Exploring the Roles Metanarratives Play in the Dynamics of Conflict Recurrence in Madagascar: 1947-2016

Velomahanina Tahinjanahary Razakamaharavo

doi:10.22151/politikon.42.4

Authors

Velomahanina Tahinjanahary Razakamaharavo Université catholique de Louvain

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.22151/politikon.42.4

Keywords:

Accommodation Policies, Conflict Recurrence, Conflict Transformation, Metanrratives, Peace and Conflict Processes

Abstract

Madagascar has experienced various episodes of conflict since the colonization period. Despite the solutions local and external actors implemented, conflict recurs. Metanarratives such as socialism, communism, capitalism, and liberalism greatly impacted the conditions explaining the dynamics behind such recurrences. How did metanarratives contribute to the creation of more peaceful (de-escalating roles) or conflict situations (escalating roles)? With the help of Qualitative Comparative Analysis, this article identifies and studies the metanarratives influencing and being influenced by the following: a) conflict dimensions, b) the framing of the conflicts by the actors involved, c) the construction of the images of the self/the other, d) the accommodation policies (the solutions implemented to address the incompatibilities between the actors), and e) the repertoires of action. It argues that metanarratives play significant roles in transforming a conflict in both constructive and destructive ways.

Author Biography

Velomahanina Tahinjanahary Razakamaharavo, Université catholique de Louvain

Velomahanina Tahinjanahary Razakamaharavo, from Antananarivo (Madagascar) holds a PhD in “International Conflict Analysis” from the University of Kent, Brussels School of International Studies. She is currently a Scientific Collaborator at UCLouvain in Belgium. She wrote a PhD Thesis on the dynamics of conflict recurrence in Madagascar. Her interests include conflict transformation and peacebuilding, gender in peace support operations, and the implications of artificial intelligence in the fields of peace and security.