The curious case of adolescent democracy and protracted violence
This expert meeting is organised by Ghent University and the Conflict Research Unit (CRU) of the Clingendael Institute. For further information and registration please contact Erwin van Veen.
During this expert round table Ghent University and Clingendael’s Conflict Research Unit will bring together researchers, policy- and opinion-makers to discuss the related occurrence of democracies, elections and protracted violence from the perspective of international peacebuilding.
A full-day workshop in Ghent on Wednesday 10 October will have an academic orientation with the aim of deepening the conceptual understanding of ‘violent democracies’. A half-day workshop on Thursday 11 October in Brussels will have a more applied aim, namely to discuss how international policies and initiatives can take better account of the phenomenon of ‘violent democracies’. We will focus on the following questions:
- What linkages exist between emergent democracy, socio-economic status (middle-income versus lower-income) and violence?
- Why do many democracies find it hard to stem violent organized crime, electoral violence, vigilante / police killings, and sometimes even insurgency?
- How are diverse coercive organization (not) integrated in democratic/electoral practices?
- What could be the policy implications of these issues for the international peacebuilding agenda?
The discussions will take place under the Chatham House Rule.
