Rethinking Mediation During Contested Regime Transformation and Episodes of Mobilization

This chapter explores the ways in which structural condition such as political institutions, historical legacies and economic realities shape the limits of what is possible in mediation and resulting peace processes. Mediation scholarship focusing on international diplomacy and formal processes has paid little attention to the interplay between contested political processes ats regime level and the collective action of ordinary people in demonstrations, protests and revolutions. Yet both regime type and previous patterns of mobilisation and protest impact the space for manoeuvre in mediation. The chapter highlights how pre-existing configurations of political contestation, as well as unexpected manifestations of political agency affect what is deemed possible by both the regime and outside contenders, making these dynamics important aspects of a peace mediation process.