Virtual Encyclopedia
The Virtual Encyclopedia represents a compilation of entries concerning theory, research, and practice in peace and conflict studies from de- and postcolonial approaches, with an emphasis on the contributions from the research network. The Encyclopedia is both an outcome and a process. As an output, it is an open-access platform offering an engaging and critical compendium of crucial theoretical and conceptual debates, rigorous empirical analyses, and thorough reflection on methods and knowledge production in the field. It combines text, audio, video, and storytelling across different formats.
As a process, the Encyclopedia builds on the work of the collaborative research network and is envisioned as a long-term endeavour that will outlast the research project. Taking seriously the critique of the coloniality of knowledge advanced by postcolonial scholarship, the process aims to address epistemic hierarchies and inequalities by encouraging open and active formats for reflexivity, promoting the inclusion of multiple and diverse forms of knowledge, and fostering dialogic spaces and cooperative networks.
What is it about?
Scholars, practitioners and activists from different geographies and positionalities have pointed to the need to resignify peace and conflict. Despite their shared ground, however, many of these debates have often developed in parallel and disjointed streams. Developed by the research network Postcolonial Hierarchies in Peace and Conflict Studies, the Virtual Encyclopaedia offers a space of encounter for this wealth of ideas and arguments.
What is new about this Encyclopedia?
The Virtual Encyclopedia strives to capture and reflect concepts’ contested character and context relevance. Rather than unambiguous and all-encompassing definitions, it aims to provide its audience with diverse tools to critically approach the field of peace and conflict studies from the lenses of postcolonial theory and decolonial thought.
Recent entries:
- Systems of Conflictivity by Andréa Gill
- Epistemic Violence by Claudia Brunner
- Intersectionality by Juliana González Villamizar
- Collaborative Research by Koen Vlassenroot & Godefroid Muzalia
- Transitional Justice and Decolonisation by Selbi Durdiyeva
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