Critical Peace and Conflict Studies

About

Critical Peace and Conflict Studies is primarily concerned with the quality and nature of peace in cultural, social, economic, and political terms, ranging from the international system to the state and communities. It requires interdisciplinary investigation into peace and conflict dynamics, connecting post-colonial studies, anthropology, sociology, critical geography, critical development studies, and international relations. The Standing Group focuses on local peace agencies, infrastructures for peace and non-violent state formation dynamics. It examines how critical peace agencies can assert itself against different types of power in order to defend needs and rights that may otherwise be ignored in internationally-led peace processes.

Aims & Objectives

• To establish a new journal to promote academic debate: In 2013 we launched the peer-reviewed journal Peacebuilding as an international, comparative, multidisciplinary journal open to articles on contemporary and historical cases. It will aim to provide in-depth analyses of the ideologies, philosophies, interests, and policies that underpin peacebuilding programmes and initiatives, and to connect with debates being held by policymakers, civil society personnel, scholars and students. Click here to access the journal or submit your our article
• To establish an annual Summer School – bringing together the best scholars working across these areas along with interested PhD and postgraduate students in order to allow them to debate and develop these crucial research agendas. The intention is to have an intensive ten-day conference which will provide an open forum to discuss and debate the future of critical approaches to peace and conflict studies across disciplines, with contributions from across Europe and beyond. Our summer schools will be organised in (post-)conflict venues that bridge the academic dimensions with insights into the everyday life in (post-)conflict zones. The first summer school will be organised in co-operation with the University of Cyprus in Nicosia in July 2014.
• To reach and to engage with scholars and students from the global south through Standing Group events, such as our Annual Conference of Peace and Conflict Studies. This conference takes place at the University of Manchester annually in September. For more information on this and other Standing Group events, plus the latest call for papers visit our Standing Group news page.
• To highlight the work of leading scholars and make it accessible to policy-makers, students and the wider public: In January 2014 we have launched a new online magazine Pax In Nuce (Peace in a Nutshell) as an online forum that bridges short pieces of academic and practitioner analysis on peace and conflict issues.
• To present the work of several journals in the field;