Post-war reconstruction and development are no longer viewed as separate conceptual or practical domains. This evolving concept is underpinned by a series of assumptions that assert the necessary links between democratization, economic reform and sustainable peace. This article builds on critiques of these assumptions by applying Chantal Mouffe’s political philosophy. In particular, the article will focus on democratization and the way in which Mouffe’s theoretical work leads us to consider a broader space for politics, the constructive role of conflict and the possibility of a more nuanced approach to the nature of post-war societies and processes of sustainable peace.
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