English - Support to Participatory Constitution Building in Nepal ...

Contradiction and dualityDuality is the quality or character of being twofold or dichotomous. It is thecharacteristic of society today that any area of thought, belief or action isviewed in a dualistic manner, either positively or negatively. Much of thedynamic of society is determined by interaction, competition or conflictbetween those holding such polarised perspectives on any issue. It is alsoperceived that dualities are opposites that complement each other. Itreminds us that there are two sides to a story. Duality creates conflict andconflict brings challenges and opportunities.Contradiction and duality are seen at different levels - individual, group,and societal. They may overlap and are contextual. They develop as majorchallenges as well as opportunities for any post-conflict state buildingprocess. History shows that even the states have arisen out of the conflict(between and within countries) and societies have moved forward throughconflicts. So, contradictions and duality are major part of the rise and fall ofsocieties and civilisations in the world. There are many efforts undertakenand experience gained while dealing with contradictions and duality inpost-conflict countries. Experience gained at national and internationallevel, particularly of countries affected by violent armed conflict, wouldbe of immense importance in shaping Nepali post-conflict state buildingprocesses.2. International experienceThere were many serious conflicts in various parts of the world in the1990s. Some of them have calmed down recently. Nevertheless, theactual situation in many countries remains fragile and the countries facea multitude of problems for the reconstruction of stable societies. Withinbroad context, there are three distinct types of cases facing conflicttransformation and nation building (Diamond 2006). First are the postconflictstates that are emerging (or trying to emerge) from a period ofcivil war. Many of these countries have been in Africa — South Africa,Mozambique, Sierra Leone, Somalia etc. Some have been in Latin America(Nicaragua, El Salvador, indeed much of Central America), in Asia (e.g.Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Nepal), and in the Middle East (Lebanon,Algeria and Iraq). Second are the countries that are in the midst of civilwar or ongoing violent conflict, where central state authority has largelycollapsed, as in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. And third are thestates that, while not yet gripped with large-scale internal violence, are atsevere risk of it because of weak or weakening state authority and capacity,high levels of crime and privatised violence, and increasing polarisation of288