Suchergebnisse

Theory is the fourth cornerstone of the science business. With the aid of appropriate logical framework of techniques, that is, methodology, scientists use theories to link the philosophical foundations, comprising ontology and epistemology, to empirical data, thereby completing and validating their investigations as scientific enterprises. The paper examines the nature, origins and role of theory and stresses its centrality to empirical and analytical works in Peace and Conflict Research (PCR) as an applied (social science) research. It lists twenty-five theories in PCR and classified them using the core distinction issues in Peace and Conflict Studies and the traditional classifications based on agency and structural and political economy. The paper also presents and discusses the tension between theory verification and theory generation in Peace and Conflict Research. It makes a case for theory generation PCR of African peace and conflict dynamics by African peace and conflict researchers.

This article deals with violences of culture and cultures ofviolence. After reviewing the specificity of anthropological viewsof violence, we propose a processual reconceptualisation of this,reflect on the forms and possible consequences of ethnographicresearch and representation in this field, and end by outlining thefuture of an anthropology of violence that can also be an anthropologyof peace. An epilogue on 11 March serves to relocate thistheoretical sketch in the context of global terrorism. ; Peace and Conflict Studies has its origins in the moral reflection of leading politicians, such as Woodrow Wilson, Georges Clemenceau, and David Lloyd George, on the massive human and social costs of World War I. An estimated eight million soldiers died in combat, while another two million went missing. The awareness that humankind should never again engage in this type of industrial warfare led to the foundation of the League of Nations in 1919 and the simultaneous development of Peace Studies as the multidisciplinary study of peace by social and political scientists, in contrast to the fi eld of War Studies, which was dominated by military scholars. Almost a century later, this book is a fi rst effort at putting together the different perspectives of scholars working in the last few years within the EDEN European network, with the intention of exploring transversal themes, analytical frameworks and methodological dilemmas, as well as to suggest and develop potentially productive common grounds. Papers range from the critical analysis of international law implementation, to the defence of new global concepts of security, to historical, ethnographic and culturalist perspectives on different kinds of confl icts and violences. That is, they move back and forth from international institutions and globalised legal and political frameworks, to the military industry, to everyday life and culturally-bound experiences and emotions. They have been organized in such way as to 'rollercoast' the reader around the different theoretical and methodological points of view available in the network. ; Peer reviewed

There have been repeated calls to build endogenous and alternative theories and analyses forged in the crucible of the epistemological, social - political, cultural, and economic conditions of African realities. Against this background, the chapter discuss es the grounded theory rese arch as an appropriate research strategy to fulfill the need for building theories grounded in the African experiences and realities. It encourage s African peace and conflict researchers to get on board in building useful theories to explain the onset, dyn amics, and resolution of conflict and conditions or strategies for sustainable peace on the continent. It presents grounded theory as a viable research method in peace and conflict research and demystifies theory building as an exclusive right of super - ecc entric academics from the northern hemisphere. The chapter will serve as a resource for would - be grounded theory researchers. It distinguish es between theory testing and theory building research approaches in the social sciences. It presents a brief histor y of grounded theory, its aims and utility, its features and step - by - step application as a strategy for research and data analysis

This book represents the scholarly work of the network "European Doctorate Enhancement in Peace and Conflict Studies" (EDEN), a broad training and research network linking scholars, departments and universities interested in thinking and rethinking proposals, concepts and methodologies for the expanding field of Peace and Conflict Studies from different disciplines such as law, history, sociology, anthropology, international relations, and political science. ; Peer reviewed

Since EU members have agreed to establish integrated military forces and to decide jointly on their deployment in European institutions, the EU's "democratic deficit" is no longer confined to issues of common market governance but also includes foreign, security and defense politics. Drawing on recent debates in peace and conflict research, I will argue that a democratic deficit in European security and defense politics is not only worrying for its own sake but also because a growing body of literature regards the democratic control of security and defense politics as the best guarantee to maintain peaceful and cooperative relations with other states.

