A Divided Discipline? Mapping the Field of Peace and Conflict Studies

Posted: 13 Jan 2017 Last revised: 5 Jul 2017

See all articles by Jonathan Bright

Jonathan Bright

University of Oxford - Oxford Internet Institute

John Gledhill

University of Oxford

Date Written: January 12, 2017

Abstract

Scholars in the field of ‘peace and conflict studies’ have long worried that their discipline is divided -- between studies of violent conflict, and studies of efforts to peacefully manage conflict. However, empirical research into the existence, extent, and nature of such a division is scarce. We remedy this, by addressing two questions: 1) How is work in the field of peace and conflict studies distributed between its two nominal pillars: ‘peace’ and (violent) ‘conflict’?; 2) To what extent is there communication and exchange between the two sets of studies? We find that studies of violent conflict hold a dominant position in the field, although there is also a sizable body of work that explores topics of peace, understood as conflict prevention and/or response. That said, we find only limited evidence of intellectual exchange between studies of ‘peace’ and ‘conflict’. We also find evidence of gendered, regional, and methodological divides.

Keywords: Conflict Studies, Peace Studies, Bibliometrics

Suggested Citation

Bright, Jonathan and Gledhill, John, A Divided Discipline? Mapping the Field of Peace and Conflict Studies (January 12, 2017). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2898168 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2898168

Jonathan Bright (Contact Author)

University of Oxford - Oxford Internet Institute ( email )

1 St. Giles
University of Oxford
Oxford OX1 3PG Oxfordshire, Oxfordshire OX1 3JS
United Kingdom

John Gledhill

University of Oxford ( email )

Mansfield Road
Oxford, Oxfordshire OX1 4AU
United Kingdom

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