Love Thy Neighbor: Post-Civil War Reconciliation and Social Inequality

This thesis investigates the role of social inequality in the recurrence of civil war, arguing that prevailing peacebuilding strategies—such as power-sharing agreements and peacekeeping missions—are insufficient without a genuine commitment to social equity. Drawing on theories of relative deprivation and (re)humanization, I contend that unresolved grievances rooted in perceptions of civil and public inequality among social groups significantly undermine the durability of peace. Using a multilevel logistic regression analysis of post-conflict societies from 1992 to 2023, I find that greater equality in civil liberties and access to public services significantly reduces the likelihood of renewed conflict, even when controlling for established peacebuilding mechanisms. These findings are further illustrated through a comparative case study of the First and Second Liberian Civil Wars, which underscores the importance of inclusive governance and community-level reconciliation. This research contributes to the peacebuilding literature by highlighting the critical need to address social grievances in post-conflict societies to prevent cyclical violence and promote sustainable peace.