Dieser Beitrag reflektiert und ergänzt die aktuelle Diskussion über die Empfehlungen des Wissenschaftsrats zur Weiterentwicklung der Friedens- und Konfliktforschung. Wir richten dabei den Blick auf die vom Wissenschaftsrat attestierten Schwachstellen im Bereich empirisch-analytischer Methoden und erläutern ihre Auswirkungen auf Interdisziplinarität, Internationalität und Politikberatung der deutschen Friedens- und Konfliktforschung. Wir argumentieren, unter Verweis auf den Bericht des Wissenschaftsrats, dass eine breitere Methodenausbildung und -kenntnis von großer Bedeutung für interdisziplinäre und internationale Zusammenarbeit, aber auch für die Politikberatung ist. Zukünftige Initiativen innerhalb der Friedens- und Konfliktforschung sollten die Methodenvielfalt des Forschungsbereichs angemessen berücksichtigen und einen besonderen Fokus auf die Ausbildung im Bereich empirisch-analytischer Methoden legen, um das Forschungsfeld in diesem Bereich zu stärken. Unser Beitrag entspringt einer Diskussion innerhalb des Arbeitskreises "Empirische Methoden der Friedens- und Konfliktforschung" der Arbeitsgemeinschaft Friedens- und Konfliktforschung. ; This article reflects on and adds to the ongoing discussion of the German Science Council's recommendations for the further development of peace and conflict research. We focus on the gaps in empirical-analytical research methodology identified by the German Science Council and elaborate how they affect interdisciplinary cooperation, international visibility and policy-oriented research within the German peace and conflict research community. We follow the analysis of the Science Council's report and argue that a diversified training in as well as knowledge of empirical research methodology is of central importance for interdisciplinary and international cooperation as well as comprehensive policy-oriented research. Future initiatives within the peace and conflict research community should strive to reflect the methodological diversity of our research community and put a ...

In this paper, the perspectives of (Critical) Migration Research and (Critical) Peace and Conflict Research on migration are discussed, compared and combined with the goal of proposing a "Peace Logical Migration Research" ("Friedenslogische Migrationsforschung").

The discussions of the Uppsala symposium on Mediation in June 2010 highlighted a number of issues novel either to researchers or to practitioners. The meeting was organized around eight such themes. In short, the discussions showed that there are selections effects which makes the evaluation of success in mediation very difficult (more difficult conflicts get more mediation attempts), and that a biased mediator or mediation mandating actor is not always negative. If a conflict is about the control of government or of a particular territory, this affects the mediation approach as well as the durability of the outcome and the following peacebuilding efforts. Mediation styles vary and may sometimes create, for instance, cultural problems for a mediator. Mandates can be constraining for the mediator, but also solve some problems in mediation. Building fruitful relations between researchers, practitioners and policy makers can generate more resources for mediation. The proliferation of mediation efforts in the same conflict raises new issues of coordination and involves the dangers of negative competition. External shocks are seldom considered in the literature, but may provide breakthroughs for mediations as well as ending such efforts. Outcomes of mediation are not only equal to reaching an agreement. The long-term peacebuilding effects of mediation provides for new challenges to mediation research and practice where the researchers may appear not only to be constructive collaborators for practitioners, but also turn into 'myth busters'. This report puts some meat to these one-liners.

In this article, I will first draw attention to the surprising, but ultimately problematic trajectory of peace studies from the period of the Cold War to the present day. This is a trajectory from 'peace' as a critique of dominant geopolitics to one of 'peace' that has become part of the very dominant geopolitics it initially set out to criticise. Secondly, I will map – undoubtedly in cursory and incomplete fashion – the scholarly communities and literatures dealing with questions of peace and conflict. Rather than a literature review or an attempt at synthesis, my purpose is to highlight the broad variety of existing units of analysis, motivations, theories and methodologies of peace and conflict studies. Thirdly, I will propose a number of suggestions for a research attitude that, in absence of a better word, I subsume under the heading of 'critical peace and conflict research', striving to understand peace and conflict as concomitantly subjective and objective, as critique and hegemony, as normative and value-free, as local and global.

This study locates the universities in the Arab countries that teach or house a research milieu dealing with peace and conflict research. It also identifies the level of teaching and presents information on course descriptions. There are more than 450 universities with different approaches, for instance, in political science and multidisciplinary programs such as diplomacy, international relations, strategic studies, law and related fields in humanities. In total, 73 universities and institutions are specifically identified in this report.

In the twentieth century, weak actors used guerrilla warfare in attempts to expel much stronger foreign forces from their territory with mixed success. This often occurred in European colonial empires as subject peoples sought independence. In such insurgencies or small wars, seldom can weaker actors ever hope to militarily vanquish the strong's forces. The weaker power must instead convince the strong power to quit the fight, for until the strong power decides to withdraw its forces, the weak has not won. My question is what causes a strong power, faced with an insurgency in a distant territory, to throw in the towel, withdrawing its forces and making terms with the insurgents?

