Exploring Connections Between Peacebuilding and Livelihoods in Solomon Islands: locating security and development discourses

Abstract

Over the past two decades, a narrative stemming from world leaders, institutions and academics has become increasingly pronounced, arguing that security and development are intimately linked. This narrative identifies developing countries as potential ‘failed states’; threats to global peace and security. While it is often claimed that security and development are connected, it is rarely explained in detail as to how or why. This thesis seeks to both interrogate this narrative and elaborate on it by subverting the dominant agenda-laden language through which it has been spread around the globe. In order to achieve this I explore the possible connections between peacebuilding activities, as a positive reframing of security, and livelihoods, as a specific subset of development. Peacebuilding and livelihoods have not traditionally been linked in academic scholarship or in development practice, yet according to the security/development nexus, theoretically they are linked. The experiences of civil society actors in Solomon Islands are thus used to build a more thorough understanding of how connections between peacebuilding and livelihoods might occur. The chosen case study, Solomon Islands, is one of the least developed countries in the Pacific and is also a country recovering from recent internal conflict. This research asks civil society actors not only if they conceptualise a link between peacebuilding and livelihoods, but also how they experience that connection and how it affects the context they operate in. I argue that a connection between security and development, and peacebuilding and livelihoods, is most certainly a reality for Solomon Islands civil society and communities. I also demonstrate that those connections are by no means straightforward, but multifaceted and dynamic. This thesis aims to contribute to interdisciplinary scholarship and encourage creative, holistic development approaches in complex situations.