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 the Latin American Council of Social Sciences
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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.

Virtual Encyclopaedia

Entries

Podcast

Videos

Interventions

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.

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Feminicide in Abya Yala

Feminicide in Abya Yala is not an isolated phenomenon, but rather the most extreme expression of a colonial, patriarchal, and capitalist system that has historically dispossessed and violated women, especially those who are racialized and impoverished. This entry explores its historical roots, its links to organized crime and state impunity, and presents some responses that, from community feminisms, propose to resist, care for, and transform the structures that perpetuate this violence.

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Katherine Esponda Contreras
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Transformative Justice

For a decade, transformative justice has become a lens to critique traditional transitional justice approaches, one than emphasises bottom-up approaches, socio-economic rights and social mobilisation instead of purely legalistic approaches. In this entry we discuss some of the limitations the transformative justice agenda still faces, and we discuss some entry points to start addressing these challenges: developments on the issue of reparations, the Colombian experience, and reinvigorating the role of social mobilisation in aiming at transformative goals.

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Paul Gready & José A. Gutiérrez
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Re-thinking Peace and Conflict Studies in a Postcolonial World

Organised by the competence network Postcolonial Hierarchies in Peace and Conflict in cooperation with the Merian Centre for Advanced Studies in the Maghreb (MECAM), the conference Re-thinking Peace and Conflict Studies in a Postcolonial World, took place in Tunis in October 2025. The event marked the culmination of four years of collaborative research by members of the network, while also opening a space for collective reflection on the implications of the network’s contributions to the field. Over the four days in Tunis the discussions demonstrated the deep relationship between knowledge production and global hierarchies, showing that rethinking peace and conflict studies necessarily entails confronting epistemic foundations while remaining attentive to the ongoing geopolitical developments, uneven power relations and political economies that continue to shape the field.

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Miriam Bartelmann, Viviana García Pinzón & Fabricio Rodríguez
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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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