A Pandemic Peace? Narrative Shift in Discursive Disarmament Strategies (funded until 2022)
The working group "A Pandemic Peace? Narrative Shift in Discursive Disarmament Strategies" is interested in exploring the role and effects of a narrative shift within international disarmament and anti-militarism social movements with the COVID-19 pandemic as a symbolic event.
Background of the Working Group
The discourses revolving disarmament campaigns have commonly focused on the negative effects of weapons, such as violence, suffering, and obstacles concerning peace efforts and the establishment institutions. In the light of the COVID-19 crisis, the narrative embraced by NGOs and activists alike is increasingly focusing on a public health approach. The research interest of the WG is aimed at the way in which several social movements seize this global crisis concern. Additionally, we are interested on the related framing process that contributes to the establishment of the pandemic as a symbol of global peace, solidarity, and community.
Objectives of the Working Group
The central topics of the working group are the discursive strategies employed by disarmament and anti-militarism movements, their variation and effects. The working group is particularly interested in analyzing whether the Coronavirus pandemic is established as a symbolic event, and therefore a critical juncture in disarmament governance.
The working group delves into a decades-old discourse on global disarmament from a completely new angle. This research holds the potential to provide a unique meeting space between academia and social movements that will allow not only to gain insights from a diverse set of ideas and views, but also to combine quite different kinds of expertise and knowledge.
The working group takes advantage of the CSS’ interdisciplinarity, combining the key research subjects of the center: governance, communication and public spheres. To the former, the working group provides insights into the effects of a discourse shift in disarmament and anti-militarism campaigns framed as a public health problem. To the latter, it contributes to the role of the pandemic as a symbolic event in disarmament discursive strategies throughout social movements.