CALAS

Processes of peace and conflict resolution in Latin America

The Laboratory conducts research on the entanglements and transitions between peace and violence, following four research lines:

1) Conceptual study of peace and violence relationality
Based on a critical revision of concepts and semantic fields of peace and violence, the Laboratory discusses theoretical proposals on the entanglement of these concepts, and conducts a revision of conflict and peace studies, as well as of violence studies in Latin America.
2) Study of paradigmatic discourses and visions of peace, violence and war, as well as their cultural and artistic expressions.
The Laboratory aims at analyzing the problem of cultural violence and at discussing possible peace aesthetics and imaginaries. It also questions the representations, elaborations and reflections of different social groups of various Latin American countries, determined by their corresponding sociocultural and historic conditions.
3) Study of peace strategies, initiatives and processes.
The Laboratory conducts research on how constellations marked by armed conflicts and the—in part, massive—use of violence have been transformed into pacific coexistences. It aims at analyzing concrete efforts to establish peace and overcome violent confrontations in Latin America.
4) Study of transitional processes threatening peace, including the media and the tools for maintaining and strengthening it.
The Laboratory conducts critical research on peace on the region, emphasizing the results of peace processes and the modalities of the achieved peace. It studies the risks that threaten peace and cause crises, as well as turning points rising after the conflict and the strategies to maintain and strengthen peace.