Call for participants: Summerschool on fieldwork in violent environmentsContemporary practices of capturing violence and violent capture (16-19 September) by Maarten Hendriks Book Launch: Performing Sovereign Aspirations with Bart KlemIt adopts a performative perspective to understand the institutional landscape around the Tamil separatist conflict during and after the Sri Lanka civil war. by Bert Suykens New Publication: Conflit, Coltan, Cliché?French edition of Christoph Vogel's book on conflict minerals and white saviourism out soon with Goma-based Editions Mlimani. by Christoph Vogel Roundtable: Gentse Gronden’-sessie: Grond is LandbouwJeroen Adam moderates a roundtable on city of Ghent-owned land and farming. by Jeroen Adam Public Lecture: Histor(iograph)y: an ideological-identitarian frontline?Discussing Gulag commemoration and nation-building in Kazakhstan together with Aimar Ventsel and Bruno De Cordier. by Bruno De Cordier New Publication: Singing truth to powerTransformative (gender) justice, musical spatialities and creative performance in periods of transition from violence by Maria Martin de Almagro Iniesta New Report: Climate Change and Conflict in the Ruzizi Plain (DRC)The report discusses the way in which climate change effects play out locally in South Kivu’s Ruzizi Plain, and how they interact with, add to, or alter existing conflict dynamics in this territory. by Tomas Van Acker Seminar: Women, Peace and SecurityDiscussion the important role of women in conflict situations and the need for inclusive approaches to avoid or resolve conflicts. by Maria Martin de Almagro Iniesta New Publication: “The Eyes of All Acholiland Were Turned Towards This Hill”CRG's Sara Weschler, along with Arthur Owor from the Centre for African Research, shared the historical narratives of the Lamogi Rebellion from the British colonial report archive to the Acholi community in an educational book. by Sara Weschler Roundtable: Understanding ongoing conflict in North KivuA Conversation on Forgotten Struggles, Challenges and Prospects by Christoph Vogel Conference: “neglected crisis, not forgotten’: Democratic Republic of CongoConference in collaboration with MSF on the humanitarian situation in Eastern DRC. by Koen Vlassenroot New Publication: Collaborative researchThis contribution to the virtual encyclopedia on postcolonial hierarchies in peace and conflict provides perspectives on North–South collaborative conflict research. by Koen Vlassenroot New media contribution: Retrait de la Monusco de RDCInterview for rfi on the gradual withdrawal of the United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Monusco. by Christoph Vogel Book Launch: Good soldiers don’t rape with Megan MackenzieThis book uses feminist theories of ‘rape culture’ and institutional gaslighting to identify myths, and misconceptions about military sexual violence. by Maria Martin de Almagro Iniesta Call for Papers: Armed archivesThis workshop aims to provide a space for discussion among scholars who study archives of non-state armed actors in order to contribute to the ongoing wider debate on the ‘archival turn’ in conflict studies. by Bert Suykens New media contribution: L’accord UE-Rwanda: Regards croisés sur les enjeux régionaux et internationauxInterview for Actualite.cd on the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between the European Union and Rwanda on sustainable value chains for raw materials. by Christoph Vogel New Publication: Sustaining gender: Natural resource management, conflict prevention, and the UN Sustaining Peace agenda in times of climate catastropheThis article explores how decentralisation policy and specifically the establishment of communes rurales in DR Congo turned into a profoundly destabilising juncture, shaking existing governance arrangements by Maria Martin de Almagro Iniesta PhD Defence: Anatomy of the jihadi phenomenon in CameroonOn 2 February Hans De Marie Heungoup will defend his PhD on the Jihadi phenomenon in Cameroon. by Hans De Marie Heungoup New media contribution: Waarom voeren landbouwers actie?Interview for Radio 1 'De Wereld Vadaag" on farmer's protests in Belgium. by Jeroen Adam New Publication: Collaborative Research: Perspectives on North–South Collaborative Conflict Research: A Conversation between Two Research PartnersThis contribution is a dialogue between two Conflict Studies academics, who have both invested in close research collaboration. by Koen Vlassenroot New Publication: Contested ‘commune rurales’: Decentralisation and the (violent) struggle for public authority