Peace Studies Research Articles

The Role of HKBP Church in Preserving Batak Cultural Identity Among the Young Generation of Batak Christians (Case Studies Gereja HKBP Cinta Damai)

In the relationship between religion and culture, there are institutions that have legitimacy to overshadow both, one of which is religious institutions. Huria Kristen Batak Protestant (HKBP) as one of the religious institutions is seen as a place of spiritual fellowship and cultural fellowship (Batak) that has legitimacy to preserve. This preservation departs from the phenomenon of fading Batak cultural identity among the Young Generation of Batak Christians today in the midst of hybrid culture is an interesting thing to research. This research is a case study using qualitative methods with the aim of explaining the role of HKBP Church in efforts to preserve Batak Cultural Identity Among the Young Generation of Batak Christians with a Case Study of HKBP Church Love Peace. The results showed that HKBP became a place of spiritual and cultural communion based on the historical history of the cultural journey of the HKBP Church. However, the mixing of cultures (hybrid) due to the times makes the Batak Christian Young Generation have no interest in their identity besides the parental factor that does not inherit. Social Construction The role of HKBP Peace loving Church in preserving Batak Cultural Identity in building social practices received a positive response and interest from the Young Generation of Batak Christians

THE METHODOLOGICAL AND EPISTEMOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS IN CONFLICT AND PEACE STUDIES

Conflict and peace studies is a field of knowledge and a contemporary academic dis cipline whose theories and concepts were formed in the second half of the twentieth century. However, the phenomenon of conflict is considered one of the oldest human phenomena. This article seeks to study and analyze the emergence and development of conflict and peace studies as a new scientific field, from its beginnings in post-World War II to the present time. In other words, this article deals with the progress of this scientific field through a review of all the basic stages that this field of knowledge has gone through. In its approach, this study resorted to the method of surveying many Western political references in the field of conflict and peace studies. Next, the study broke down the process of starting up and growing in this scientific field into specific periods that have basic elements. These include figuring out how important each stage is, how long it takes for this scientific specialization to become established, and what the most important ideas are at each stage. Finally, we compared these stages to discover the nature of the change and development in this scientific field. Keywords: Conflict, peace, studies, methodological, epistemological developments.

Abstract 1609: Inferring the T cell repertoire dynamics in non-small cell lung cancer metastases

Abstract Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is a highly complex disease, characterized by extensive genomic heterogeneity and dynamic evolution under therapeutic pressure. This evolution can lead to alterations in the antigens expressed by cancer cells, thereby influencing the T cell repertoire (TCR) as T cells expand in response to foreign antigens. Despite the central role of TCR in cancer progression and treatment response, only few studies have investigated the temporal and spatial changes in the TCR repertoire. In this study, we delve into the role of the TCR repertoire in metastatic progression in NSCLC. We conducted TCR sequencing of multiregion primary tumors, normal-adjacent tissues, and post-mortem metastases sampled from a cohort of 22 patients enrolled in the TRACERx and PEACE studies. Our findings reveal that primary tumor regions and normal-adjacent tissues exhibit similar fractions of expanded clonotypes. However, a higher proportion of expanded intratumoral TCRs were privately expanded in the tumor samples, suggesting a unique TCR landscape within the tumor microenvironment. The TCR repertoire across multiregion primary tumor samples was largely homogenous, with most expanded clonotypes shared across at least two regions. However, only a small fraction of these clonotypes were tracked in metastases, indicating a significant shift in the TCR repertoire during metastatic progression. Notably, the expanded clonotypes that persisted over time from early to late stage disease were significantly enriched for clonotypes ubiquitously expanded in the primary tumor across all regions. This was not shown to be associated with an increased likelihood of generation via VDJ recombination, suggesting a tumor-specific immune response. The expanded TCR repertoire in the postmortem metastases clustered mainly by anatomical site, suggesting an immune response driven by tissue-resident T cells. Moreover, we found a significant positive correlation between repertoire dissimilarity and genomic distance, suggesting that T cell clones track with tumor clones across spatial sites within patients. Our study demonstrates the significant spatiotemporal dynamics of the TCR repertoire during the metastatic progression of NSCLC, orchestrated by both tissue-resident T cells and the genomic evolutionary trajectory of tumors. Such an exploration could provide valuable insights to inform future strategies for immunotherapy treatments and enhance clinical monitoring of patients. Citation Format: Corentin Richard, Sonya Hessey, Cristina Naceur-Lombardelli, Selvaraju Veeriah, Gayathri Nageswaran, Crispin Hiley, Sergio Quezada, Benny Chain, TRACERx and PEACE Consortia, Charles Swanton, Mariam Jamal-Hanjani. Inferring the T cell repertoire dynamics in non-small cell lung cancer metastases [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2024; Part 1 (Regular Abstracts); 2024 Apr 5-10; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2024;84(6_Suppl):Abstract nr 1609.

Edged beyond thresholds of conventional vulnerabilities: Critical reflections on COVID‐19, women and gender

AbstractThough Johan Galtung's extensive application of the term structural violence in peace studies has been a subject of controversy, his rendition remains critical, seminal, and influential in broad spaces of contemporary discourse including Africa's sociocultural engagements. In his epic essay: “Violence, Peace and Peace Research” he reasoned that structural violence is violence that results in harm but is not necessarily caused by any specific identifiable actor and advanced his argument to the proposition that positive peace is the absence of structural violence. This paper probes how structural violence, seen as multiple ways in which economic, social and cultural systems in Africa, specifically Ghana, leverage their cumulative strengths to edge particular populations in this context women, to the brinks and margins of Covid‐19 related risks, thus stretching women's state of affairs beyond the thresholds of traditionally held vulnerabilities. The study unveils how women's disproportionate exposure to COVID‐19 compromises public health to the detriment of human capital. It concludes that making women's rights locally relevant in Africa constitutes an important capital investment in promoting a better human rights regime for social development as the world contemplates a post‐COVID‐19 era, expressed in shared prosperity, collective security, and equity in social justice.

Eksistensi ASEAN sebagai Organisasi Regional pada Aspek Sosial Budaya Melalui Program Student Mobility

The study of international relations originated in Great Britain precisely in the early 20th century in Wales, when a group of experts in philosophy and international law in Great Britain agreed on the need to study relations between nations. At first, international relations focused more on the study of war and peace in nation-state relations. However, beginning in the 1970s and 1980s the study of international relations expanded to a wider range of studies. International relations develop on non-political issues, such as economics, security, law, culture, technology, and so on. Any perspective in an approach that views international relations as not only state-oriented would say that other entities such as International Organizations also have an important role. One of the International Organizations at the Regional Level is The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). ASEAN has 3 pillars, namely Political-Security, Economic and Socio-Cultural.2 International Relations are inseparable from globalization. Globalization encourages countries indirectly to cooperate with each other in order to meet their national interests and respond to the phenomena that exist along with globalization. One form of cooperation is international cooperation. International organizations have several forms, one of which is in the Regional scope. ASEAN as one of the Regional Organizations collaborates in the field of Socio-Culture through the Student Mobility program.

Misunderstanding Myanmar through the lens of democracy

Abstract This article takes the 2021 military coup in Myanmar and its violent aftermath as a starting point for analysing the dominant lens through which western observers commonly narrate the country's politics as a struggle for democracy. It shows how focusing on questions of the political system is insufficient for explaining political processes and conflict dynamics, and how it risks sanitizing the country's past and presence of nationalism, ethnic conflict and genocide. A postcolonial reading suggests that finding solutions to conflict and authoritarianism in Myanmar demands questioning the role of the modern nation-state itself. This analysis contributes to recent research which has found that Conflict and Peace Studies develops theories from some conflicts over others, reflecting how western interests shape academic choices in a field that aims to inform policy and practice worldwide. This article contributes to this debate on knowledge production by arguing that this selectivity bias is not simply a function of general western interest (or lack thereof). It is also linked to the frames that govern our interest in and understanding of countries and regions worldwide. Studying ‘forgotten conflicts’ in the global South not only necessitates a turn to specialist literature, but also demands moving beyond Eurocentric frames of reference.

