Theories of Violent Conflict

Course goals

This course aims to provide you  with a multi-disciplinary and multi-level theoretical vocabulary on how and why (groups of) people resort to violent action against other (groups of) combatants, civilians, organisations or the state. It equips you with the theoretical literacy and analytical capacity to synergize theoretical perspectives in the understanding and explanation of violent conflict.
 
In addition, the course aims:
•          to improve your ability to distinguish the epistemological and ontological stances underlying approaches of contemporary conflict in, for instance, the media, policy reports and academic research;
•          to increase your ability to recognize, define, deploy, connect, critique and construct abstract knowledge about social life (theory), in particular on violent conflict;
•          to help you to develop your own voice and find your own position in the ongoing conversation on violent conflict among social scientists. 

Content

This course will survey and critically examine theoretical approaches to the causes and conditions of contemporary violent conflict. The main purpose of the course is to present and critique various theoretical approaches to conflict and to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of these approaches through a set of written and in-class exercises (papers, mapping).

This course is for students in the MA Conflict Studies and Human Rights; students from other MA programmes can only enrol with the consent of the programme coordinator.

Additional information

This course is for students in the MA Conflict Studies and Human Rights; students from other MA programmes can only enrol with the consent of the programme coordinator.