Post-Conflict Societies: Consensus-Building and the Decline of Voluntary Return

Abstract The article focuses on voluntary return in post-conflict societies in the context of negotiated peace settlements and post-conflict transitions. Despite efforts by governments, international NGOs, and victims of displacement themselves, the proportion of actual returnees worldwide has been in significant decline since the 1990s. The article addresses this puzzle by investigating failures and partial successes, including the trajectory of main displacement crises and reversals in the past three decades. Focusing on “least likely” cases, such as Rwanda, Bulgaria, Colombia, and Ethiopia, the article introduces a novel concept in the forced migration literature—“consensus-building”—aiming to capture the coordination mechanisms and complexity of relevant decision-making processes involving victim groups. The article demonstrates the potential for and limits of institutional design and community mobilization in reversing the effects of displacement and highlights the importance of recurrent consensus mechanisms involving coordination across the multiplicity of dimensions, units of analysis, and relevant actors that shape voluntary return.