by conflict and fragility, in order to advance policy and practice for preventing violent conflict and achieving and sustaining peace. The comparative findings aim to elucidate how the social contract manifests, adapts to, and is understood in different contexts. The project is supported by an esteemed group of scholars, policy advisers, and authors from the countries examined: Afghanistan, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Colombia, Cyprus, Nepal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, South Africa, Tunisia, Yemen and Zimbabwe. The project activities taking place from 2016-2018 include twelve country case studies and a series of policy and scholarly dialogues. They will culminate in a series policy papers on cross-cutting and critical themes emerging from the research, a scholarly book focused on the case studies, and policy-oriented publications on assessing and forging resilient national social contracts, to
Document and Event Summary Click above to download the full report. From February 26-March 3, 2017 the Project Working Group met in Bellagio, Italy, to reflect upon research progress and challenges, research methodology, areas of convergence and specificity within and across cases, and strategies to maximise scholarly and policy impact. The workshop commenced with a presentation and discussion on the framing of the study. This was followed by case study authors presenting their progress, and in some cases, early findings, and discussion around these. Project Director, Dr Erin McCandless, outlined the project framing, including the key questions and propositions driving the inquiry. The comparative findings aim to elucidate how the social contract manifests, adapts to, and is understood in different contexts. In 2016, the project became a proud recipient of a Bellagio Centre,
