Dr Gearoid Millar will co-host, with Professor Cedric de Coning (Norwegian Institute of International Affairs), a two-day online workshop, entitled Complex Systems Research in Peace and Conflict Studies.
The event, which is open to the public, will be held between September 2-3, convenes 16 peace and conflict scholars, practitioners, and pracademics to discuss new insights, commonalities, and potential collaborations across the discipline.
Guided by the realisation that complexity theory provides a valuable tool for understanding conflict and informing peace interventions, the workshop brings together diverse methods, approaches, and case studies to provide a fresh understanding of the significance of the theory.
Studying complex systems can help peace operations understand where they can have the most impact when trying to influence social systems.*
The workshop builds on Dr Millar's recent analyses, 'Coordinated Ethnographic Peace Research: Assessing Complex Peace Interventions Writ Large and Over Time' (2021) and 'Trans-Scalar Ethnographic Peace Research: Understanding the Invisible Drivers of Complex Conflict and Complex Peace' (2021), which consider the complex interactions that shape the outcome of specific peace or justice projects.
The workshop also draws on Professor De Coning's extensive work on complexity theory, including 'Insights from Complexity Theory for Peace and Conflict Studies' (2020) and 'Adaptive Peace Operations: Navigating the Complexity of Influencing Societal Change Without Causing Harm' (2020), among others.
The workshop represents a starting point for the dialogue on complexity theory and will facilitate the creation of future conference panels, publications, and roundtables.
For more information and to attend the event, visit the workshop page, here.
*Cedric de Coning (2020) Adaptive Peace Operations: Navigating the Complexity of Influencing Societal Change Without Causing Harm, International Peacekeeping, 27:5. 838.