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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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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Decolonial
"Decoloniality and decolonisation [...] scrutinise the contemporary forms of coloniality that exist in more visible settler colonial structures as well as the hidden and less visible forms of coloniality." (Durdiyeva 2023)
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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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Hierarchies
"The colonial matrix of power hierarchically reorganises the world under the historically constructed domination of European, capitalist, military, Christian, patriarchal, white, heterosexual males." (Grosfoguel, 2011, as cited in Sunca, 2024).
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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.

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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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Colonialities of Power and Peace in Cameroon

This article makes the case that the militarised model of peace favoured in the discourse around Cameroon’s Anglophone crisis falls within a hegemonic, liberal/Western conception of peace shaped by the coloniality of power. This top-down perspective makes no space for a pluriversal dialogue, which is essential for resolving the crisis. Drawing on the concepts of decolonial peace and coloniality (of power), the article outlines several pathways for enshrining peace in Cameroon – and in Africa more broadly – within African peoples’ systems of values and knowledge. The core argument is that lasting peace in Cameroon and other conflicts on the continent requires a decolonial and Indigenous approach to peace.

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Nicanor Tatchim
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Coloniality of Nature

This contribution examines how peace and conflict studies remain deeply entangled with the coloniality of nature, perpetuating a worldview that reduces nature to an economic resource for driving economic growth, development and peacebuilding. I argue that the coloniality of nature operates through three interconnected mechanisms: the imposition of a dualist human-nature ontology, the degradation of life and territory through resource exploitation, and epistemic violence against Indigenous knowledge systems. By confronting these colonial underpinnings, this contribution calls for a reimagining of the relationship between nature, conflict and peace in order to address the colonial roots of environmental conflicts and advocate for decolonial futures built on reciprocity, care and ecological justice instead.

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Barbara Magalhães Teixeira
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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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