Making Sense of War and Peace: From extreme distrust to institutional trust in Aceh, Indonesia

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Abstract

When people tell stories about their past experiences, they often include descriptions that infer changes in trust repertoires over time, especially when the stories relate to serious life dramas like war and peace. A happy ending can make a past war appear meaningful. In this case study, retrospective narratives summarizing fifty years of history in Aceh, Indonesia, were analyzed using Fuglsang’s & Jagd’s framework (2013). The concept spiritual trust is introduced, and the case study indicates that when neither institutions nor powers are strong enough to support trusting, trust in a divine power can provide an alternative framework for sensemaking and trusting. In Aceh, three decades of civil war ended with a peace process in 2005, and extreme distrust was then replaced by institutional trust. Insights from that process are of relevance for the study of trust-repair.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationTrust, Organizations and Social Interaction : Studying Trust as Process within and between Organizations
EditorsSøren Jagd, Lars Fuglsang
Number of pages18
Place of PublicationCheltenham, UK
PublisherEdward Elgar Publishing
Publication dateMay 2016
Pages107-124
Chapter6
ISBN (Print)9781783476190
ISBN (Electronic)9781783476206
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - May 2016
Event8th FINT/EIASM Conference on Trust Within and Between Organisations - Coventry University, Coventry, United Kingdom
Duration: 5 Nov 20147 Nov 2014
http://www.eiasm.org/frontoffice/event_announcement.asp?event_id=1043#3955

Conference

Conference8th FINT/EIASM Conference on Trust Within and Between Organisations
LocationCoventry University
Country/TerritoryUnited Kingdom
CityCoventry
Period05/11/201407/11/2014
Internet address

Keywords

  • Trust building
  • Sensemaking
  • Narrativ analyse
  • Trust repertoires
  • Trust repair
  • Peace Processes
  • Spiritual trust

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