Opening Remarks for the 34th Annual Peace Studies Conference

Opening Remarks for the 34th Annual Peace Studies Conference

"my resistance … / may very well cost you your life": Peace Studies and Violent Resistance in Poetry

"my resistance … / may very well cost you your life": Peace Studies and Violent Resistance in Poetry

Network Analysis of Research Collaboration in the Study of Social Conflict and Peace in Society

Research collaboration in the study of social conflict and peace is essential for advancing knowledge and addressing societal challenges. This paper employs a bibliometric approach to analyze the network of research collaboration in this field, focusing on interdisciplinary perspectives and evolving trends over time. Through network analysis, thematic clusters are identified, including conflict emergence, societal development, global issues, post-conflict justice, and peacebuilding efforts. The temporal component highlights shift in research focus from 2008 to 2014, indicating emerging trends such as peace education and societal belief. Furthermore, the heatmap overlay identifies potential future research topics, with less-explored areas offering opportunities for new contributions. This study provides valuable insights for researchers, policymakers, and practitioners involved in conflict resolution, peacebuilding, and social cohesion initiatives.

Reimagining Victors' peace in Sri Lanka: Exploring an alternative approach

AbstractThe three‐decade‐long Sri Lankan civil war between the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (the LTTE, also known as the Tamil Tigers) came to an end following a major GoSL offensive in May 2009, which resulted in GoSL claiming a “victor's peace.” The war caused the death of around 80,000 to 100,000 people and internally and externally displaced hundreds of thousands. During the three decades, five attempts at formal peace processes were initiated, all of which ended unsuccessfully. This paper identifies the root causes of the Sri Lankan civil war using the social cubism analysis by Byrne and Carter (Peace and Conflict Studies, 1996, 3, 5). It then examines two of the five formal negotiations, namely the Indo‐Lanka Agreement of 1987 and the Wickramasinghe‐LTTE agreement in 2002. Finally, it explores an alternative approach to building peace in Sri Lanka using the multimodal approach by Byrne and Keashly (International Peacekeeping, 2000, 3, 97) utilizing the nested paradigm, and the time dimension of peacebuilding by Building Peace: Sustainable Reconciliation in Divided Societies (1997).

The Nature and Scope of Diplomatic History

Diplomatic history is a subfield of history that focuses on the interactions and relationships between states and their representatives. It is concerned with the nature of diplomacy and the role it plays in shaping international relations. Diplomatic history also encompasses a wide range of areas including the study of treaties, alliances, war and peace, and the role of diplomacy in shaping the modern world. More so, the discipline looks at the influence of non-state actors, such as individuals, corporations, and NGOs, on the course of diplomatic history. In addition, the scope of diplomatic history is vast and covers a range of historical periods and regions. The field also studies the impact of culture, emotions, and identity on diplomatic interactions. However, the discipline is faced by some challenges and limitations. Some historians argue that diplomatic history is too focused on state actors and official sources, and that it fails to account for the experiences of ordinary people. This paper examines the nature and scope of diplomatic history. It explains the meaning of history, diplomacy and how the concept of diplomatic history evolved and the role of diplomacy in history. It also highlighted the impact of diplomacy on world events. The relationship between diplomatic history and other disciplines was also examined. The paper uses a historical research approach in its analysis.

Conflicts up in the air: cabin crew resistance in Argentina and Portugal through the lens of the body

AbstractWe reflect upon labour conflicts over changes in the flagship airlines in Argentina and Portugal through the lens of the body. In our qualitative, empirical study we refer to these changes as part of a global tendency in the civil aviation sector to intensify the workload and undermine occupational health and safety standards. Defining this as “Ryanairisation”, we argue that the flagship airlines are pushed towards a neoliberal labour model. Via an embedded and relational comparison, we want to highlight labour conflicts in transnational corporations as a relevant sub-discipline of peace and conflict studies along two research questions: Firstly, what corporal impact does Ryanairisation have on cabin crew workers in Argentina (Aerolíneas Argentinas) and Portugal (TAP) during the first stages of renationalisation processes? Secondly, how do cabin crew workers resist the impact at the scale of their bodies? To answer both questions, we combine concepts from Social Reproduction Theory (SRT) and materialist state theory. Despite increasing salaries and improving general working conditions in both countries, we see how nationalised companies relied on the intensification of labour and are pushing workers’ very physical and mental boundaries. We aim to highlight less visible conflicts at workplaces, a) at a rather individual level, b) hybrid collaborative workplace action, and c) organised in trade unions via open confrontations. Workers address the encroachment on their boundaries in diverse ways, from individual to organised forms of resistance. We examine how this also became relevant in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Peace Studies, Knowledge and Learner Achievement

