Local Turn in Knowledge Production About Post-Conflict Societies: The Case of the Balkan Peace Index

The notion that peace can be measured has been heavily criticised in peace and conflict studies. The critique has even produced an alternative approach based on local voices and participatory methods, where peace is understood as a subjective category. Still, alternatives have not been successful in translating contextual knowledge into meaningful policies. By relying on the 'local turn' and the Balkan Peace Index, the article tries to answer whether the contextual knowledge of local researchers could be used in producing an index that is policy-relevant yet still grounded in local realities of countries where the measurement is taking place.