About the Centre

Established in 2009, the Conflict Research Centre is a multi-disciplinary research unit at Saint Paul University in Ottawa. The Centre gathers a variety of scholars whose research is based around the central theme of conflicts and critical perspectives on peace and social justice. This theme includes four perspectives:

1) Philosophical: critical analysis of concepts and practices related to peace and conflict. Moral dimensions of conflict and resistance. Ideology, conflict and democracy. History, memory and temporality of peace and conflict. Conflict and social change.

2) Political: Security, conflict and peacebuilding. Analysis of contemporary tendencies. Critical perspectives on political theories of statebuilding and post-conflict interventions. Concepts and theories of the state, security and peace. Geopolitics of peace and conflict.

3) Social justice / human rights, which is divided into two parts:

a) Conflicts, humanitarian aid, refugees and displaced peoples. Political, economic and ideological aspects of humanitarian aid. Critical analysis of the practices and legal protections concerning refugees and displaced peoples. 

b) Conflict, justice and reconciliation: conceptions of reparations and restitution. Reconciliation and justice: restorative justice, law and social justice. Post-conflict reconciliation: the connection between individual and collective. Critical examination of psychological conceptions of peace consolidation. Conflict, reconciliation and distribution of wealth. Conflict and inequality.

4) Economic: Conflict and economics: the market and the role of the state. The market, sovereignty and justice. Role of organizations in international regulation. Fiscal logic and cultural conditions: the financialization and contractualization of legal relations, workplace social relations and political practices. Market economics, governance and anthropological perspectives on conflict actors.

The Centre is governed by a Board of Directors. Current members of the Board include

 

Message from the Board

We are pleased to welcome you to the Conflict Research Centre at Saint Paul University. The Centre is a place for reflection on conflict in its various dimensions. Conflict is a wide-ranging concept that intersects with fields of research and teaching in all faculties of the University. The Conflict Research Centre is concerned with many different levels and types of conflict, including community conflicts, workplace conflicts, political conflicts, legal conflicts, and violent conflicts, and has a particular focus on inter-ethnic and inter-religious conflicts, which are a specialization of many researchers at Saint Paul University.

The Centre aims to promote research on conflict in an interdisciplinary context. The Centre also hopes to stimulate interest in the study of the practical aspects of conflict and methods of intervention in conflict situations. The Centre brings together researchers from Saint Paul University and from other research institutions across Canada and around the world to participate in academic conferences and workshops. Please visit our website for more information about these events and for opportunities to join in our activities.

Hélène Tessier

Network

Members of the Conflict Research Centre are affiliated with the different faculties of St Paul University, as well as with several external partners and funders. These include