Researching Peace - en podd från Uppsala universitet

#14 Året som världen borde minnas

1945 fälldes två atombomber över Hiroshima och Nagasaki i Japan. Attackerna slog ut städerna och dödade över 200 000 personer. Kriget i Ukraina har återigen satt fokus på kärnvapenfrågan. Men vad har världen lärt sig av historien? Hur nära var det att kärnvapen avfyrades under Kuba-krisen? Och vad spelar sanktioner egentligen för roll? I det här avsnittet möter du Peter Wallensteen, professor och pionjär inom fredsforskningen. Dessutom får du höra hur det var när Peter som ung student blev inbjuden till samma fest som Alva Myrdal. 

Researching Peace - en podcast från institutionen för freds- och konfliktforskning samt Alva Myrdal-centrum för kärnvapennedrustning vid Uppsala Universitet.

 

 

#13 Det kraftfullaste vapnet

För första gången sedan kalla kriget står världen inför ett reellt kärnvapenhot. Hur hamnade vi här och vilken roll kan Alva Myrdal center spela i nedrustningen? I det första avsnittet av vår andra säsong möter du Erik Melander, professor och föreståndare för det nystartade Alva Myrdal Center.

Researching Peace - en podcast från institutionen för freds- och konfliktforskning samt Alva Myrdal-centrum för kärnvapennedrustning vid Uppsala Universitet.

#12 Peace Research in the Global South

How is peace research perceived in different places around the world? Do the perceptions remain the same when we move from a research environment in the global north to another in the south? If there is variation, what is the reason behind it? In this episode, Pedro Valenzuela -Professor of International Relations at the Javeriana University- and Angela Muvumba Sellström -Senior Researcher at the Nordic Africa Institute and affiliated to Uppsala University’s Department of Peace and Conflict Research- talk about how peace research is viewed in the global south. They highlight the value of global partnerships and collaborations shaping the perceptions on this particular research field. Valenzuela and Sellström also discuss how researchers, practitioners, and policymakers can help create a fertile climate for peace by participating in outreach programs.

Researching Peace is a podcast from the Department of Peace and Conflict Research at Uppsala University, hosted by Professor Isak Svensson.

#11 Doing Field Research

What are the ethical challenges of conducting field research in conflict-affected areas? In this episode, Prakash Bhattarai -the Founder and Executive Director of Center for Social Change- and Karen Brounéus - Associate Professor of Peace and Conflict Research at Uppsala University- talk about their experiences in the field, including in post-war Nepal, and they highlight some of the perils of doing field research. In addition, they underline the significance of creating a research culture of reflection and honesty. Sharing and learning from mistakes might be the key to building this culture, according to Bhattarai and Brounéus.

Researching Peace is a podcast from the Department of Peace and Conflict Research at Uppsala University, hosted by Professor Isak Svensson.

#10 Predicting Armed Conflicts

Is it possible to forecast when and where violence will escalate in the future? In this episode, Håvard Hegre -Dag Hammarskjöld Professor of Peace and Conflict Research at Uppsala University and Research Professor at the Peace Research Institute Oslo- talks about how he approaches to the question of prediction in peace studies. As the leader of the Violence Early-Warning System (ViEWS) project, Hegre explains the main components of a machine learning-based conflict forecast model. He also mentions various ethical dimensions of producing publicly available predictions.

Researching Peace is a podcast from the Department of Peace and Conflict Research at Uppsala University, hosted by Professor Isak Svensson.

#9 Diplomacy & Peace Research

How can peace research play a role in the developments in international relations and diplomacy? How does the interaction between theory and practice work in the context of peace and conflict? In this episode, Jan Eliasson - Honorary Doctor of Uppsala University, former Deputy Secretary-General of the UN, and former Swedish Minister of Foreign Affairs - talks about his experiences of interacting with peace research in his diplomatic efforts. He provides significant insights on the value of evidence-based policies and scientifically grounded policies in the field of peacebuilding and international mediation. In this regard, he emphasizes the role of the DPCR and SIPRI (Stockholm International Peace Research Institute), especially in peace efforts led by Swedish researchers and policymakers around the world.

Researching Peace is a podcast from the Department of Peace and Conflict Research at Uppsala University, hosted by Professor Isak Svensson.

#8 Researching Conflicts Ethically

How should peace researchers reflect on ethics in their studies? What are the key challenges that they are likely to face while investigating on the ground in the conflict zones? Are ethical review boards really necessary? In this episode of Researching Peace, Kristine Höglund -Professor of Peace and Conflict Research at Uppsala University- talks about how to conduct peace research in an ethical manner. She also points out the significance of a rarely-addressed facet of the research ethics debates i.e. the climate responsibilities of the academia.

Researching Peace is a podcast from the Department of Peace and Conflict Research at Uppsala University, hosted by Professor Isak Svensson.

#7 Collecting Conflict Data

Why do we need data on conflicts in order to understand peace? The Uppsala Conflict Data Program (UCDP) has been collecting systematic information on organized violence around the world for almost 40 years. In this episode of Researching Peace, the UCDP’s program director Magnus Öberg and project manager Therese Pettersson explain the logic and practice of collecting conflict data and they highlight what makes the UCDP one of the leading data sources in the field of peace and conflict research. Öberg and Pettersson also talk about the recent trends in organized violence in light of the newly released UCDP Georeferenced Event Dataset 21.1.

Researching Peace is a podcast from the Department of Peace and Conflict Research at Uppsala University, hosted by Professor Isak Svensson.

#6 Resisting without Violence

Do we need to study civil resistance to better understand war and peace? Does civil resistance even work? If so, when and how? In this episode of Researching Peace, Erica Chenoweth - Frank Stanton Professor of the First Amendment at Harvard Kennedy School and Susan S. and Kenneth L. Wallach Professor at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study- talks about the study of civil resistance and shares her insights on the patterns of nonviolent and violent campaigns. Chenoweth’s transformation from a “detached skeptic” to an “invested participant in nonviolent movements” opens questions on the role of scholars and the ethics of studying civil resistance.

 

Researching Peace is a podcast from the Department of Peace and Conflict Research at Uppsala University, hosted by Professor Isak Svensson.

#5 Responding to Conflict

Civil society initiatives for peace are valuable in conflict-affected regions. Peace research learns a lot from the good practices and paves the way for practitioners and policy-makers to make them realize what works and what not when it comes to peacebuilding. In this episode, Hannah Tsadik – Advocacy Director for Open Society Foundation, Africa Regional Office – talks about how to respond to conflict as a civil society actor. Her insights on how her studies at the Department of Peace and Conflict Research have affected her work on the ground give some clues on how to minimize the gap between research and practice.

 

Researching Peace is a podcast from the Department of Peace and Conflict Research at Uppsala University, hosted by Professor Isak Svensson.