In the contemporary world, conflict and violence do not emerge solely in the form of interstate wars or armed struggles. They are shaped through multidimensional processes such as ethnopolitical tensions, civil wars, social polarization, political and social violence, identity-based exclusion, forced migration, border and sovereignty disputes, economic inequalities, competition over resources and geopolitical interventions. It is therefore considered necessary to address conflict, violence and peace not within the conceptual framework of a single discipline but with the contributions of political science, international relations, sociology, anthropology, economics, law, history, psychology and other related disciplines.
The main aims of the proposed study group are to examine the causes of the emergence of conflict and violence, the mechanisms of their reproduction, their transformation processes and their social consequences; to conduct comparative research on peace processes, negotiation, mediation, post-conflict order, social transformation and forms of reconciliation; and to create a sustainable research and cooperation platform among academics working in this field. The main objectives of the study group are to carry out joint academic research and publications, organize regular seminars and meetings, develop national and international research projects, encourage graduate researchers' work in the field, prepare policy briefs and research reports, and bring together academics from different disciplines around a common research agenda.
The research focuses of the study group are envisaged to cover mainly the following areas:
- Conflict theories and conflict analysis,
- Political, social, structural and symbolic violence,
- War and armed conflicts,
- Civil wars and proxy wars,
- Ethnopolitical conflicts,
- Ethnicity, nationalism and identity politics,
- Self-determination, secessionism and state-building processes,
- Negotiation and mediation,
- Peace processes and peace agreements,
- Conflict transformation and post-conflict social order,
- Power-sharing, federalism, autonomy and decentralization,
- The political economy of conflict and war,
- War economies and natural resource conflicts,
- Social memory, collective learned helplessness, collective trauma and transitional justice,
- Forced migration, refugees and diasporas,
- Geopolitical rivalry and great power politics,
- Regional security orders and international interventions,
- Conflict dynamics around the world.
Owing to its interdisciplinary nature, the study group is planned to carry out its activities in association with
the faculties and departments listed below:
