Symposium: Dealing with Violence

Resolving Conflicts in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean

© College of Law and Governmance Studies Addis Ababa University

The symposium “Dealing with Violence - Resolving Conflicts in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean” will take place from July 25 to July 27, 2022 at the conference centre Schloss Herrenhausen, Hannover.  

Funding: Volkswagen Foundation (VolkswagenStiftung)

Conference conveners: Prof. Dr. Brigitte Reinwald, African History, History Department,
Prof. Dr. Christine Hatzky, Latin American History, History Department,
Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Gabbert, Cultural Anthropology and World Society, Institute of Sociology

Dealing with violence as part of social crises has been a constant feature in African, Latin American and Caribbean societies since the beginning of European expansion in the late 15th century. Violence has appeared in different forms such as conquest and colonisation, the slave trade and slavery, repression in authoritarian political systems, civil wars, ethnic violence, "feminicidios" (the murdering of women due to their gender) and organized crime. In spite (or because) of these challenges, Latin American, Caribbean and African societies have repeatedly come up with strategies for managing conflicts and ending processes of violence. Efforts to settle civil wars and internal armed conflicts have generated a variety of conflict resolution strategies and practices.

Recent peace and conflict research has taken an interdisciplinary approach: History, anthropology and sociology primarily address issues of continuity and change and the social, cultural, economic and political origins of both, violence and the settlement of conflicts. Film, literature and cultural studies engage with the collective memory of violence as well as the processes of remembering and forgetting in the context of specific forms, such as trauma narratives. Literary, cinematic, and other narratives offer valuable insights into the social origins as well as consequences of violent processes.

This conference will deal with various forms, origins, outcomes and strategies for the settlement of violent processes occurring in African, Latin American and Caribbean societies. Scholars and practitioners on both sides of the Atlantic will come together to discuss and compare the similarities and differences of various violence and peace processes.

Researchers and professionals from business and administration as well as NGOs with a link to violence and conflict management from all fields (e.g. history, political science, cultural studies) are welcome to attend the symposium.