'Peace' and (violent) 'conflict' are often seen as conceptual mirror images of one another; peace is the absence of conflict, and conflict is the absence of peace. Given this conceptual interdependence, some scholars see that the study of war/making and the study of peace/making are complementary – or even functionally identical – academic projects. Others, however, see that studies of violence and warmaking are antithetic to studies of peace and peacemaking. The six contributions to this JoGSS Forum explore these contrasting perspectives, with a view to assessing the 'state of the discipline' of peace and conflict studies (and cognate disciplines, such as security studies). The introduction offers provocations for debate. The two contributions that follow consider connections and disconnections between the study of conflict and studies of post-conflict peacebuilding and transitional justice, respectively. The next two contributions focus on areas of investigation that do not fit neatly into either the 'peace' or 'conflict' categories – Gender, and Nonviolence – and the authors explore how studies of these topics might create bridges between scholarship on peace and studies of violent conflict. The concluding contribution argues that 'mainstream' peace and conflict research has come to be dominated by positivist treatments of war and violence, and it draws attention to alternate approaches that have the potential to transform and ameliorate social relations.

This paper reviews the economics approach to conflict and national borders. The paper (a) provides a summary of ideas and concepts from the economics literature on the size of nations; (b) illustrates them within a simple analytical framework where populations fight over borders and resources, and may form non-aggression pacts, military alliances, and political unions; and (c) discusses extensions and directions for further research.

While politics has always been linked to geography, the Earth itself has largely been seen as playing a backstage role, the mere window-dressing for human intention and interest. With the advent of the epoch known as the 'An-thropocene', the Earth is no longer in the background, but very much in the fore-ground, in constant rivalry with human intentionality. In the meantime, human ac-tion has taken on a dimension that matches that of nature itself, and consequently the definition of geo-politics has been transformed. Appeals to nature, therefore, do not seem to have the same pacifying and unifying effect that they did in earlier ecological movements. By drawing on anthropological and philosophical literature, this lecture will discuss this new geo-political framework and show how the exten-sion of politics into nature must modify our views on war and peace in the future. ; Guerre et paix dans une ère de conflits écologiques. Tandis que la politique a toujours un lien avec la géographie, la Terre elle-même a surtout été considérée comme une toile de fond, une simple vitrine pour le projet et l'intérêt humains. Avec l'avènement de la période dite « anthropocène », le Terre n'est plus seulement en arrière plan mais bien davantage en première ligne, en rivalité constante avec le projet humain. Pendant ce temps, l'action humaine a pris une dimension qui égale celle de la nature, d'où la transformation du géopolitique. Les appels à la nature ne semblent donc plus avoir l'effet apaisant et unificateur qu'ils avaient dans les anciens mouvements écologiques. En s'appuyant sur des études anthropologiques et philosophiques, cette étude discutera ce nouveau cadre géo-politique et montrera comment l'expansion du politique dans la nature doit modifier pour l'avenir notre vision de la guerre et de la paix.

While politics has always been linked to geography, the Earth itself has largely been seen as playing a backstage role, the mere window-dressing for human intention and interest. With the advent of the epoch known as the 'An-thropocene', the Earth is no longer in the background, but very much in the fore-ground, in constant rivalry with human intentionality. In the meantime, human ac-tion has taken on a dimension that matches that of nature itself, and consequently the definition of geo-politics has been transformed. Appeals to nature, therefore, do not seem to have the same pacifying and unifying effect that they did in earlier ecological movements. By drawing on anthropological and philosophical literature, this lecture will discuss this new geo-political framework and show how the exten-sion of politics into nature must modify our views on war and peace in the future. ; Guerre et paix dans une ère de conflits écologiques. Tandis que la politique a toujours un lien avec la géographie, la Terre elle-même a surtout été considérée comme une toile de fond, une simple vitrine pour le projet et l'intérêt humains. Avec l'avènement de la période dite « anthropocène », le Terre n'est plus seulement en arrière plan mais bien davantage en première ligne, en rivalité constante avec le projet humain. Pendant ce temps, l'action humaine a pris une dimension qui égale celle de la nature, d'où la transformation du géopolitique. Les appels à la nature ne semblent donc plus avoir l'effet apaisant et unificateur qu'ils avaient dans les anciens mouvements écologiques. En s'appuyant sur des études anthropologiques et philosophiques, cette étude discutera ce nouveau cadre géo-politique et montrera comment l'expansion du politique dans la nature doit modifier pour l'avenir notre vision de la guerre et de la paix.