Description
Violent conflicts are mainly made visible due to the devastating effects they have on individuals and communities. Images of horrors and massacres against civilians, destruction of physical infrastructure, human displacement or large-scale rape, amongst others, are often the most noticeable elements that tend to call our attention. This portrayal of violence tends to assume – or, at the very least, focus specifically on – armed conflicts as spaces where there are only enemies who confront each other relentlessly, both physically and discursively. However, several war narratives and studies reveal situations of coexistence between different forces whilst in combat (Viaene, 2010; Balcells and Justino, 2014; Westendorf, 2015). This coexistence, often invisible in the mainstream of Peace and Conflict Studies, can be studied through micro-peace agreements in contexts of apparent intense violence. Using Mozambique as a case study and, in particular, fieldwork done in 2016-2018 in the Zambézia province, this article builds on the life stories of those who recently participated in combat operations, which includes both combatants and non-combatants. It aims to explore these invisible narratives, seeking to identify the role of micro-peace agreements within the peace process, and analyse how they can contribute to reconciliation and a bottom-up and more sustainable peacebuilding.
