Abstract
Abstract How is peace research connected to practice? Observers have argued that peace research has gone from activist, political ideals about changing the world to being a methods-driven field of research that has lost all criticality. This article adds empirical substance to the debate by investigating the case of Nordic peace research and its relationship to practice. Through interview data with more than 60 individuals, including prominent peace and conflict scholars as well as practitioners working with peace and conflict resolution, we conceptualize the practice–research relationship through four ‘travelers’ connecting peace research and practice: 1) researchers, 2) students, 3) theories and concepts and 4) empirical findings. We describe distinct characteristics of the four travelers and discuss the changing impact of peace research over time; from researchers acting as mediators and peace activists to an increasing professionalization that has disentangled peace research and practice, shrinking the space for reflexivity in practice as well as the ability to integrate practical experience into research. We discuss the paths forward in terms of co-creation and suggest that peace research need not necessarily influence policy in terms of concrete policy advice but more so by asking big and difficult questions such as ‘how peace?’ and ‘why war?’
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
