Peace Research

This textbook provides a comprehensive overview of different methods and sources of information-gathering for peace and conflict students and researchers, as well as the challenges presented by such work. Research on conflict-ridden societies carries special challenges for the collection and evaluation of information about the conflict and its actors. First, due to the nature of information emerging, incentives to misrepresent and propaganda is common. News coverage is sometimes poor and reporting is often incomplete, selective and biased. Second, the sensitivity of the topic and the questions posed in peace and conflict research means that access to and the security of informants can be a problem. Peace and conflict research as a discipline encompasses a number of different approaches for obtaining empirical information which serve as a basis for analyzing various research topics. This book provides a comprehensive overview of different methods and sources of information-gathering for students and researchers, as well as the challenges presented by such work. It offers: tools for evaluating sources and information suggestions on where different types of information can be found advice on using different types of sources, including news reports and written narratives practical guidelines for constructing large-scale datasets insights and guidelines for comparative fieldwork, in-depth interviews, focus groups, and surveys reflection and discussion on important ethical concerns in peace research This book will be of much interest for students and researchers of peace and conflict studies, conflict resolution, war and conflict studies, development studies, security studies and IR, as well as for NGO workers/researchers. Kristine Höglund is Associate Professor at the Department of Peace and Conflict Research, Uppsala University. She has a PhD in Peace and Conflict Research from Uppsala University Sweden (2004). She is author of Peacemaking in the Shadow of Violence. Magnus Öberg is Associate Professor at the Department of Peace and Conflict Research, Uppsala University, and Associate Editor of the Journal of Peace Research (since 2006). He has a PhD in Peace and Conflict Research from Uppsala University (2003) and is co-editor of Resources, Governance, and Civil Conflict (Routledge, 2008).

This handbook provides a comprehensive overview of feminist approaches to questions of violence, justice, and peace. The volume argues that critical feminist thinking is necessary to analyse core peace and conflict issues and is fundamental to thinking about solutions to global problems and promoting peaceful conflict transformation. Contributions to the volume consider questions at the intersection of feminism, gender, peace, justice, and violence through interdisciplinary perspectives. The handbook engages with multiple feminisms, diverse policy concerns, and works with diverse theoretical and methodological contributions. The volume covers the gendered nature of five major themes: • Methodologies and genealogies (including theories, concepts, histories, methodologies) • Politics, power, and violence (including the ways in which violence is created, maintained, and reproduced, and the gendered dynamics of its instantiations) • Institutional and societal interventions to promote peace (including those by national, regional, and international organisations, and civil society or informal groups/bodies) • Bodies, sexualities, and health (including sexual health, biopolitics, sexual orientation) • Global inequalities (including climate change, aid, global political economy). This handbook will be of great interest to students of peace and conflict studies, security studies, feminist studies, gender studies, international relations, and politics. Chapter 9 of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.

Comprising essays by Peter Wallensteen, this book presents an overview of the thematic development of peace research, which has become one of the most dynamic and innovative areas of war and conflict studies. Peace research began in the 1950s when centres were formed in the USA and Europe, and today there are research institutes and departments on every continent, with teaching and research programs in most countries, and peace researchers contribute to the development of international studies, development research and security analysis. Prof. Wallensteen has been a witness to much of this since forming the Department of Peace and Conflict Research at Uppsala University in the late 1960s, and this book brings together thirteen of his articles with five new essays in one volume. The book presents articles on such key issues in peace research as the causes of war, conflict data, conflict diplomacy, non-violent sanctions and third- party diplomacy. In this way, it demonstrates how basic research can be conducted in fields often seen as ‘unresearchable’ and ‘too complicated to deal with’. This volume shows that it is a matter of developing definitions, creating valid measures and finding ways of collecting information, recognising that innovations of this kind require supportive research environments. Furthermore, the results are not only useful for the growth of research activity itself, but for finding ways of dealing with actual conflicts. Thus, attention is also paid here to conflict prevention, peace agreements, sanctions and third-party activity for preventing and ending armed conflict, and building a lasting post-war peace. This book will be of great interest to all students of peace studies, conflict resolution, war and conflict studies, development studies and IR/security studies in general.

