Violences, Peace and Security

Recommended Prerequisites

- Fluency in English.

- Knowledge of techniques and styles of academic writing.

Teaching Methods

 Seminars are organised to encourage students’ active involvement in learning, fostering student teacher interaction. Each topic is theoretically contextualised and followed by the analysis and debate of the relevant scientific texts and case studies.

Learning Outcomes

Overall learning objectives

Knowledge of contemporary conceptual debates on violence, peace and security for a critical reflection on international politics.

Specific objectives and competencies

- Identification of different understandings of the three concepts.

- Critical analysis of major authors and theories on violence, peace and security.

- Understanding of the relation between the three concepts and the practice of international politics.

- Analysis of concrete case studies of violence, peace and security.

- Interpretation of debates on international violence, peace and security in light of different theoretical frameworks;

- Presenting critical approaches to international politics.

Generic competencies

Development of critical analysis and synthesis skills, reading comprehension and oral expression.

Work Placement(s)

No

Syllabus

 1. Definitions of Violences, Peace and Security

2. Schools of Thought

i)          Traditional perspectives: realism and liberalism

ii)         The School of Conflict Analysis

iii)        Critical Studies: constructivism, critical theory and post-structuralism

iv)        The Copenhagen School

v)         Epistemological and methodological assumptions of Peace Studies

3. The conceptual trajectory

i)          The triangles of violence and peace: direct, structural and cultural

ii)         From triangles to continuum

iii)        From politico-military security to human security

iv)        Liberal Peace: Peace as governance and the “peacebuilding consensus”

Head Lecturer(s)

Maria Raquel de Sousa Freire

Assessment Methods

Assessment
Periodic or by final exam as given in the course information: 100.0%

Bibliography

David Barash: Approaches to Peace: A Reader in Peace Studies, OUP 2013

BUZAN, Barry ; HANSEN, Lene - The evolution of international security studies. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2009. [BP 327 BUZ]

CULTURES of insecurity : states, communities and the production of danger. Ed. Jutta Weldes [et al.] Minneapolis : University of Minnesota Press, 1999. [BP 327 CUL]

FIERKE, K. M. - Critical approaches to international security. Cambridge : Polity Press, 2007. [BP 327 FIE]

McSWEENEY, Bill - Security, identity and interests : a sociology of international relations. Reprint.. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2010. [BP 327 MCS]

Oliver Ramsbotham et al.: Contemporary Conflict Resolution. Polity, 2011

RICHMOND, Oliver P. – Peace in International Relations. New York : Routledge, 2008

SECURITY studies today. Terry Terriff [et al.] Cambridge : Polity Press, 1999. [BP 327 SEC]

Charles Webel and Johan Galtung: Handbook of Peace and conflict studies, Routledge, 2007