Public launch event of the "Bayreuth Peace Talks" – new network for peace and conflict research

Date: 25 October 2022, 7 p.m.
Location: Building Angewandte Informatik (INF/AI), Lecture Hall 34, Campus of the University of Bayreuth. The building is located between the entrance to the Ecological-Botanical Garden and the Central University Administration. Following the event, all participants are invited to a reception in the foyer.

War, climate, pandemic, supply chains, energy prices – the daily news is currently dominated by a bundle of international crises. These upheavals are leading to resource conflicts, power struggles, and debates about solution strategies. Against this background, the newly founded Network for Peace and Conflict Studies is organizing a panel discussion to kick off the "Bayreuth Peace Talks". The fundamental question at stake is how scientific research can and should approach the current challenges: Does research help to better understand the causes and dynamics of conflicts? Can contributions from science develop and promote strategies of conflict resolution – and should this be the goal of research at all?

Prof. Dr. Stefan Leible, President of the University of Bayreuth, will open the event with a welcoming address. Afterwards, Bayreuth scholars will present approaches from political science, history and economics and will discuss tasks, possibilities and limits of peace and conflict research:

• Dr. Julia Eichenberg (History)
• PD Dr. Florian Kühn (International Relations)
• Prof. Dr. Stefan Ouma (Economic Geography)
• Moderation: Prof. Dr. Jana Hönke (Sociology)

The event is organized with the support of the research projects "Transitional Conflicts" and "Postcolonial Hierarchies in Peace and Conflict" at the University of Bayreuth, funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).

The new network for peace and conflict research
The network of scholars will anchor peace and conflict research at the University of Bayreuth and promote the transfer of knowledge to politics and society. In order to grasp the complexity of conflicts and to be able to provide practice-relevant assessments, an interdisciplinary approach is central. The network therefore brings together researchers from various disciplines, including sociology, social and cultural anthropology, geography, political science, history, economics and religious studies. Participating scholars research and teach on a variety of topics, including violence, security, humanitarian aid, persisting colonial power relations, and social movements.

The network is based on two research projects that started in April 2022 and are funded by the BMBF. The Bavarian collaborative project "Transitional Conflicts", coordinated by PD Dr. Florian Kühn and Dr. Jan Sändig at the University of Bayreuth, examines processes of social and political change and related disputes – be it the much-discussed "turn of an era" in connection with the war against Ukraine, coming to terms with colonialism, or the consequences of the state collapse of Yugoslavia. The competence network "Postcolonial Hierarchies", in turn, examines traditional power structures that have their roots in European colonialism and continue to have an effect in current conflicts, not infrequently even being deliberately revived. It also explores the significance of overcoming these hierarchies in creating peaceful and just structures in the present.

Homepage of the new network:
https://www.peaceandconflict.uni-bayreuth.de

Poster of the event:
https://www.peaceandconflict.uni-bayreuth.de/pool/bilder/Roundtable_Crises.jpg