Resolving the Crisis of Peace Theory in a Time of Polycrisis
Institutional Affiliation
Independent
Start Date
16-1-2025 10:45 AM
End Date
16-1-2025 12:15 PM
Proposal Type
Presentation
Proposal Format
On-campus
Proposal Description
Contemporary peace theory and practice is in crisis (Zizek 2022; Hamza 2022; Rubenstein 2022; Wadlow 2023; Oberg 2023). Alongside Oliver Richmond (2023: xx) this paper asks, “After so much promise in the latter part of the 20th century, what has gone wrong [with peace theory and practice] and what should be done?” Further it concurs with Richard Rubenstein’s (2017) urgent call for a new social theory and a new politics to influence peace practice. The paper contends that meeting this urgent challenge requires resolving the crisis immanent to peace theory and practice itself. It asks, how can we resolve the crisis of peace theory and practice? How can its resolution inform a new social theory and politics to influence peace practice? The paper offers an immanent critique of peace theory and politics from a Lacan-Hegelian philosophical perspective with the aim of extracting the crucial ingredients for a new peace theory and politics up to the challenge of effectively intervening in violent conflict in the age of polycrisis.
Resolving the Crisis of Peace Theory in a Time of Polycrisis
Contemporary peace theory and practice is in crisis (Zizek 2022; Hamza 2022; Rubenstein 2022; Wadlow 2023; Oberg 2023). Alongside Oliver Richmond (2023: xx) this paper asks, “After so much promise in the latter part of the 20th century, what has gone wrong [with peace theory and practice] and what should be done?” Further it concurs with Richard Rubenstein’s (2017) urgent call for a new social theory and a new politics to influence peace practice. The paper contends that meeting this urgent challenge requires resolving the crisis immanent to peace theory and practice itself. It asks, how can we resolve the crisis of peace theory and practice? How can its resolution inform a new social theory and politics to influence peace practice? The paper offers an immanent critique of peace theory and politics from a Lacan-Hegelian philosophical perspective with the aim of extracting the crucial ingredients for a new peace theory and politics up to the challenge of effectively intervening in violent conflict in the age of polycrisis.