This edited book is a new and valuable resource for students, teachers, and practitioners, providing a detailed exploration of how qualitative research can be applied in the field of peace and conflict studies. This book explores considerations and components of designing, conducting, and reporting qualitative research in this field, and also provide exemplars of recent empirical research in peace and conflict studies that employed qualitative methods. Scholars and researchers in peace and conflict studies and peace education face unique challenges in teaching, designing, and conducting qualitative research in these fields. This edited book discusses tips in designing qualitative studies in this area and for teaching emerging peace researchers best practices of qualitative inquiry. In addition, the book discusses some of the trends, challenges, and opportunities associated with research in peace and conflict studies and peace education. Written at a level appropriate for both graduate students and active researchers, the primary audience for this book is those teaching and learning about the application of qualitative methods to peace and conflict studies, as well as those conducting research in this field. There are currently approximately 230 graduate programs in peace and conflict studies. This book also provides a useful tool for researchers and students in other academic disciplines who are interested in qualitative research. Such disciplines might include education, sociology, criminology, gender studies, psychology, political science, and others.

This is the first ever anthology of key articles by Johan Galtung, widely regarded as the founder of the academic discipline of peace studies. It covers such concepts as direct, structural and cultural violence; theories of conflict, development, civilization and peace; peaceful conflict transformation; peace education; mediation; reconciliation; a life-sustaining economy; macro-history; deep culture and deep structure; and social science methodology. Galtung has contributed original research, concepts and theories to more than 20 social science disciplines, including sociology, international relations and future studies, and has also applied his new insights in practice. The book is a valuable resource for researchers and practitioners, and can serve as a supplemental textbook for graduate and upper undergraduate courses in peace studies and related fields.

The thoroughly updated Fourth Edition of the gold standard text explores historical and current topics in today’s rapidly changing world to provide a comprehensive introduction to peace and conflict studies. The authors offer an insightful analysis of 21st-century global affairs, including such timely topics as ISIS, the nature of violence and nonviolence, cutting-edge military technologies, the Terrorism and Global Peace Indexes, and the latest developments in Iran, North Korea, and Syria. Comprehensive yet written in a student-friendly and accessible style, the text represents a commitment to inspire readers to create a better world through an understanding of what has happened and what is happening, and therefore what is likely to take place in the future. Read Dr. Barash’s article on Psychology Today on why nuclear threats by the U.S. Government are never a successful defense tactic.

The field of peace and conflict studies is rich in secular and faith traditions. At the same time, as a relatively new and interdisciplinary field, it is ripe with innovation. This volume, the first in the series Peace Studies: Edges and Innovations, edited by Michael Minch and Laura Finley of the Peace and Justice Studies Association (PJSA), is edited by top Canadian and US scholars in the field and captures both those traditions and innovations, focusing on enduring questions, organizing and activism, peace pedagogy, and practical applications. From the historical focus on disarmament, ending warfare and reducing militarism to the civil rights, women’s rights, and environmental movements, peace activists and pedagogues have long been important agents of social change. Authored by US and Canadian academics, educators, and activists, the chapters in this book demonstrate, how scholars and practitioners in the field are using the important knowledge, skills and values of their foremothers and forefathers to address new issues, integrate new technologies, and make new partners in their efforts to create a more just and humane world.

Thoroughly revised, the Second Edition of Peace and Conflict Studies sets the new gold standard as an accessible introduction and comprehensive exploration of this vital subject. The authors share their vast knowledge and analysis about 21st-century world events – including new coverage on timely topics such as terrorism, the truth and reconciliation process, and the clash of civilizations. With an encyclopedic scope, this introductory text chronicles a plethora of important global topics from pre-history to the present. Key Features of the Second Edition Includes updated chapters and examines current conflicts, including the Iraq War Explores the important aspects of positive peace, individual violence, nationalism, and terrorism Provides numerous visual aids, questions for further study, and suggested readings Furnishes a comprehensive range of material to enlighten and enrich future discussion and encourage further academic pursuit Intended Audience This text is invaluable for students and professors in peace and or conflict studies, psychology and or the sociology of peace and conflict studies, international relations, comparative politics, history, and others interested in gaining a solid foundation about the global arena. Praise for the First Edition "Barash and Webel have penned a masterpiece that should appeal to seasoned scholars of peace and conflict studies as well as to others who have little knowledge of this multidisciplinary field." --Daniel J. Christie, Ohio State University