Claudia Baumgart-Ochse
Research Fellow, Peace Research Institute, Frankfurt, Germany and Kroc Institute Visiting Fellow
In recent decades, war has shifted away from conventional inter-state wars and toward a range of civil wars, asymmetric conflicts, and transnational terrorism. As a result of this change, the international dialogue on peace and security has begun to focus on the protection of human rights and security of groups and individuals. Non-governmental organizations have played an important role in promoting this profound revision of the dominant thinking. Among them are faith-based actors who draw on a variety of religious traditions for guidance and who are actively involved in the quest for a renewed peace and security agenda in global governance. This goes against the grain of mainstream studies of transnational civil society, which embrace the assumptions of the modernist secularization paradigm.
Claudia Baumgart-Ochse will sketch out out a planned research project to analyze the potential and dangers of transnational religious organizations’ advocacy and service in the framework of the United Nations. Her research focuses on the Democratic Peace theory, religious actors’ ambivalent role in armed conflict, and the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
Free and open to the public.
A light lunch will be available before the lecture.