First two articles of VoP special issue out now

The two first articles that are part of a forthcoming special issue in Journal of Peacebuilding and Development are now published online.

First, Anders Nordhag's article "Exploring Peace in the Midst of War: Rojava as a Zone of Peace?" adds new empirical insights into an understudied case, and contributes to theorize the co-existence of peace and war by examining the conditions for and challenges to peacebuilding in Rojava in the midst of the Syrian war.

Second, Gillian Howell has published the article "Harmonious Relations: A Framework for Studying Varieties of Peace in Music-Based Peacebuilding". This article presents a novel analytical framework for systematically studying the relationships portrayed and produced within music-based peacebuilding and their respective representations of peace. Thereby the article both contributes to advance conceptual debates on the diversity of peace, but also contributes useful guidance for scholars as well as peacebuilding practitioners.

The special issue, entitled Exploring Varieties of Peace, is edited by Varieties of Peace Research Network founding members Elisabeth Olivius and Malin Åkebo. It aims to advance conceptual understandings, as well as empirical analyses, of peace that provides new insights into the variety of ways in which peace is manifested, experienced and understood. The contributions in the special issue capture varieties of peace between and beyond dichotomous conceptions of positive versus negative peace, or successful versus failed peace processes, and showcases a diversity of approaches to analyzing peace.

The full special issue will be out in print in April 2021. Stay tuned!