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 Maria Sibylla Merian Institute for Advanced Studies in Africa (MIASA) and the Forum Transregionale Studien
The joint call for contributions with a thematic focus on methodological innovations and alternative formats of knowledge production and circulation is open from June 1st to August 15th, 2026.
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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: Plural Perspectives on Peace and Conflict in Asia.
In this video four scholars provide diverse theoretical insights from which we can approach peace and conflict in Asia today. What all of them share is an analysis of how histories of colonialism and imperialism shape both the present of nation-states and individual experiences.
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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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Decolonial Peace, Theory of Resistance and Justice

Dominant paradigms of peace within international relations and peace studies have long been shaped by liberal, Eurocentric frameworks that equate peace with institutional stability, state-building, and the simple absence of violence. Such frameworks, while widely adopted, often neglect the structural violence, historical injustices and epistemic erasures that continue to define the lived realities of colonised and formerly colonised peoples in our world. In response to these limitations, decolonial peace has emerged as a radical theoretical and practical alternative that recentres justice, historical redress and Indigenous epistemologies. This essay explores decolonial peace as a theory of resistance and justice, challenging the hegemonic liberal peace model by foregrounding the ongoing coloniality of power, advocating epistemic plurality, and reimagining peace as an active, dynamic process of resistance, repair and transformation. The essay examines the Palestinian-Israeli conflict as a key case study, arguing that decolonial peace is not only relevant but also essential in confronting the enduring structures of settler colonialism, dispossession and epistemic violence that shape this context.

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Nijmeh Ali
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Memory and Justice in a Postcolonial World

Memory is a crucial driver of justice in postcolonial contexts, mediating the identities, temporalities and power relations embedded in colonial hierarchies. It bridges past atrocities, present inequities and future possibilities, offering both diagnostic insight and emancipatory potential. While memory studies and postcolonial studies have flourished, the conceptual link between memory and postcolonialism remains underexplored. Memory’s diagnostic, performative and projective dimensions collectively enable societies to confront enduring colonial legacies, cultivate hope, and construct politically and ethically grounded visions of the future.

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Susanne Buckley-Zistel
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Disrupting the Knowledge Trap

This entry questions the foundations of knowledge production in Peace and Conflict Studies by advocating an incremental movement that adopts a bottom-up and inside-out approach. Specifically, we argue that, with support, early-career researchers (ECRs) from the Global South can be pollinators, spreading new knowledge production methods across ECRs groups globally and scaling up to engage mid- and senior-level researchers. This is essential for the progression of better, more inclusive knowledge production worldwide. To illustrate our argument, we draw on our own experience leading an international intensive three-day writing workshop on Peace and Conflict Studies for ERCs from the Global South.

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Natália Bueno, Roberta Holanda Maschietto, Sarah Njeri
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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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