When Institutionalisation Threatens Peacebuilding: The Case of Kenya’s Infrastructure for Peace

Abstract

What are the effects of institutionalisation on long-term peacebuilding? In theory, institutionalisation enhances national and local capacities to sustain peace in the long term. However, in the case of Kenya, institutionalisation now poses a threat to peacebuilding. Institutionalisation is the process of formalising peacebuilding through state policy and structures that aim to sustain more permanent capacities for peace. Institutionalising peacebuilding through the infrastructure for peace in Kenya has increased national capacities for peace. Yet the process of institutionalisation now threatens local agency, effective peace practice, and resource sustainability. These findings are based on qualitative data gathered through semi-structured interviews, participant observation, and documentary evidence. While infrastructures for peace vary in composition and degree of institutionalisation, the findings from Kenya offer insights on the potential threats of institutionalisation to the sustainability of long-term peacebuilding.