All conscientious school leaders as well as parents aspire for peaceful schools where knowledge about peace will thrive, and role-players will be conscious human rights. Research has demonstrated that when learners have learnt about peace they are able to reshape their thinking as they consciously build optimism about the world. Arguably, all countries would embrace schools that promote peace within the curriculum. Yet, apart from promoting reflection and dialogue on peace, few studies have examined the link between peace and learner achievement. As such this study examined the impact of peace studies on learner achievement. The qualitative study was conducted in four high schools that had been riddled by violence over a period of two years. Teachers in these schools had undergone informal peace training in attempts to lessen violence. The findings revealed that learners learned about handling conflicts, understanding the concept of good values as well as respect and knowledge. It was also found that learners whose schools have run critical programmes in peace studies are likely to use positive school climate, useful knowledge, and maximisation of positive learner behavior for their success. Peace may therefore be a little recognised factor that may support learner success and minimise the dropout rates. Finally, the study showed that peace and progress go hand in hand when teachers and their learners do not have to focus on addressing violence. The schools become more prosperous when they use stability to enhance a positive climate and promote peace and learners’ achievement.
 
 

Sustaining gender: Natural resource management, conflict prevention, and the UN Sustaining Peace agenda in times of climate catastrophe

Abstract Climate change and its potentially violent consequences for international peace and security have transformed the United Nations (UN) approach to Sustaining Peace. One of the emblematic initiatives of this new approach is the UN Joint Programme for Women, Natural Resources, Climate, and Peace. We use feminist peace scholarship to consider what the recent debates about who builds peace and where peace is built in Peace Studies and Environmental Peacebuilding miss when they treat concepts of ‘scale’ and local natural resource management as gender-neutral and what this might tell us about the wider UN Peacebuilding agenda in which it is situated. We make three claims. First, we claim that gendered relations of power that leverage women for win–win opportunities of peace and gender equality (re)produce an idea of a feminised, self-contained local. Second, we demonstrate that this makes it possible to reproduce the dominant political order that privileges intervention, and the dominant economic order that is occupied with forcing ‘local’ economies to adapt their natural resource management strategies. Third, we argue that assuming that ‘the who’ and ‘the where’ of building peace is local makes it much harder to ask about how the conditions of possibility for violence transcend scales.

Eğitim Bilimleri ve Eğitim Yönetiminin Disiplinlerarası ve Disiplinler Üstü Yapısı

There are many concepts used in educational sciences and educational administration. However, some of these concepts are basic concepts that reflect the characteristics of that area. In this context, the basic concepts of education management can be listed as education, management, organization, system, education management, non-formal education, formal education, coordination, power, supervision, leadership, discipline, school management, cascading of education, managerial power, authority, responsibility, task, authority, organizational effectiveness, efficiency, evaluation, communication and competence. The interaction of two or more disciplines by bringing together certain concepts, processes, terminology and knowledge is called interdisciplinary.Dec. In this context, urban studies and peace studies can be shown as examples as interdisciplinary fields. Although the interdisciplinary approach involves crossing the boundaries of disciplines, it does not deny the disciplines. In fact, the concept of interdisciplinary is defined based on disciplines. But it involves connecting, interacting, connecting and focusing. Therefore, social psychology, economic anthropology, biogeography and economic history are examples of interdisciplinary scientific fields. Although there are different opinions about the concept of interdisciplinary, the concept generally involves creating cross-relationships between disciplines and concepts by borrowing Deconstructive problem solving, unity, synthesis and complex research topics, tools and methods for cooperation purposes. In interdisciplinary studies, each discipline presents a common argument by re-adapting its own concepts and methods. This requires bringing together different epistemic Deceptions. However, this is a difficulty because researchers need to be familiar with each other's cultures, know the differences between their basic theories, and contribute Decently to the formation of new knowledge and theories. This leads to problems of theory, method, scope and perspective in interdisciplinary and supradisciplinary studies. Because the use of a research method belonging to one discipline by other disciplines leads to various controversies. The introduction of general systems theory plays an important role in the history of the interdisciplinary approach. Because with this theory, he brought a different perspective on scientific issues and brought the Decoupling between the object and its environment to the agenda. For this reason, the opinion that a simple and single understanding of discipline is insufficient, but there should be cooperation between different disciplines, has increased decently. Key Words: Educational Sciences, Educational Management, Interdisciplinary, Supra-Disciplinary

