Tom Talks...

In this episode, I talk with Surer Mohamed about peacebuilding and critique. Our conversation starts by questioning the authenticity of peacebuilding as an activity carried out by international communities, using peacebuilding in Somalia as an example. It may well be that peacebuilding and intervention, supported by human rights rhetoric, are just attractive labels to cover-up what is really going on: namely, nation states flexing their muscles. We perhaps end up critiquing too much though, and become stuck in a hilarious paralysis for deciding what counts as a legitimate solution to the problems our critique raises.   Surer Mohamed researches at the intersections of African politics, critical theory, peace studies, and transitional justice. She recently completed an MPhil in International Relations and Politics at the University of Cambridge. Her dissertation was entitled: “Perpetual Peacebuilding: Charting Somalia’s Role in Discourses of the International.” Surer will be returning to Cambridge to begin her