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Peacebuilding fragility and the dynamics of implementation: The Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration process during ONUMOZ in Mozambique
Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2026.
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University
2026
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| _version_ | 1867613952005898240 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Bennett, Monique Jessica |
| author2 | Lamb, Guy |
| author_browse | Bennett, Monique Jessica Lamb, Guy |
| author_facet | Lamb, Guy Bennett, Monique Jessica |
| author_sort | Bennett, Monique Jessica |
| collection | Thesis |
| dc_rights_str_mv | Stellenbosch University |
| description | Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2026. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/135617 |
| institution | Stellenbosch University (South Africa) |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:44:18.862Z |
| license_str | Other — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from SUNScholar — Stellenbosch University Repository |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| publishDateRange | 2026 |
| publishDateSort | 2026 |
| publisher | Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University |
| publisherStr | Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | SUNScholar — Stellenbosch University Repository |
| spelling | oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/135617 Peacebuilding fragility and the dynamics of implementation: The Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration process during ONUMOZ in Mozambique Bennett, Monique Jessica Lamb, Guy Palik, Julia Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Political Science. Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2026. Bennett, M. J. 2026. Peacebuilding fragility and the dynamics of implementation: The Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration process during ONUMOZ in Mozambique. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. Stellenbosch: Stellenbosch University [online]. Available: https://scholar.sun.ac.za/items/8b848493-3259-476b-81f3-a87ca066c9e1 Without peace agreements, peacebuilding mandates don’t exist, yet without effective implementation, those mandates remain symbolic rather than transformative. Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (DDR) represents a direct test of implementation by translating peace commitments into concrete action on the ground. However, studies have focused on provisions that exist in peace accords, rather than analysing how and to what extent they are realised through implementation. This thesis set out to examine how DDR implementation unfolded during the UN peacebuilding mission in Mozambique (ONUMOZ, 1992-1997) to identify mechanisms that enabled or constrained the DDR process. A qualitative single-case study approach was used to capture the process of DDR implementation and its dynamic nature. Extensive and recently declassified UN archival material, complemented by interviews and secondary sources, provided the empirical foundation for this qualitative case study. The study adapts an analytical framework proposed by Joshi (2024) focusing on actors, place and time. This framework enables a systematic analysis of how DDR implementation unfolds and helps with the identification of underlying mechanisms within the process. The thesis makes the case that whilst DDR is a site of contestation between political elites who advance conflicting agendas, the creation of an appearance of stability through formal procedural compliance may be politically functional, at least in the short term. The findings reveal three mechanisms that shaped Mozambique's DDR implementation. First, fragile commitment repair: peace commissions institutionalised dialogue and external oversight, yet consensus rules and elite veto powers converted credible commitment structures into arenas for strategic obstruction and cyclical partial compliance. Second, spatial reproduction of wartime orders: DDR unfolded within geographies still marked by the civil war's material and symbolic legacies. Uneven infrastructure, landmine contamination and the concentration of demobilised Renamo combatants in wartime strongholds meant that implementation reproduced rather than dismantled territorial authority patterns. Third, temporal compression and performative implementation: donor-driven electoral timetables compressed DDR sequencing, prioritising visible completion over substantive verification and trust-building, whilst combatants used protest and disruption to compel action when formal timelines stalled. Together, these mechanisms demonstrate that Mozambique's apparent DDR success rested on procedural cooperation and the coordination of appearances, producing a politically functional but institutionally fragile post-war order, rather than genuine demilitarisation or redistribution of power. The thesis contributes to peace implementation scholarship by demonstrating that DDR outcomes cannot be adequately understood through binary success or failure assessments or institutional design alone. Instead, it shows how implementation unfolds through the interaction of elite bargaining, spatial constraints and temporal pressures, producing stability that masks underlying institutional and political fragility rooted in implementation practices. By integrating underutilised archival evidence with a process-orientated analytical framework, the study advances understanding of how DDR programmes operate as contested political processes that may deliver short-term peace dividends whilst leaving deeper security dilemmas unresolved. Doctoral 2026-04-02T10:04:14Z 2026-04-02T10:04:14Z 2026-03 Thesis https://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/135617 en Stellenbosch University 228 pages : ill. application/pdf Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University |
| spellingShingle | Bennett, Monique Jessica Peacebuilding fragility and the dynamics of implementation: The Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration process during ONUMOZ in Mozambique |
| title | Peacebuilding fragility and the dynamics of implementation: The Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration process during ONUMOZ in Mozambique |
| title_full | Peacebuilding fragility and the dynamics of implementation: The Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration process during ONUMOZ in Mozambique |
| title_fullStr | Peacebuilding fragility and the dynamics of implementation: The Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration process during ONUMOZ in Mozambique |
| title_full_unstemmed | Peacebuilding fragility and the dynamics of implementation: The Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration process during ONUMOZ in Mozambique |
| title_short | Peacebuilding fragility and the dynamics of implementation: The Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration process during ONUMOZ in Mozambique |
| title_sort | peacebuilding fragility and the dynamics of implementation the disarmament demobilisation and reintegration process during onumoz in mozambique |
| url | https://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/135617 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT bennettmoniquejessica peacebuildingfragilityandthedynamicsofimplementationthedisarmamentdemobilisationandreintegrationprocessduringonumozinmozambique |