From God to Orphan: The Deep Humanity and Deep Ecology of Limba Palm Wine Practice

Abstract This article’s research situates the local values, livelihoods, and stories of Limba palm wine practice within a discourse of ecospirituality and environmental sustainability using interdisciplinary methods to integrate perspectives from diverse fields including religious studies, peace studies, and Africana studies. Our longitudinal analysis incorporates field research conducted among the Limba of Sierra Leone between 1961 to the present by multiple researchers, providing an in-depth examination of palm wine traditions contextualized across a range of West African communities. The authors assert that Limba palm wine tapping has helped sustain important values and ways of life throughout a turbulent history encompassing periodic episodes of ethnic conflict, structural and traumatic violence, and environmental instability. Thus, Limba palm wine culture demonstrates how Indigenous knowledge, honored traditions, and sacred rituals empower spiritual and ecological worldviews that speak directly to processes of reparative reconciliation and resiliency.

Analysis of coverage of the 11 March 2004 Madrid train bombings in Spain’s El País and El Diario Vasco through war and peace journalism frames

This study examines the way in which two major Spanish newspapers, El País and El Diario Vasco, framed the 11 March 2004 (11-M) Madrid train bombings through peace journalism or war journalism, based on Peace Studies theorist Johan Galtung’s classification. An analysis of the news articles in the immediate aftermath of the bombings finds both frames present. The incumbent Spanish government initially tried to use the news media as a vehicle to present a premature interpretation that the Basque separatist group ETA perpetrated the attacks, even trying to pass a United Nations resolution. However, some journalistic coverage of the events in the week after the 11-M attacks portrayed the Spanish people’s sentiments regarding Spain’s support of the US in the Iraq war, Spaniards’ engagement with their democracy, including massive street protests, and parallels between the Iraqi people’s suffering and the Spanish train bombing victims. Other journalistic coverage focused on the perspectives of high-level Spanish government officials, emphasized the importance of prevailing in ‘the war on terror’, and provided an ‘us–them’ orientation.

Preference Conflict and Peace Studies: The Line Between Disagreement and Violence

Preference Conflict and Peace Studies: The Line Between Disagreement and Violence

How African Higher Education Institutions Can Weather a Pandemic [Munyao, Martin, ed. Online Learning, Instruction, and Research in Post-Pandemic Higher Education in Africa

If one were given the option of just a single book on what African higher education institutions (HEI) can do to thrive in the midst of a pandemic like COVID 19, this would be it. This multi-author volume comprising of thirteen essays is edited by Martin Munyao, Deputy Director of Open, Distance and eLearning (ODeL) and lecturer in the Peace and International Studies Department at Daystar University, Kenya. The book has a foreword by George John Law, founder of Internet Theological Education by Extension Global (iTEE Global), and has twenty-six other authors mostly from Kenyan universities or affiliated to them who collaborate in the chapters. The book comes in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic and its impact on higher learning institutions (HEI) in Africa in terms of their response in the areas of Open Distance and e-Learning (ODeL) and proffers that a mixture of pedagogical skills, educational technology, and institutional collaboration will result in optimum learning outcomes through ODeL than merely transferring the physical classroom experience online as did most HEIs during the pandemic. For ease of assessment, I have categorized the essays into the four broad categories of HEI strategy, the digital divide, online student experiences, and online instructor experiences which are porous as the issues bleed into each other and argue that although the book has some editorial challenges, it is very valuable tool to understanding how African HEIs coped in the pandemic and what areas need to be addressed for them to be better prepared for similar emergencies.

Economic games for the study of peace.

Economic games provide models of real-world contexts in which researchers can probe dispositional and structural determinants of intergroup relations. Most intergroup games focus on determinants of aggression between groups and constrain the possibilities for peace. However, paradigms such as the intergroup parochial and universal cooperation game allow for peaceful intergroup relations and can be adapted for the study of peace.