in the Democratic Republic of CongoThis article explores how decentralisation policy and specifically the establishment of communes rurales in DR Congo turned into a profoundly destabilising juncture, shaking existing governance arrangements by Karen Büscherby Jeroen Cuvelier Book Launch: Nasser Road: Political posters in Uganda by Kristof TitecaIn this book talk on 6 February (11:30am), Kristof Titeca will discuss his book on political posters in Uganda with Koen Vlassenroot. by Koen Vlassenroot Book Launch: Gender and Citizenship in Transitional Justice by Sanne WeberIn this book talk on 23 January (12:30) , Sanne will describe what gender-sensitive peace and justice looks like for those supposed to benefit from these processes, based on fieldwork in two locations on Colombia’s Caribbean Coast. by Maria Martin de Almagro Iniestaby Jeroen Adam New Publication: The Congolese Elections and International ObserversAs Congo prepares for elections, international observers express concerns over the electoral process. However, a closer look reveals a shift in dynamics, with the absence of external control and funding for the first time in the country's history. by Koen Vlassenrootby Alice Gregoire New Publication: Searching for a Global Solidarity: A Collective Auto-Ethnography of Early-Career Women Researchers in the Asia-PacificThis forum critically reflects on discrimination faced by early-career women international relations (IR) scholars in the Asia-Pacific region in their workplaces and beyond. by Frances Cruz Book Launch: Facilitating researchers in insecure zones with Mats UtasDrawing upon his extensive research experience Mats Utas, in conversation with Karen Büscher, will elucidate how fragile relations with research brokers risk creating a single narrative of war. by Karen Büscher New Publication: The Politics of Mourning in Conservation ConflictsThis paper introduces a political ecology of vernacular memory to discuss the Basongora people's vernacular memories of their historical dispossession to create the Queen Elizabeth National Park (QENP) in Uganda. by Emmanuel Akampurira Obituary: In Honor of Datu MakapukawMary-Ann Manahan wrote a tribute in memory of her research collaborator Datu Makapukaw who tragically passed away. by Mary Ann Manahan New podcast: The humanness of humanity has a historyIn the 9th episode of PUAN podcast, co-host Saumya Pandey interviews anthropologist Mark Goodale on the history of human rights. by Saumya Pandey New Panel Presentation by Karen Büscher: Peripheral urbanisation and central political stakesThis 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. by Karen Büscher New Publication: Ethnic Violence in Sri Lanka: Politics of Sinhala-Tamil TensionsCo-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. by Roshni Kapur 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. by Maria Martin de Almagro Iniesta 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. by Saumya Pandey New Panel Presentation: Addis Ababa’s Peri-urbanisationThis 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. by Ayehu Bacha Teso New media contribution: Pollution dans le Delta du NigerAmina Adebisi Odofin discusses the role of women as agent of change in Nigeria by Amina Adebisi Odofin 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. by Christoph Vogel New Publication: The Geopolitics of Green Colonialism Global Justice and Ecosocial TransitionsThis upcoming book, co-edited by CRG's Mary Ann Manahan, provides a platform for the voices that have been conspicuously absent in debates around energy and climate in the Global North. by Mary Ann Manahan New Publication: Understanding Conservation Conflicts in Uganda: A Political Ecology of Memory ApproachThis paper introduces a political ecology of vernacular memory to discuss the Basongora people's vernacular memories of their historical dispossession to create the Queen Elizabeth National Park (QENP) in Uganda. by Emmanuel Akampurira New Publication: Grandmother-inclusive intergenerational approaches: the missing piece of the puzzle for ending FGM/C by 2030?This brief argues that “grandmother-exclusionary bias” represents a major obstacle to eradication of these practices. by Anneke Newman Launch: Insecure Livelihoods FellowshipsThe Insecure Livelihoods Programme offers early and mid-career Congolese researchers the opportunity to plan, conduct and publish their own, original research. by Koen Vlassenroot New Roundtable presentation: Climate Justice: A Report from the Global SouthThis roundtable at the Institute for