The Challenges of Pacifism and Nonviolence in the Twenty-First Century

Pacifism and nonviolence should be taken seriously for a number of compelling analytical and normative reasons, including the failure of current norms to regulate international violence, the growing literature on the effectiveness of nonviolence, and the insights from it on the interdependence between means and ends. In this keynote lecture, IAS Visiting Fellow Professor Richard Jackson (University of Otago) will elaborate on these themes and on the challenges facing the expanding scholarship on the topic. His lecture will provide a taster of the content of the inaugural issue of the new Journal of Pacifism and Nonviolence, which Dr Alex Christoyannopoulos (Loughborough University) launched earlier this year. Guest Speaker Professor Berit Bliesemann de Guevara (Aberystwyth University) and IAS Visiting Fellow Dr Felicity Gray (Nonviolent Peaceforce) will then briefly introduce their recently-published special issue of the journal on ‘unarmed civilian agency in violent conflicts’. 

The Journal of Pacifism and Nonviolence is published by Brill, an esteemed academic press based in Leiden in the Netherlands. As the only journal in this area of scholarship, with a global reach and with an editorial board including experts from across Europe, North America, Asia and Oceania, it is a publication that will define this growing field of research. We are honoured that Professor Richard Jackson has come to Loughborough from New Zealand as an IAS Fellow for the launch of this journal, whose editor-in-chief is Loughborough University’s Dr Alex Christoyannopoulos.

Arrivals from 5:00pm for a 5:15pm start. 

This event is hybrid format, please use the required booking button at the bottom of the page to choose either in-person or online attendance.

(Please note that in-person spaces are limited and booking is required, so we can manage numbers for catering and also the space inside International House)

By booking a place at this event, attendees agree to behave in a respectful manner such that everyone feels comfortable contributing as they wish. The IAS reserves the right to eject anyone who does not abide by this policy.

IAS seminars are typically recorded, minus any Q&A sessions at the end, again to encourage contributions. The recordings are then uploaded to our website on a Fellows bio page and/or Programme page, along with our IAS YouTube Channel. If you are not able to attend a seminar live, please do still register as we will email everyone who registered to let them know once the recordings are made available.