Workshop on political violence involving DPIR hosted in Sarajevo

A workshop on political violence co-organised by DPIR’s Professor Andrea Ruggeri and DPhil candidate Ana Vilhelmina Verdnik is due to take place at the University of Sarajevo from Thursday 24 October to Sunday, 27 October. The event is hosted and co-organised by Institute for Research of Crimes Against Humanity and International Law’s Director Dr Muamer Džananović and Dr Hikmet Karčić. 

The four-day-event – Historical Contexts and Contemporary Challenges – marks the concluding event of the Oxford Conflict, Peace, and Security (CPS) Hub, which was led by Professor Ruggeri, a distinguished expert conflict dynamics and conflict resolution. It brings together scholars from seven institutions across Europe to explore the complexities of political violence.

The CPS Hub's mission has been to serve as a platform for an international community of researchers and practitioners, fostering connections, promoting collaboration, and facilitating knowledge-sharing aimed at preventing or mitigating conflict, while contributing to a more secure global future.

 As part of the CPS Hub’s activities, an inaugural workshop was held during Hilary Term 2022 uniting eight DPhil candidates and nine faculty members from three Oxford departments. A second major workshop was held in February 2024 in collaboration with the Department of Political Science at the University of Amsterdam focussing on violence in democracies and featuring discussions on ongoing research. Several of the papers presented at this workshop are set to be published in a special issue of the Journal of Peace Research in 2025.

For the final workshop in Sarajevo, colleagues will present their ongoing work on conflict dynamics and conflict management. In addition to scholars, they will engage with local associations and activists, enriching the dialogue. Researchers from various European institutions—including the University of Amsterdam, University College London (UCL), ETH Zurich, and the universities of Milan and Florence—will share their findings alongside local academics from the University of Sarajevo.

The workshop aims to address a range of critical topics, including the causes of political violence, the dynamics of civilian victimisation, the relationship between elections and violence, and post-conflict reconstruction efforts.

Reflecting on the CPS Hub’s journey, Professor Andrea Ruggeri, who has recently transitioned from Oxford’s DPIR after ten years to the University of Milan, commented: 

"This concluding workshop is a significant event to strengthen ties between UK and European scholars and extend our network of collaboration with the University of Sarajevo and its research environment. 

The CPS Hub has been an incubator of ideas, a facilitator of training, and an outstanding experience in research networking.”