First 2021 publications out now

The new year could not have started better, as several Varieties of Peace Research Network members have recently seen their research published.

Two new articles that are part of a forthcoming Varieties of Peace special issue in Journal of Peacebuilding and Development are now published online. First, Nilanjana Premaratna's article "Dealing with Sri Lanka's Demons: Using Documentary Film for Peacebuilding" explores documentary films' role in the study and practice of peacebuilding. Likewise, the article "War Widows' Everyday Understandings of Peace in Aceh, Indonesia", co-authored by Veronica Strandh and Benni Yusriza shows how war widows navigate through decades of hardship, and how they understand peace in their everyday lives.

The special issue, entitled Exploring Varieties of Peace, is edited by Varieties of Peace Research Network founding members Elisabeth Olivius and Malin Åkebo, and will be out in print in April. 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.

Network members Elisabeth Olivius and Jenny Hedström have also seen part of their work published. Their article "Spatial Struggles and the Politics of Peace: The Aung San Statue as a Site for Post-War Conflict in Myanmar’s Kayah State" explores processes of place-making and space-making around the erection of the Aung San statue in Kayah state in Myanmar and draws out the competing visions of peace that are articulated through them.

Congratulations to all the authors!