The history of modern societies and international relations is often told as the gradual renunciation of violence: As a process of civilization that leads people to moderate their actions; as a process of state formation that pacifies societies and leads to the monopolization of legitimate authority; as a process of increasing international interdependence that raises the costs of conflict to unacceptable levels; or as a process of juridification that leads states to renounce war and settle disputes peacefully.
Current trends, however, don’t show the overcoming of organized violence and rather point in the opposite direction: all around the world, conflicts have again increased in intensity; globalization and technological change enable new forms of war and terrorist violence; systematic disregard for humanitarian law leads to greater ruthlessness and targeted use of sexual violence, enslavement or outlawed weapons in warfare; nationalist movements openly question basic principles of peaceful conflict resolution within and between states. Overall, these developments tend to point to transformations that challenge existing norms and practices for containing political violence.
The interdisciplinary research center "Transformations of Political Violence” examines these developments and aims at identifying the consequences for intra-societal and international peace and developing strategies to contain political violence under these changing conditions.