Introduction

Inclusion has emerged as a prominent theme at the heart of peacemaking across theory, policy and practice. Mediation scholars, policy makers, and practitioners have argued that inclusion is critical for ending armed conflicts (Nilsson, 2012; Krause et al, 2018; Yousuf, 2018) and building peaceful states and societies (Castillejo, 2014; Bell and Pospisil, 2017; International IDEA, 2017; Pospisil and Rocha Menocal, 2017; World Bank Group and United Nations, 2018). These insights have been accompanied by efforts to promote inclusive peacemaking through stronger international policy frameworks (de Waal, 2017; Turner, 2020). However, despite its recent ubiquity, inclusion has remained an ill-defined term (Hellmüller, 2019). Calling for inclusive peace processes inevitably raises the questions of whom to include, how and why. Since peacemaking commonly entails the (re)negotiation of core features of state and society, discourses and practices of inclusion can be critical. Inclusion raises a host of issues that are at the heart of violent conflict and its resolution, pertaining not only to political voice and representation, but to questions of the identity of the included, their relationships and the political community they are part of. It thus appears that the seemingly benign and consensual idea of inclusion is, in fact, highly political.

This chapter seeks to problematize the research, policy and practice of inclusion by situating it in larger debates about what peace means and how it can be achieved. The idea of inclusion, if not the exact term, has long played an important role in the study of peace. We therefore aim to bring the epistemic dimension of the term – theories of peacebuilding that stipulate the relationship between inclusion and peace – into conversation with the emerging international policy framework on inclusive peacemaking, as well as with the practical efforts of mediation actors to promote inclusion in peace processes. We identify three main rationales put forth for inclusion that can be derived from peacemaking theory, and argue that these correspond with specific strategies of inclusion in peacemaking policy and practice. Importantly, these strategies also have implications for how the included are framed and this lastly effects the kind of peace that can be achieved. The chapter thus highlights important tensions in the conceptualization and use of inclusion and offers ways forward for a reflexive research and practice of inclusion.