Conflicts. Meanings. Transitions.

When tyranny ends, when societies come to terms with their past, or when values change, we observe that people contest meanings in times of transition. How these struggles unfold is essential for societal peace in the present and future.

In the research network Conflicts.Meanings.Transitions we examine these conflicts from an interdisciplinary perspective.
In particular, we focus on meaning struggles over peace strategies by non-state actors, over violence, and over universal rights and diversity.

The overarching goal is to establish a Bavarian Center for Peace and Conflict Research. The center will promote interdisciplinary exchange and connect peace and conflict researchers in Bavaria. Thereby, the network aims at increasing the social and political impact of peace and conflict research in the region and beyond.

Conflicts.Meanings.Transitions (“Deutungskämpfe im Übergang”) is a joint project of scholars from the Universities of Augsburg, Bayreuth and Erlangen-Nuremberg, and the Leibniz Institute for Contemporary History (Munich-Berlin), coordinated at the University of Bayreuth.

Our guiding question: Under which circumstances do struggles over meaning contribute to peace?

Research Areas: 

• Interpretive Struggles about Peace Strategies of Non-State Actors 
• Interpretive Struggles around Violence 
• Interpretive Struggles around Universal Rights and Diversity 

Please find the link to the entire project here.