In a new review at the JCA publisher’s site (DOI: 10.1080/00472336.2017.1318412), Chiang Mai University’s Ashley South looks at Paul Hutchcroft’s edited collection, Mindanao: The Long Journey to Peace and Prosperity, published by Anvil Publishing in Manila.
Over several decades, the peace process on Mindanao has looked successful with bright prospects. At other times, it has been characterised by violence, frustration and despair.
This makes the new collection important. It “brings together many of the key analysts of, and some important stakeholders in, the Mindanao peace process. It does so at a critical juncture: the previous President of the Philippines, Benigno Aquino III, came close, but ultimately failed to achieve a comprehensive legal-political settlement to decades of conflict.” South says:
This book is a fascinating guide to these complexities, and should be essential reading for anyone interested in peace, conflict and the challenges of reconstruction on Mindanao. It also provides useful lessons for other situations of long-standing inter-communal and state–society conflict.
He concludes the review observing:
Every chapter in this collection makes important contributions towards its particular subject area. In total, the essays constitute a significant and useful resource for understanding violent conflict on Mindanao, and prospects for peace and prosperity.
