The Routledge International Handbook of Trauma-Responsive Peacebuilding

This comprehensive handbook offers a multidisciplinary exploration of research and practice at the intersection of trauma and peacebuilding.

Highlighting case studies from diverse conflict contexts around the globe, the book offers conceptual reflections and practical illustrations of trauma-sensitive and trauma-responsive approaches to interventions across the humanitarian- peacebuilding-development spectrum. Chapters critically evaluate the current state of research and policy discourse, including the global Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) agenda, bringing greater attention to the issue of collective trauma and offering original insights and good practices for engaging with trauma-affected populations. The book highlights the work of international researcher-practitioners who reflect on the implications of personal, collective, transgenerational, and historical trauma for peacebuilding, providing practical recommendations for improved theory and practice. It also emphasises the importance of decolonizing trauma and peacebuilding practices, foregrounding perspectives from the Global South as alternatives to conventional Western frameworks.

This handbook will appeal to researchers and postgraduate students in the fields of trauma studies, peace psychology, peace and conflict studies, migration, humanitarian and development studies. It will also be important reading for professionals in mental health and psychosocial support, humanitarian aid and donor agencies, peacebuilding professionals and activists, NGOs and anyone working with populations affected by ongoing and historical conflict.