In this research, I explored the potential social capacity to manage community conflict for peacebuilding, focusing on the frameworks and procedural elements of Indigenous social customs or norms.  The role of the ‘hybrid-ness’ of peacebuilding in a post-Jihadist movement was observed empirically.   

    With my findings, I argue that Bangsamoro’s struggles for self-determination and ancestral domain shape gradationally hybridized peace (GHP) with their Islamic principles. Hybridity reflects how people relate to each other and their macro-micro-social relationships. The first macro aspect is colonial history, the second aspect is Islamic legal culture, the third aspect is (Islamic) rebellion, and the fourth micro aspect is customary.  The gradations of hybridity toward peace pathways depend on social relationships based on their social networks.  Ordinary people are experts in identifying genuine trust in everyday peace, which generates positive hope in any dispute resolution mechanisms.  They probe the hope through mediators or rulers' social behaviours and norms in their social relationships. 

    Therefore, the dispute resolution mechanism (DRM) can demonstrate the social relationship and the social network by analyzing each party’s norms and social behaviours in the post-conflict transitional society. The first step is to analyze the social relationships and social networks of both conflicting parties and mediators. The second step is to explore the hybridity and gradation of their elements of norms in peace, such as the definition of peace, community, and laws or community rules. Whether conflicting parties find ‘hope’ in the DRM or not can be illustrated by their trust in mediators. The formula of trust is based on how conflicting parties evaluate the social behaviours of mediators or rulers. This reflects the level of gradation. 

    This case study focused on Muslim society, demonstrating hybridity centred on Islamic principles. However, researchers argue that previously colonized societies are legally and culturally plural. Further, prolonged rebellions develop some governance mechanisms. This GHP formula can be applied to other prolonged conflict-affected societies by analyzing their social network and social relationships with their gatekeepers or regional rulers who directly shape their daily lives. 

    With this regard, I presented this argument in “Gradationally Hybridized Peace for Guiding Inclusive Peace Pathway:　A Case Study of Customary, Islamic and Modern Mechanisms in the Bangsamoro, the Philippines (in English),” at the 2024 Annual Conference of the Japan Association of International Relations in Sapporo, Japan.