Rhétorique de la cohésion sociale et paradoxes de la « paix par le bas » en Côte d’Ivoire »

Social Cohesion and the paradoxes of building peace from below in Côte d’Ivoire After 2011, the government of Côte d’Ivoire and the international community engaged in actions aimed at supporting peace at the local and community level. These actions appear however problematic in a political environment characterised by the lack of elite-level reconciliation. This article, based on research carried out in Abidjan and in the West of the country, reflects critically on the role that local peacebuilding programmes play within the model of post-conflict reconstruction put forward by the Ouattara government and challenges the assumption that the “local” might constitute a sphere separate from the national level. It highlights how local actors entertain important relationships – material but also symbolic – with national elites.