Ideas and intersections in peace and conflict studies: the relevance of inter- and transdisciplinary research

The Colloquium 2026 will take place from 11-13 March 2026 in Leipzig

The ongoing political, ecological and social crises demonstrate the urgent need for peace and conflict research to evolve its concepts, methods and practical approaches. Peace and conflict research is therefore increasingly characterised by its complexity and multidimensionality and requires innovative approaches in order to respond to a world shaped by rapid change, shifting power dynamics and globalised challenges.

This conference seeks to explore the intersection of ideas, methodologies, and frameworks within the field of peace and conflict studies, emphasizing the value of collaboration across disciplinary boundaries.

Approaches of inter- and transdisciplinary research are more than ever needed as essential tools to address current challenges, offering new perspectives and synergies across disciplines. Global rearmament, digital warfare, climate change, and dual-use technologies are increasingly placing the natural sciences at the centre of security politics. This (re-)investment in the natural sciences raises critical questions about the role, responsibility, and potential of scientific knowledge in peacebuilding. At the same time, social sciences are called upon to analyse the political, normative, and institutional contexts of scientific innovations.

The organisation of knowledge about peace and conflict along disciplines is particularly rigid in Germany: despite the increased call for transdisciplinary thinking and interdisciplinary cooperation, there has been little institutionalization of interdisciplinarity, and disciplinary thinking continues to (de)authorise legitimate knowledge, inquiries, questions and methods. As a result, thinking within disciplines and disciplinary boundaries reinforces structural asymmetries, imbalances and exclusions in knowledge production for peace and conflict research. This results in rigid divisions of disciplines and limits intellectual plurality and socially relevant and situated research, which is also reflected in journals, funding and higher education programs as well as institutes that are organised along disciplinary lines, making inter- and transdisciplinary research particularly difficult.

The complete call for papers can be found here. Please submit your entries using our form.