‘Peace’ is a seemingly simple concept. But how would you define it? 

Is peace always imagined in relation to conflict? How does peace-building differ from conflict resolution? What is meant by ‘everyday’ peace? How do inner peace and geopolitical peace relate to each other? And can we build or experience peace without social justice or the ‘fight’ for equal rights?

The Visualising Peace project has grown out of the University of St Andrews’ Visualising War project. In studying narratives of conflict and the impact which they have on how people understand, imagine and conduct war, we have become interested in the ways in which people narrate war’s aftermath and conflict resolution. This has led us to look at different habits of visualising peace and how those habits might influence our mindsets and behaviours.

Our key research questions include:

• What recurring stories do individuals and communities tell about war’s aftermath, conflict resolution, peace and peace-building in art, text, film, photography, news reports, museums, music, sculpture, gaming, and other such media?
• What (if anything) makes any given narrative identifiable as a ‘peace story’? And are narratives of peace always constructed in relation to narratives of war?
• Whose narratives or ideas of peace dominate in different parts of the world, and why?
• What role can peace-storytelling play in peace-building? 

The Visualising Peace project is directed by Alice König and supported by a team of students from a wide range of disciplines, all studying together as part of a ‘Vertically Integrated Project’.

Read more about our team and explore our research and growing portfolio of outputs by browsing this website. You can also follow us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook, and you can email us directly at [email protected].