POVICOPESYDY · Political violence in comparative perspective: A system dynamics approach to violent conflicts
FP6 — Marie Curie Actions (Human Resources and Mobility)
- Duration
- 2005-09-01 → 2007-08-31
- EU contribution
- €159,117
- Participants
- 1
- Scheme
- IIF
Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.
Results in brief
Final Activity Report Summary - POVICOPESYDY (Political Violence in Comparative Perspective: A System Dynamics Approach to Violent Conflicts)
The project 'Political violence in comparative perspective: A system dynamics' approach to violent conflicts' was initiated and completed by Dr Manuel Salamanca. Its purpose was to test and refine conceptual models for the description and analysis of political violence. A particular focus was made on intractable conflicts. In order to study this kind of conflicts, two cases were chosen, namely the Basque country and Colombia, who, each in their own right, represented long-standing conflict situations with the characteristics of significant political incompatibilities and ongoing levels of violence for a protracted period of time. Modelling, as an approach, implied both a social science and mathematical undertaking and Dr Salamanca's research addressed both aspects. Part of this was a first testing level of research, preparing for the final phase of more robust tests of models in the project's main part. The results showed that, under certain circumstances, a system dynamics' approach was both an inventive and challenging method for theorising around political violence and its dynamics. Modelling brought into light information that might not be observed, or even accessible, through other approaches. This was one of the advantages of implementing a systems' approach, based on the dynamics of, in this case, violent and intractable social processes.
Data: CORDIS, © European Union
Project objective
As a general objective, this project aims to the development of a theoretical framework to analyze and model, from the perspective of System Dynamics and its relation to Peace Studies, situations and conditions of intractability related to both political violence and deep-rooted violent conflicts. It intends to undertake a comparative study using two cases that involve political violence and violent conflict. Such a comparison will address that their internal dynamics of intractability pose to governance an d integration. The cases considered will be the Spanish Basque Country political violence (seen at times and by some as a sometimes overt, sometimes minor conflict), and the protracted, political violent conflict in Colombia. The understanding of violent conflicts and political violence conflicts as parasite systems functioning within societies, will address the question of how systemic the treatment of long, eluding-resolution disputes may be of use to conflict policies, both at the national and international levels. This, through the development of behavioural models of (state and non-state) agents involved in processes of political violence (seen here as relational systems within national systems).
Original text from CORDIS.
Participants
- UPPSALA UNIVERSITY · UPPSALACoordinatorSweden
Links
Data: CORDIS, © European Union