EWS Virtual Zones of Peace & Conflict; three international workshops exploring new areas of Nordic Peace & Conflict Research

"Virtual Zones of Peace & Conflict" utforsker digitalisering av fred og konflikt. På den ene siden, økte IT-tilkobling og virtuelle cyberspace gir en ny plass for deponering av opplevelser av krig, samtidig krigføring er å bli løsrevet fra fysisk kontakt på tradisjonelle frontlinjen og med fremveksten av fjern krigføring og cyber hærer mens på den annen side cyberspace gir også en ny plass for fredsbygging og ikke-voldelig motstand. Digitalisering av fred og konflikt er et grensesone for samfunnsforsknin g i Nordic Peace & Conflict. For første gang toppforskere fra tre ulike nordiske landene vil komme sammen for å utveksle ideer, utvikle samarbeid og forbedre feltet. Den innovative utforskende sett med workshops som mål å føre til ny innsikt i konfliktteo ri, nye metoder for forskning og alternativanalyser på opprinnelsen av vold, krig og fred.

The project comprises of three exploratory workshops to be organized in respectively Copenhagen, Denmark, Oslo, Norway and Lund, Sweden. The workshops are collaborations between Nordic peace & conflict researchers in order to enhance the discourse with re gard to new conflict theory, new methods of research and alternative analyses on the origins of violence, war and peace. The workshops are platforms aimed to develop new research agendas that serve as a solid basis for the submission of a joint research a pplication to an Advanced Grant from the European Research Council/Horizon 2020 . The overall theme of the workshops is the digitalization of peace & conflict. On one hand, increased IT connectivity and virtual cyberspace provides a new space for the dep osit of experiences of war, at the same time warfare is becoming detached from physical contact at traditional frontlines with the emergence of remote warfare and cyber armies whilst on the other hand cyberspace also provides a new space for peacebuilding and non-violent resistance. The first workshop investigates what implications these new developments have for traditional analyses and theories in peace & conflict studies. It will explore for example the role of emotion, fear, empathy and recognition in this new context. The second workshop looks at non-physical and physical zones of peace, digital space and safety, cyber warfare and the use of social media for social change and its effects on physical conflict zones. The third workshop deals with the digitization and construction of memory. With the availability to digitally deposit and record experiences of war, we explore how these methods can be employed to memorialize conflict and establish digital war memorials. The digitization of war memory al so has potential legal implications. This workshop explores methods how audiovisual material uploaded on-line can be verified and serve as legal evidence in war crimes tribunals.