Abdul Aziz Said Symposium
October 14-16, 2022
School of International Service, American University, Washington DC
“Peace and Justice in the 21st Century: Critical Reflections on the Meaning of Our Field”
CALL FOR PAPER ABSTRACTS
The School of International Services at American University invites individual paper and panel submissions for its Abdul Aziz Said Symposium, honoring the memory of our faculty colleague of 59 years, inaugural appointee to the Mohammed Farsi Chair of Islamic Peace, and founding director of the MA program in International Peace and Conflict Resolution.
The theme – Critical Reflections on the Meaning of the Study of Peace and Justice – aims to evaluate and rethink advances in the field of peace studies. In the last few decades, we have made essential strides to address some of the most pressing issues affecting peace. Unfortunately, we have also seen a rise in ideological divisions, centuries-old systems of oppression hindering progress, and the resurgence of old identity tensions, facilitated by modern technology. These dynamics are causing peace scholars and practitioners to assess our field, what we have accomplished, and what we can hope to achieve.
Questions abound regarding the fundamental tenets of our field and whether they may be impeding the expansion of what is possible and the mechanisms available to create change. These questions are framed around the history of our field and how its origin and reference points have given rise to the voices, stories, and scholarships that have shaped the advancement of norms and ideas. To understand future challenges, we need to grasp the effects of the past and how our field became what it is today. This requires, in part, engaging in discourse about Global North and Global South marginalization, Western cultural hegemony, the influence of non-Westerners, as well as the impact of racism, sexism, and bigotry on peace studies today.
The Said Symposium is intended to reflect on the field of Peace Studies, our contributions to creating more peaceful societies, and our shortcomings and challenges. We are at a turning point, and it is imperative that we open the door to innovative mechanisms and practices to enhance peacebuilding effectiveness.
Symposium panels will be related, but not limited, to:
· What has the field of peace studies achieved?
· How have peacebuilding and transitional justice reinforced or challenged transnational and national power hierarchies?
· Is our field sufficiently diverse, equitable and inclusive on issues such as North/South perspectives, race, gender and other identities?
· Do we still believe in positive peace?
· What approaches from the global South have been overlooked in the field?
· How has peace studies addressed gendered analysis and the role of women, and how should it?
· Is our field racially inclusive?
· How do efforts at global social justice figure into our field?
· Is the concept of ‘reconciliation’ useful, and what does the empirical record say?
· How should peace studies address the rise of nationalism, white supremacy and other racially exclusionary movements and discourses?
· How should peace studies address authoritarian populism?
· How should peace studies address artificial intelligence and new, less kinetic forms of warfare such as cyber and social media campaigns?
This symposium will bring together policymakers, practitioners, and scholars from multiple disciplines. We invite you to submit your proposals on the questions raised above.
Schedule and Deadlines
Abstracts should be submitted by April 8th, 2022.
Email address for submissions: saidsymposium@
Email subject: “Call for Papers Said Symposium”
Abstract length: 200-250 words
Additional information: brief biographical statement (no more than 50 words)
It is anticipated that proposals will be selected by May 1, 2022, and final confirmation of participants will be announced by June 15.
Selected papers will be published in a post-conference volume with an ISBN number.