Peace and Conflict Studies from the Margins to the Center: Rethinking Europe in an Unequal World
In March 2017, the European Peace Research Association (EuPRA) and the German Association for Peace and Conflict Studies (Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Friedens- und Konfliktforschung, AFK) will hold a joint conference. We invite all scholars to present their academic work on the political challenges Europe is currently facing, while reflecting on the continent´s role and responsibilities in light of global power structures.
Against the backdrop of current developments in Europe, including the securitization of borders, the selection and categorization of refugees and other displaced persons, the challenges of integration and growing racist and right-wing popular movements and discourses, we invite you to apply the idea of a renewal from and for the margins to contemporary peace and conflict studies.
This conference aims at bringing together approaches to develop reflexive, critical, empirical, and normative thought to confront and probe our positions and practices and to reflect on their location vis-à-vis the centers and margins of power. In addition, new developments urge us to acknowledge and appreciate challenges and alternatives to Western or Westernized thought. It is also high time to acknowledge and investigate European involvements in current economic and violent conflicts and the various ways in which these involvements also contribute to migration and refugee movements. The refugee crisis is a wake-up call for European peace and conflict studies to confront inherent tendencies that marginalize non-western thought and and alternatives to Western or Westernized thought. It is also high time to acknowledge and investigate European involvements in current economic and violent conflicts and the various ways in which these involvements also contribute to migration and refugee movements. The refugee crisis is a wake-up
call for European peace and conflict studies to confront inherent tendencies that marginalize non-western thought and privilege a flattering self-image shaped by humanitarianism and a good dose of mission civilisatrice.