Conflict and Peace Studies
For this specialization we advise you to register in the Major Human Rights, Gender and Conflict Studies: Social Justice Perspectives (SJP) but other Majors also give access to this specialization.
Conflict and Peace Studies is about understanding how collective violence, state violence, militarism and insecurity arise and can be addressed. Historically situated case studies are combined with multidisciplinary analysis. The focus is on local to global networks of security and insecurity, in both reconstruction and peace building. Possibilities exist for engaging with relevant organizations based in The Hague.
Why study Conflict and Peace at ISS?
Conflict and Peace Studies addresses questions of conflict and conflict resolution using a historically situated, multidisciplinary analysis of the social, economic, political and cultural processes that lead to, and are triggered by different forms of collective violence, and how peace-building can be understood, even in situations where violence continues.
What you will study
- contemporary geo-political dynamics of militarism and insecurities
- local and global control over material and symbolic resources
- institutional and discursive practices of exclusion and marginalization
- theoretical and strategic alternatives to persistent patterns of violence, injustice and vulnerabilities
- theoretical and practical issues of human and organizational agency in conflict and conflict-transformation
How we teach
We use case studies of contemporary violent conflicts and peace-building efforts around the globe, in hands-on, in-class exercises and independent individual and group work.
What you will achieve
- A comprehensive and critical knowledge of the theoretical approaches and debates relating to violent conflict, peace and development
- The skills to critically analyze the symbolic, social, economic and political underpinnings of violent conflict
- A deeper understanding of the range of practical tools for direct engagement with issues pertaining to conflict transformation
Teaching Staff
Helen Hintjens (2010-2011 convenor) is Senior Lecturer in Development and Social Justice. She has a background in teaching, research and advocacy especially in the field of International Development, where her specific interests include: genocide and post-genocide Rwandan politics; conflict and peace in the Great Lakes regions; media studies, especially radio and visual arts; non-surveillance and undocumented people in Europe and networks of pro-asylum advocates.
For more information, see: www.iss.nl/hintjens.
Mohamed Salih is Professor of the Politics of Development and Deputy Rector for Research at the ISS. In addition to membership of several journal editorial boards, he is co-Laureate, Nobel Prize for Peace for contributing (as Review Editor of the Working Group on Climate Change and Sustainability) to the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
For more information, see: www.iss.nl/salih.
Dubravka Zarkov is Associate Professor in Gender, Development and Conflict Studies. She has specialised in intersections of gender, sexuality, and ethnicity in the context of violent conflict and conflict transformation and is particularly interested in (sexual) violence against women and men in war, and its representations in the media. She teaches (among others) on following subjects: gender discourses; violent conflict, media analysis; feminist epistemologies.
For more information, see: www.iss.nl/zarkov
Mansoob Murshed is Professor of the Economics of Conflict and Peace. His research interests are development, globalisation and conflict / post-conflict reconstruction. He holds an honorary fellowship at the Peace Research Institute (PRIO) Oslo and was the first recipient of the Prince Claus rotating Chair in Development and Equity (established in memory of Prince Claus, a Prince Consort of the Netherlands).
For more information, see: www.iss.nl/murshed
