20 YEARS CONFLICT RESEARCH GROUPConference 23 and 24 May 2022
On the occasion of its 20th anniversary, the Conflict Research Group at Ghent University (Belgium) organizes an international conference that will take stock of where we are with the study of violent conflict. The conference is scheduled on 23-24 May, 2022, and will be held in Ghent.
During our conference, we want to go into dialogue with leading international researchers, policymakers and practitioners, and provide a platform for debate and exchange with the ambition to suggest new research agendas, strengthen research-policy dialogue and create more space for voices from the Global South.
Please note that registrations are closed for the conference. If you would like to attend our conference, please email us at: Carla.Kuehleis@UGent.be
Programme

9h00
Introduction
By Prof. Koen Vlassenroot, Director of the Conflict Research Group
Film hall, entrance 4, Paddenhoek 1, Campus Aula
9h30
Keynote
by Prof. Paul Richards
Film hall, entrance 4, Paddenhoek 1, Campus Aula
10h30
Coffee and Tea Break
11h00
Two parallel panel sessions
Mineral extraction and the politics of data
Chair: Godefroid Muzalia
With Kasper Hoffmann, Jeroen Cuvelier, Steven Van Bockstael, Thomas Muller, Lotte Hoex and Astrid Jamar
Film hall, entrance 4, Paddenhoek 1, Campus Aula
and
The cultural politics of conflict
Chair: Dr. Maarten Hendriks
With Benjamin Chemouni, Sam Kniknie, Kristof Titeca, Eva Willems, Arthur Owor and Florence Anek
Leslokaal 5.2, entrance 5, Paddenhoek 1, Campus Aula
12h30
Lunch Break
Screening of ‘Street Life’,
a film of Alain Nepapa, produced by TD Jack Muhindo and CRG’s Maarten Hendriks
Film hall, entrance 4, Paddenhoek 1, Campus Aula
13h30
Parallel panel sessions
Understanding Jihadi (counter)organisation
Chair: Dr. Christoph Vogel
With Sky Mkuti, Tanguy Quidelleur, Hans de Marie Heungoup and Marte Beldé
Film hall, entrance 4, Paddenhoek 1, Campus Aula
and
Landscapes and the nature of conflict
Chair: Dr. Mary Ann Manahan
With Johanna Malm, Esther Marijnen, David Mwambari and Godefroid Muzalia
Leslokaal 5.2, entrance 5, Paddenhoek 1, Campus Aula
15h00
Coffee and Tea Break
15h30
Roundtable on the State of the Art
Chair: Prof. Bert Suykens
With Prof. Christian Lund, Prof. Jolanda Demmers, Prof. Nandini Sundar
Film hall, entrance 4, Paddenhoek 1, Campus Aula

9h00
Roundtable on Epistemologies and Methodologies
Chair: Prof. Maria Martin de Almagro Iniesta
With Prof. Adam Branch, Prof. Atreyee Sen and Prof. Aymar Nyenyezi Bisoka
Film hall, entrance 4, Paddenhoek 1, Campus Aula
10h30
Coffee and Tea Break
11h00
Two parallel panel sessions
Conflict Resolution and Peacebuilding
Chair: Dr. Tomas van Acker
With Josaphat Musamba Bussy, Caitlin Ryan, Wol Athuai, Krishna Kumar Saha, Jonathan Eli Libut and Naomi Pendle.
Film hall, entrance 4, Paddenhoek 1, Campus Aula
and
Networks and spaces of violence
Chair: Dr. Stéphanie Perazzone
With Sheikh Shams Morsalin, Siyum Adugna Mamo, Ali Aljasem, Christoph Vogel and Peer Schouten
Leslokaal 5.2, entrance 5, Paddenhoek 1, Campus Aula
12h30
Lunch Break
Screening of ‘Street Life’,
a film of Alain Nepapa, produced by TD Jack Muhindo and CRG’s Maarten Hendriks
Film hall, entrance 4, Paddenhoek 1, Campus Aula
13h30
Roundtable on The Conflict – Peace Continuum and Policy Responses
Chair: Prof. Karen Büscher
With Dr. Devon Curtis, Dr. Nina Wilén, Ananeza Aban and Ornella Moderan
Film hall, entrance 4, Paddenhoek 1, Campus Aula
15h00
Coffee and Tea Break
15h30
Roundtable on the Future of Conflict Studies
Chair: Prof. Bruno De Cordier
With Dr. Yvan Guichaoua, Dr. Jason Stearns, Prof. Marie-Eve Desrosiers, Dr. Cyril Obi
Film hall, entrance 4, Paddenhoek 1, Campus Aula
Keynote speakers


To read
To see
Obituary: In Honor of Datu Makapukaw
Mary-Ann Manahan wrote a tribute in memory of her research collaborator Datu Makapukaw who tragically passed away.
New podcast: The humanness of humanity has a history
In the 9th episode of PUAN podcast, co-host Saumya Pandey interviews anthropologist Mark Goodale on the history of human rights.
New Panel Presentation by Karen Büscher: Peripheral urbanisation and central political stakes
This presentation on 27 November during the conference on Politics and Policies of Africa’s Intermediate Cities organized by IFRI will discuss politics of boomtown urbanisation in Eastern Congo.
New Publication: Ethnic Violence in Sri Lanka: Politics of Sinhala-Tamil Tensions
Co-authored by Amit Ranjan, this chapter looks at claims to genocide in the context of the civil war between the LTTE and the Sri Lankan government.
New Special Issue in Territory, Politics, Governance: Transnational Assemblages and Security Knowledges.
This Special Issue focuses on the notion of transnational security assemblages as central to understanding multiscalar processes of security knowledge production.
New media contribution: Climate Change and false hope (Kathmandu Post)
Narrowing climate change to hope leads to the denial of the sickening and sinking emotions that the landscapes are already experiencing.
New Panel Presentation: Addis Ababa’s Peri-urbanisation
This presentation on 27 October during the conference on Urban Politics in the Global South will discuss peri-urbanisation as a microcosm or contestations over state formation in Ethiopia.
New media contribution: Pollution dans le Delta du Niger
Amina Adebisi Odofin discusses the role of women as agent of change in Nigeria
New media contribution: Nord-Kivu: regain d’affrontements entre M23 et groupes armés locaux (Radio Okapi)
Christoph Vogel discusses the recent involvement of local armed groups against the M23 on Radio Okapi.
Discourse of caste within Sri Lankan Tamil and Sinhalese communities in the context of territorial, class and ethnic divisions
This project examines the interconnection of caste with ethnicity, territorialisation and language in Sri Lanka.