In the contemporary world, conflict and violence do not manifest themselves solely in the form of interstate wars or armed struggles. They also take shape through multidimensional processes such as ethnopolitical tensions, civil wars, social polarization, political and social violence, identity-based exclusion, forced migration, disputes over borders and sovereignty, economic inequalities, competition over resources, and geopolitical interventions. Accordingly, it is considered necessary to address conflict, violence and peace not merely within the conceptual framework of a single discipline, but through the combined contributions of political science, international relations, sociology, anthropology, economics, law, history, psychology and other relevant disciplines.
The primary objectives of the proposed working group are to examine the causes, mechanisms of reproduction, transformation processes and societal consequences of conflict and violence; to conduct comparative research on peace processes, negotiation, mediation, postconflict arrangements, social transformation and forms of reconciliation; and to establish a sustainable research and collaboration platform for academics working in this field.
The principal goals of the working group are to conduct joint academic research and produce scholarly publications; organize regular seminars and meetings; develop national and international research projects; encourage graduate researchers to pursue research in this field; prepare policy briefs and research reports; and bring together academics from different disciplines around a shared research agenda.
The working group's research agenda is envisaged to cover the following principal 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, separatism 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, collectively learned helplessness, collective trauma and transitional justice;
- Forced migration, refugees and diasporas;
- Geopolitical competition and great-power politics;
- Regional security arrangements and international interventions;
- Conflict dynamics around the world.
In view of the interdisciplinary nature of the working group, it is planned to conduct its
activities in association with the following faculty and departments:
Associated Faculty/Faculties:
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
- Department of Political Science and International Relations
- Department of Sociology
- Social Psychology
- Department of History