Policy Studies, Washington discusses how the climate justice movement in the Global South is responding to new “Green colonialism”? by Mary Ann Manahan New Panel Presentation: Is Context Everything? Social Cohesion in a Global PerspectiveThis panel during the annual conference of the research institute social cohesion (14 to 16 September 2023; Leipzig) brings together scholars and practitioners working on social cohesion and reconciliation from different perspectives and academic disciplines, focusing particularly on the African and the Asian continent. by Julian Kuttig New Publication: Faire face aux transformations des terrains: retours sur des expériences contrastéesThis dialogue between researchers from different generations, statuses, genders, institutions, nationalities and countries looks back on contrasting and even opposing experiences, showing that, for them, there is no unequivocal link between political contexts and research activities. by Josaphat Musamba New Special Issue: Locating sandThis special issue in the Extractive Industries and Society organised together with Melissa Marschke and Jean-François Rousseau aims to provide a jumping-off point towards both empirically and conceptually sophisticated work on sand. by Bert Suykens New Publication: Why time matters for understanding the ASM-LSM nexus in south-eastern Democratic Republic of CongoThis article advocates an approach which pays more attention to issues of time and temporality in places where large-scale forms of mineral extraction clash with small-scale ones. by Jeroen Cuvelier New Publication: Performing political stories of the self: Subverting identities in the city of Goma, DR CongoThis article looks at how young urban activists in the city of Goma in the Democratic Republic of Congo (hereafter Congo) politically appropriated performances that were initially meant as a research tool. by Sam Kniknie New Book Review of James Smith’s The Eyes of the WorldAs an anthropologist, James Smith distinguishes himself from fellow scholars in development studies and political science by striving for a genuinely emic understanding of how various transparancy initiatives have been experienced and given meaning to at the grassroots level by those working and living in and around 3T mines. by Jeroen Cuvelier New Publication: Armed groups, territorial control, land disputes, and gold exploitation in Djugu, Ituri, Democratic Republic of CongoThis report investigates the link between the exploitation of gold in Djugu territory and the current conflict. It addresses the question of whether the current conflicts in Ituri province result from competition over mineral resources, or is the presence of gold mines rather an opportunity to finance war efforts? by Josaphat Musamba New Publication: What water will the UN Conference carry forward: a fundamental human right or a commodity?In March, 2023, the first UN Global Conference on water in 46 years attracted 7000 people in New York (NY, USA). However, long-standing rifts over how to best manage access to water and govern water resources were revived, revealing a confrontation of different political and economic views. by Mary Ann Manahan Call for papers: Special issue: Gender and Development: A contested landscapeThis special issue of Anthropologie & développement invites contributors to place the sub-field of Gender and Development (GAD) under the microscope by unpacking, through fine-grained empirical case studies, how concepts related to gender, sexuality, feminism and decolonisation are imagined, produced, imposed, appropriated, and resisted through concrete development practices and projects. by Anneke Newman New Publication: Sand urbanism in Bangladesh: Transitions of sand extraction and trade in Dhaka-NarayanganjSand is shaping and has shaped urban development in many parts of the world. Developing the concept of sand urbanism, this paper aims to understand the recursive constitution of sand extraction and urbanity. by Bert Suykens New Publication: Governing through decay? The workings of a transnational CongoA federal organization of the Congolese state remains a political impossibility whose mere shadow invokes nationalist backlash often framed in the language of “balkanization by Christoph Vogel New Publication: Rebellious riots: entangled geographies of contention in AfricaIs violent conflict in Africa urbanizing? How do urban protests and civil war intersect? How do narratives, mechanisms and identities of contention move between urban and rural arenas? by Sam Kniknieby Karen Büscher