Abstract
This article contributes to debates on appropriate levels of analysis, temporality, and the utility of fieldwork in relation to Peace and Conflict Studies (PCS), and International Relations more generally. It observes a recentism or privileging of the recent past in our studies and a consequent overlooking of the longer term. As a corrective, the article investigates the extent to which wartime memoirs and personal diaries (specifically from World War I and World War II) can help inform the study of contemporary peace and conflict. In essence, the article is a reflection on the epistemologies and methodologies employed by PCS and an investigation of the need for greater contextualisation.
Highlights
How many articles and student essays have we read that begin with the words, ‘Since the end of the Cold War ...’? Among other things, this points to a decision on behalf of authors to make a temporal distinction between what went before and after the 1989-1991 period
For its concluding discussion, the article returns to two debates in Peace and Conflict Studies that were mentioned in the Introduction: the appropriate level of analysis, and temporality
The military memoirs and personal diaries are useful in conveying quotidian details that might be missed by aggregated accounts
Summary
Citation for published item: MacGinty, Roger 'Temporality and contextualisation in Peace and Conict Studies: The forgotten value of war memoirs and personal diaries.', Cooperation and Conict. The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that:. A full bibliographic reference is made to the original source a link is made to the metadata record in DRO the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Temporality and contextualisation in Peace and Conflict Studies: The forgotten value of war memoirs and personal diaries
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