Last December 06, Dr. Dahlia Simangan, a Visiting Professor from Hiroshima University, launched her book entitled International Peacebuilding and Local Involvement at MSU-IIT. Moderated by Prof. Primitivo Ragandang III, a faculty member from the Department of Political Science, Dr. Simangan and Prof. Ragandang explored the essence of her book. The book launch was a joint presentation of the Center for Multidisciplinary Studies and the College of Arts and Social Sciences (CASS).
In his opening spiel, Prof. Ragandang hints at how, more often than not, academic works are being thrown to the shelves after their defense, "most of the time we just have a thesis, and we just put it in a drawer and forget about it as long as we get a diploma," "but the challenge now is how to be you po?" the Professor jokingly remarked. "How to translate a thesis, a mere requirement into a book, as you have beautifully [done]?" the host added.
Dr. Simangan's work probes the perception that liberal peace is in crisis and explores the question: "can the local turn save liberal peacebuilding?" The book's author presented a case for a liberal renaissance in peacebuilding and endeavors to interrogate the assumptions behind the widespread perception that liberal peace is in crisis. During her presentation, she noted how her book re-examines three cases igniting the debate: Cambodia, Kosovo, and Timor-Leste.
When she explained how she decided to go with peacebuilding for her Doctoral dissertation and later in her book, the young author explained,
I am so interested in this topic because it has so many complications, and I love solving puzzles." She proceeds by explaining that after her Master's thesis, she wanted to delve deeper into what happens next after intervention "and that is where peacebuilding comes in. Peacebuilding process happens after this military or humanitarian intervention, and at that time, I thought that if you have this ethical, political, and legal dilemma in humanitarian intervention, then you know naturally you also have these dilemmas in the peacebuilding missions.
Present at the book launch were also discussants who shared their thoughts and gave their reviews of Dr. Simangan's work and presentation.
Director Mark Anthony Torres of the University's Institute for Peace and Development in Mindanao (IPDM) shared his learning insights, underscoring the concept of meaningful participation, especially in Bangsamoro.
I've also believed that involvement of local actors…that is very important for us peacebuilders is what we call as meaningful participation. For example in the context of the Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) we have always mentioned that in some of the places we've harvested data with is that the youth are basically present in the meetings but in terms of meaningful participation it is absent.
Mr. Torres continued by pointing out that "what I think is really important is that the focus would be for the Bangsamoro, [from] what I have learned from what you have shared is that there are a lot of things that we can learn from these experiences for us to prevent conflicts from again happening especially in parts of the Bangsamoro."
PhD Student Pat Ray Dagapioso from Mindanao State University Naawan gave her review of Dr. Simangan's book. "The book is an excellent look at how peacebuilding efforts have been introduced in post conflict areas."
Looking into the specific contributions of the book, Dagapioso noted how she
really appreciate deeply in the book is that it does not romanticize the local peacebuilding scholarship and practice. For one Dr. Simangan highlighted that local peacebuilding had its own issues and cautioned us in romanticizing the local in peacebuilding.
Prof. Yasmira Moner, a faculty member from the Department of Political Science, also shared her insights and review of Dr. Simangan's book.
Reading your book is a breath of fresh air. As a lifelong learner of Politics and Peacebuilding, I consider your book a wake up call to the Global Community and the need to revisit liberal peacebuilding frameworks, structure, processes, and systems against the rise of right-wing populist regimes, the Ukraine war, and the tensions in the South China Sea.
The event was conducted in two modalities, online via Zoom and face-to-face.
Dr. Simangan is an Associate Professor (tenure-track) at Hiroshima University's Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences. Her research interests in peace and conflict include topics on post-conflict peacebuilding, the relationship between peace and sustainability, the United Nations, international relations in the Anthropocene, and human rights issues in the Philippines. Dr. Simangan also holds a PhD in International, Political, and Strategic Studies, with a focus on International Relations, from the Australian National University (2017).
About the Author
Reggy Bartido
Reggy H. Bartido is a Senior BA Sociology undergraduate student of the Mindanao State University - Iligan Institute of Technology (MSU-IIT). At the present, Reggy holds the post of Editor-in-Chief of CASSayuran - the official publication of the College of Arts and Social Sciences (CASS) of MSU-IIT. That said, Mr. Bartido’s undergraduate thesis (on-going) primarily revolves around Environmental Sociology studies and Sustainable Development, areas that are part of his research interest that also includes Youth Studies and Political Sociology.
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