This project started from the observation that peacekeepers live in the same place as local residents, but do not live in the same world. The peacekeeping world is air-conditioned, clean, and well-guarded; it consists of decent housing, generous pay, access to vehicles, domestic help, and, usually, a robust (if limited) social life that revolves around patronising expensive restaurants, hotels, bars, and clubs. These establishments and activities - that which is needed to allow peacekeeping and peacekeepers to function - comprise the peacekeeping economy. The primary objective and achievement of this project is to develop the peacekeeping economy concept. The peacekeeping economy approach foregrounds empirical research that relies on sources missing from most work on peacekeeping and peacebuilding, such as sex workers; domestic workers; security guards; drivers; service workers; others in the informal sector; subcontracted workers; and UN national staff -- in addition to international personnel and local elites. It is primarily about people: a human-focused approach to political economy that, while retaining a concern for the activities and impact of international structures and organisations, centres on individuals and the relationships between them. We argue that this approach allows us to observe certain aspects of peacekeeping missions that we otherwise would not see: the practice and politics of everyday life of those involved in a peacekeeping mission, and those living with and alongside these missions. Using the peacekeeping economy approach to identify and examine certain everyday practices of the mission and its peacekeepers in turn helps to illuminate the way that peacekeeping is currently done, and some of the ramifications that this has for peacekeepers and locals alike. Project participants have conducted extensive fieldwork in the peacekeeping economies in Liberia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and South Sudan, and one of the most important findings is that the peacekeeping economy 'system' is set up to reward those that already have the most - including those that benefited the most from the preceding conflict. More than that, the benefits of the peacekeeping economy are distributed in ways that are extremely hierarchical and non-transparent. This has clear implications for the UN peacekeeping mission in how it is perceived on the ground. The findings from the project can also contribute to current UN peacekeeping reform processes, particularly in terms of how missions are structured and mission funds are used vis-a-vis local populations and enterprises.
