In civil society, a major actor of peacebuilding processes, networking is
rapidly increasing its importance. Therefore this book analyses a nongovernmental
organization based in India which follows a networking
approach to confront and mitigate communal conflict. The theoretical part
shows findings from general networking theory, the networking of nongovernmental
organizations including their links to state actors, and
networks related to peacebuilding as well as an overview of the conflict
patterns in India. The conclusion from the analysis is that networks which try
to root themselves in the communal level of society should adopt a
developmental approach to gain access and create a broad basis for
participation. If these networks then include individuals from both sides of
the conflict divide they have a high potential to encourage the building of
bridging social capital between the communities. Once the participatory basis
is established a number of peacebuilding activities like monitoring, reconciliation
or advocacy can be implemented through these networks.