Debates on Imperfect Peace - International Conference Series (12 - 14 May 2016)

Debates on Imperfect Peace - International Conference Series (12 - 14 May 2016)

Debates on an Imperfect Peace

The aim of the conference series is to contribute to debate and dialogue on one of the most fruitful concepts developed in the field of peace research in recent years – ‘Imperfect Peace’, coined by the historian, academic, and researcher Francisco A. Muñoz Muñoz. In the course of expounding his theory of ‘Imperfect Peace’, Francisco A. Muñoz addresses the main concepts and ideas in the field of peace research, doing so within the framework of major ontological and epistemological shifts.

The ontological shift reveals a humane, paradoxical, capable being, stripped of essences - the human being is neither violent nor peaceful by nature and possesses abilities to manage conflicts both peacefully and violently. Thus, essences give way and yield to characteristics. Human beings are historical, contingent, and changeable.

As regards the epistemological shift, if what we are concerned with is peace, we ought to research peace, turn it into a category for analysis in its own right, and tackle it from a transdisciplinary approach.


The conference series will deal with the following topics (to mention just a few):

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  • The positive, open, subtle and dialogical construal of conflicts as owing to differences in the projects and nuances of different human beings and entities
  • Imperfect Peace and Systemic Peace: incomplete and in continuous construction. It is everyone's responsibility but it is paradoxical, since it coexists with violence.
  • A critical analysis of violence. The fact that the previously mentioned shifts allow us to place peace at the forefront of our concerns does not mean that we forget violence.
  • The importance of mediation
  • Power and peaceful empowerment
  • A peaceful and pacifist conception of power


Further information (in Spanish):