Rewriting peace and conflict
The Virtual Encyclopaedia represents a compilation of theory and empirical research in peace and conflict studies from de- and postcolonial approaches, emphasising the contributions from the research network ‘Postcolonial hierarchies in Peace and Conflict Studies.’
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Joint call for contributions with CLACSO
The joint call for contributions with the Latin American Council for Social Sciences resulted in the publication of five contributions to the the Virtual Encyclopaedia.
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Podcast: Confronting Hierarchies
In the six episodes of the podcast, we question dominant narratives in dialogue with a diversity of voices within and beyond academia and critically engage with theories and research practices. Join us in our journey of confronting hierarchies.
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Video: Peace and Conflict in Latin America.
In this video we invite a group of renowned scholars to discuss the colonial legacies and continuities and their connection to dynamics of peace and violence in the region. We conclude with a brief overview of post and de-colonial debates in Latin America.
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Pluriversality
Myriad other worlds already exist... the pluriverse is not something that needs to be created, but... recognized (Querejazu, 2016, pg. 4, cited in Fitzgerald, 2023).
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Rewriting peace and conflict

While peace and conflict studies (PACS) is a burgeoning and diverse field, it still grapples with its colonial roots and trajectory. Postcolonial and decolonial approaches have pointed out that research and practice in PACS are based on West-driven epistemological and ontological grounds resulting from colonial structures of power that hinder and often misconstrue our understanding of peace, conflict, and violence and contribute to the reproduction of the structures sustaining different forms of violence. Dominant dynamics of knowledge production in the field have marginalized non-Western and indigenous epistemologies and worldviews. For a critical engagement that contests the effects of colonialism and coloniality of knowledge, scholars have emphasised the need to interrogate and problematise foundational concepts in the different disciplines of Social Sciences. Such endeavour also entails unsettling the patterns of (in)visibility by bringing the voices and different forms of knowledge of traditionally marginalised groups to the centre.

Against this background, the Virtual Encyclopaedia offers an interdisciplinary compilation of crucial theoretical and conceptual debates, empirical analyses, and thorough reflection on methods and knowledge production in the field from de- and postcolonial approaches, with an emphasis on the contributions from the collaborative network Postcolonial Hierarchies in Peace and Conflict. Rather than unambiguous and all-encompassing definitions, the Virtual Encyclopaedia aims to provide readers with the tools to critically approach peace and conflict studies through the lenses of postcolonial theory and decolonial thought.

 

Taking seriously the critique of the coloniality of knowledge and its effects on the field, the Virtual Encyclopedia aims to address epistemic hierarchies and inequalities by promoting the inclusion of multiple and diverse voices (in terms of fields, regions, and career stages) and plural perspectives, as well as fostering cooperative networks.

Entries

Classified into the two clusters ‘Theoretical and conceptual debates’ and ‘Methods, Knowledge production and dissemination’, the entries aim to provide an insight and orientation on key concepts and theories as well as empirical analyses which are important for a post-/decolonial perspective on peace and conflict. Each entry has a number of tags through which it is linked with other entries sharing those tags. The entries are  furthermore interconnected and draw from a diverse body of knowledges in dialogue including different formats such as audio, images or storytelling.

S

Sumak Kawsay

Nonviolent actions that advocate for new rights and challenge dominant discourses and practices of progress and development disrupt the colonialities of power, knowledge and being. These forms of resistance, particularly in the defence of nature’s rights and community sovereignty, remain largely unacknowledged within civil resistance studies. This paper explores how buen vivir, or Sumak Kawsay, contributes to nonviolent resistance in Ecuador by identifying areas of convergence, divergence and complementarity between these two concepts and their practical implications. It underscores the decolonial perspective of Sumak Kawsay in reclaiming being, knowledge and power, arguing that its integration into nonviolent resistance studies could foster a more inclusive and culturally responsive approach to Indigenous struggles.

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María Belén Garrido & Paola Lozada
U

Urbicide

This contribution examines the concept of urbicide – the deliberate use of urban destruction and the violent reorganisation of city spaces with the aim of denying, annihilating or homogenising place. Through a postcolonial lens, the analysis engages with urbicide as a phenomenon with specific historical conditions of emergence. This approach focuses on how colonial discourses and practices enable modern warfare to justify and conduct operations based on the deliberate destruction of cities. By interrogating these dynamics, the article underscores the socio-political stakes of urbicide and its role in reinforcing hierarchies of domination and exclusion.

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Gabriel Garroum Pla
W

Women’s Land Rights as a Pathway to Positive Peace

In India, land rights continue to be structured according to colonial systems of tenancy and ownership, which ensures the persistence of discrimination against women. Through the lens of structural violence and positive peace (Galtung, 1969), this entry discusses the central importance of the decolonisation of land rights in the creation of sustainable peace. Using India’s Gujarat-based Working Group for Women and Land Ownership (WGWLO) as a case study, the analysis demonstrates how achieving positive peace requires a transformation of fundamental power relations through economic justice, social transformation and institutional change.

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Saloni Lakhia
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PLURIVERSAL
PEACEBUILDING

COLONIALITY
OF PEACE

TRANSITIONAL
JUSTICE AND
DECOLONISATION

FUTURES-THINKING

DECOLONIAL PEACE &
RESISTANCE THEORY

EPISTEMIC
VIOLENCE

POSTCOLONIAL
AND DECOLONIAL
DIFFERENCES

COLLABORATIVE
RESEARCH

INTERSECTIONALITY

SECURITY.
SPEAKING WITH FANON?

INTER-SUBALTERN
HIERARCHIES

SYSTEMS OF
CONFLICTIVITY

TERRORISM -
THE IRREDEEMABILITY OF A CONCEPT

Participating
institutions

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