Mediation, Conflict, and Identity: The Role of Non State Actors in Peacebuilding in Balochistan, Pakistan, a Social Identity Perspective

Abstract

Pakistan's largest but poorest province, Balochistan, has been plagued by ethno-political conflict based on tribal antagonisms, political neglect and competing group identities. This paper presents a political science/political psychology argument that the role of non-state actors in peace processes in Balochistan cannot be fully understood without reference to social identity theory (SIT) as articulated by Henri Tajfel. In a wide-ranging review of the scholarly literature, the paper explores the role of civil society organizations (CSOs) and community leaders (Sardars and Maliks) as identity brokers - actors who manage, reshape and rebuild the group identities that simultaneously serve as a source of conflict and the building blocks for peace. The paper finds that the psychological processes identified by SIT (in-group favoritism, out-group threat, social categorization, and salience of the superordinate category) are evident in the dynamics of inter-tribal and ethno-political conflict in Balochistan, and that non-state actors' successful peacebuilding interventions are, in fact, exercises in identity psychology. These insights are placed within an integrated analytical framework that draws on SIT, conflict transformation, feminist, social constructionist, transitional justice and actor-oriented approaches to understanding peace processes. The findings suggest that peace in Balochistan can only be achieved through targeted identity-level interventions that are psychologically savvy, culturally sensitive, and institutionally underpinned.