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How research travels to policy: The case of Nordic peace research

Bramsen, Isabel LU orcid and Hagemann, Anine (2023) In International Affairs 99(5).
Abstract
How is peace research connected to practice? Observers have argued that peace research has gone from activist, political ideals about changing the world to being a methods-driven field of research that has lost all criticality. This article adds empirical substance to the debate by investigating the case of Nordic peace research and its relationship to practice. Through interview data with more than 60 individuals, including prominent peace and conflict scholars as well as practitioners working with peace and conflict resolution, we conceptualize the practice-research relationship through four 'travelers' connecting peace research and practice: 1) researchers, 2) students, 3) theories and concepts and 4) empirical findings. We describe... (More)
How is peace research connected to practice? Observers have argued that peace research has gone from activist, political ideals about changing the world to being a methods-driven field of research that has lost all criticality. This article adds empirical substance to the debate by investigating the case of Nordic peace research and its relationship to practice. Through interview data with more than 60 individuals, including prominent peace and conflict scholars as well as practitioners working with peace and conflict resolution, we conceptualize the practice-research relationship through four 'travelers' connecting peace research and practice: 1) researchers, 2) students, 3) theories and concepts and 4) empirical findings. We describe distinct characteristics of the four travelers and discuss the changing impact of peace research over time; from researchers acting as mediators and peace activists to an increasing professionalization that has disentangled peace research and practice, shrinking the space for reflexivity in practice as well as the ability to integrate practical experience into research. We discuss the paths forward in terms of co-creation and suggest that peace research need not necessarily influence policy in terms of concrete policy advice but more so by asking big and difficult questions such as 'how peace?' and 'why war?' (Less)
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author
and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
impact, peace, Peace Research, practice-research divide, the Nordic region, theory
in
International Affairs
volume
99
issue
5
publisher
Oxford University Press
external identifiers
  • scopus:85172662252
ISSN
0020-5850
DOI
10.1093/ia/iiad175
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
c26ceba9-99ab-45ae-abbc-d5af7a52ba89
date added to LUP
2024-01-28 16:43:17
date last changed
2024-01-30 10:07:49
@article{c26ceba9-99ab-45ae-abbc-d5af7a52ba89,
  abstract     = {{How is peace research connected to practice? Observers have argued that peace research has gone from activist, political ideals about changing the world to being a methods-driven field of research that has lost all criticality. This article adds empirical substance to the debate by investigating the case of Nordic peace research and its relationship to practice. Through interview data with more than 60 individuals, including prominent peace and conflict scholars as well as practitioners working with peace and conflict resolution, we conceptualize the practice-research relationship through four 'travelers' connecting peace research and practice: 1) researchers, 2) students, 3) theories and concepts and 4) empirical findings. We describe distinct characteristics of the four travelers and discuss the changing impact of peace research over time; from researchers acting as mediators and peace activists to an increasing professionalization that has disentangled peace research and practice, shrinking the space for reflexivity in practice as well as the ability to integrate practical experience into research. We discuss the paths forward in terms of co-creation and suggest that peace research need not necessarily influence policy in terms of concrete policy advice but more so by asking big and difficult questions such as 'how peace?' and 'why war?'}},
  author       = {{Bramsen, Isabel and Hagemann, Anine}},
  issn         = {{0020-5850}},
  keywords     = {{impact; peace; Peace Research; practice-research divide; the Nordic region; theory}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{5}},
  publisher    = {{Oxford University Press}},
  series       = {{International Affairs}},
  title        = {{How research travels to policy: The case of Nordic peace research}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ia/iiad175}},
  doi          = {{10.1093/ia/iiad175}},
  volume       = {{99}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}