Communication, Conflict and Peace

Online International Conference organized by the Archbishop Desmond Tutu Centre for War and Peace Studies, Liverpool Hope University, Hope Park Campus, 27th June 2022

Global transformations fostered by the decentralization of communications from mainstream media and governance institutions to a plural range of socioeconomic actors and stakeholders have shaken the foundations of social consensus, truth and objectivity in the construction of public spheres. Such transformation has posed unprecedented challenges to conflict management and peacebuilding, multiplying risks of instability and war, but also the spaces for the construction of collective meanings and the voices shaping them.

As the international community struggles to find consensus and challenges to peace and security risks multiply, the aim of this event is to explore the relationship between communication broadly conceived, and the challenges and possibilities for peace. We will receive papers from scholars, practitioners and activists on all the dimensions of communication and conflict including, among others:

Dynamics of miscommunication, propaganda and persuasion
Historical and contemporary perspectives
The role of communication technologies, formats (speed, scope, use)
The role of communication and media in prevention, management of conflict
Communication, Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law
Public Diplomacy
Documentation and representation of war, conflict and peace in a variety of formats including photography, film, radio, TV, magazines, social media, videogames, etc.
News media, journalism in conflict and peace
The role of representation and language in conflict and peacebuilding
Please send abstracts of maximum 300 words (word format) for presentations lasting no more than 20 minutes, together with a maximum of 5 keywords and a biography of 150 words including name, title, institutional affiliation, contact information and technical requirements where applicable to tutu@hope.ac.uk by April 1, 2022.

Registration free of charge for the Conference will open soon after the call for papers have been closed.

For all enquiries, please contact tutu@hope.ac.uk