Competing Visions and Converging Realities? Justice and Security Governance in Post-Conflict Bougainville and Solomon Islands

Abstract

This article examines narratives and practices of post-conflict recovery in Bougainville and Solomon Islands respectively, with particular emphasis on the governance of justice and security. The original visions and pathways to recovery differed markedly in each case. Drawing on local strengths, including traditional leadership and customary practices of reconciliation, was integral to Bougainville’s aspirations for peacebuilding and the shaping of its post-conflict social and political order. Under the auspices of a major Australian-led regional intervention, Solomon Islands followed a more conventional state building approach that made few concessions to the significance of local non-state social institutions and actors in relation to justice and security. Despite these initial divergences, recent years have seen growing areas of convergence in both places, notably around acknowledging the importance of practical hybridity between state and non-state forms of justice and security governance.