Publication

Leadership Agency in UN Peace Operations

There is a growing interest in the role of individual mission leaders in UN peace operations in peacekeeping studies. However, the concept of ‘agency’ has remained latent in much of this literature. Tom Buitelaar assesses how this concept is addressed in peacekeeping studies and identifies gaps.

Author: Tom Buitelaar
Date: 12 September 2024
Links: Read the full article here

This article developed a conceptualisation of the agency of mission leaders in UN peace operations and its interaction with structural conditions. It argued that the existing literature in peacekeeping studies insufficiently recognises that mission leaders’ scope for agency is context-dependent and may thus vary per situation. Furthermore, it often fails to see mission leaders as real human beings, with personal identities that impact the ways they operate. Instead, this article argued for a conceptualisation of agency whereby individuals are embedded within structural environments, but nevertheless build on their personal identity to exercise agency by resisting, adapting, or reproducing existing constraints.