This book examines the processes and dynamics of cooperation between different actors in civil peace service projects in Kenya, Sierra Leone and Liberia. The joint handling of conflicts and peacebuilding challenges by local and international actors has a long tradition in German peace work and is becoming increasingly important in a globalized world. Therefore, the book explores the question, relevant for both academia and peace practitioners, to what extent an equal partnership can exist in the context of civil conflict transformation. By focusing on the opportunities and challenges of cooperation, the work succeeds in focusing on everyday activities, analyzing the actual processes and frictions of peace work, and making a valuable contribution to critical peace research and the discussion of hybridity and friction.

Samantha Ruppel is director of the African-German Leadership Academy at the German Institute of Development and Sustainability and an associate researcher at the Peace Research Institute Frankfurt. Her research interests include civil conflict transformation, partnership and power imbalance in peace and development work, and critical peace studies. The regional focus of her work is West and East Africa.