Situating Peace in the Globalized Era: Perspectives of Youth Peace-Builders in Laos Siew Fang Law, Christopher Sonn, and Cynthia Mackenzie Victoria University Globalization influences the everyday life of people and events throughout the world. This article examines the interaction of global–local effects on the constructs and practices of peace through narratives of youth peace-builders in postconflict, postco- lonial Laos. We explored the hybrid “understanding” and “doing” of peace through the stories of young people involved in antihuman trafficking programs operated by a transnational humanitarian organization in Laos. Thematic analysis of interview data shows that the youth peace-builders navigated global-local influences through pro- cesses of reinventing and renegotiating the concepts of peace and peace-building in Laos. Keywords: globalization, peace-building, human trafficking, youth, hybridity The 21st century is the era of globalization (e.g., Aksu & Camilleri, 2002; Gannon, 2008; Marsella, 2012; Stiglitz, 2002), and a notable number of peace scholars in psychology have been conceptualizing “peace” and “violence” in this changing era (e.g., Bretherton & Balvin, 2012; Christie, 2006; Christie, Tint, Wagner, & Winter, 2008; Galtung, 1996; Montiel & No- raini, 2009). Although there are calls for the field of psychology to respond to the increas- ingly complex, unpredictable, and challenging world of global interconnections (Diaz & Zirkel, 2012; Morris, Mok, & Mor, 2011), many psychological studies on globalization are fo- cused on researching specific global problems, such as socioeconomic inequality and migration (Marsella, 2012). Yet, it seems that not many researchers have explicitly engaged the connec- tions between globalization and peace. Globalization is a term that captures the tech- nological innovations, the flow of global capi- tal, the availability of travel, and the ubiquity of the mass media, which have resulted in a world that is significantly interconnected (Hall, 2010; Marsella, 2012). Giddens (1990) describes the “worldwide intensification of global relations” SIEW FANG Law was trained in social and applied psychol- ogy and is interested in the newly arrived migrants’ experi- ence of peace and conflict in the host society. Her main research areas include socio-cultural construction of conflict, conflict resolution, and peace-building. She teaches in sub- jects such as Conflict Resolution and Peace, Violence, and Conflict at Victoria University. Dr. Law is a member of the Community, Identity, and Displacement Research Network (http://www.communityidentity.com.au). CHRISTOPHER SONN is an associate professor who teaches in areas of community, cultural and liberation psychology, and qualitative research methods. His research is in the area of sense of community, social identity, immigration, and intergroup relations. A major focus of his research is on understanding non-dominant group responses to oppres- sion, including racism. He has investigated the adaptation of different immigrant communities to Australia as well as the responses of Indigenous Australians to dominant group settings and stories. CYNTHIA MACKENZIE is a postdoctoral fellow at Victoria University. Cynthia’s studies have been within the disci- pline of political science; she holds a BA-honours (Cal- gary), MA (York), and PhD (Latrobe), with a specializa- tion in the area of international development and international human rights. She is interested in issues of identity and belonging related to settlement and multicul- turalism, particularly for refugee background youth; youth approaches to peace and peace-building, particularly in Sri Lanka and diaspora communities within Australia; and in questions regarding inner-peace and the relationship be- tween internal and external journeys of peace-building (including pilgrimage). THE STUDY ON Laos youth peace-builders was funded by 2011 Victoria University’s Research Development Grant. The authors thank all participants who contributed to the study. We appreciate assistance from Dr. Lesley Pruitt and Ms. Soukanlaya collecting data in Laos. Appreciation also goes to Professor Michael Hamel-Green and Professor Diane Bretherton for commenting on the earlier drafts. CORRESPONDENCE CONCERNING THIS ARTICLE should be addressed to Siew Fang Law, P.O. Box 14428, Melbourne VIC 8001, Australia. E-mail: siewfang.law@vu.edu.au This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers. This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly. Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology © 2014 American Psychological Association 2014, Vol. 20, No. 2, 109 –123 1078-1919/14/$12.00 DOI: 10.1037/pac0000024 109