The use and misuse of the 'local turn' -- Distinguished Scholar Lecture Oliver P Richmond

In this talk I try to develop a reassessment of the critical project for peace and conflict research. Firstly, I outline the main challenges and critiques inherent in the ‘local turn' literature on peacemaking and peacebuilding. Then I turn to a discuss of its positive dynamics, before turning in another section to its failings and appropriation. Finally, I outline the potential renewal of the critical impetus behind this attempt to reconstruct our understanding of the tools of peacemaking in international order.

Oliver Richmond is Research Professor in IR and Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Manchester, UK. He is also International Professor at Dublin City University, Distinguished Visiting Professor at Ewha University, Seoul, Korea, and Honorary Professor in the School of International Relations, University of St Andrews, Scotland. He is also Visiting Professor at Near Eastern University, Lefkosha, Cyprus. He received a Distinguished Scholar award from the ISA Peace Studies Section in 2019. His publications include The Grand Design: The Evolution of the International Peace Architecture (Oxford University Press, 2022), Peace Formation and Political Order in Conflict Affected Societies (Oxford University Press, 2016), and Failed Statebuilding (Yale University Press, 2014). He is co-editor of the Palgrave book series, Rethinking Peace and Conflict Studies, and co-editor of the Journal, Peacebuilding.