Change in armed conflict: An introduction

Abstract

How can we understand change in armed conflict, both in terms of the phenomenon as a whole, as well as within individual conflicts? This Special Issue sets a new agenda on the theme of change in armed conflict. Studying conflict as a dynamic social phenomenon requires embracing interdisciplinarity and methodological pluralism, which this Special Issue facilitates through a shared conceptual framework on five dimensions of change as a ‘lingua franca’ across diverse approaches and perspectives. It advances debates through three contributions: by critically assessing pre-existing categories and labels; by accounting for perceptions and experiences; and by scaling analyses across varying units and levels of analysis.

Conflict shapes in flux: Explaining spatial shift in conflict-related violence

“…We have theorized how two (actors, environments) of the five dimensions of the framework on change in armed conflict connect (Idler, 2023), and developed a methodology to apply this theory to armed multi-actor conflicts. Through the cases of conflict in the Afghan–Pakistani borderlands, Syria/Iraq, the Lake Chad region and Colombia, we have shown how the emergence of new dominant conflict actors facilitates a spatial shift in conflict-related violence.…”

“…Others fight only other non-state actors, such as clan militias in the Afghan–Pakistani borderlands. Building on Goldstein’s (2003: 3) broad definition of war as ‘lethal intergroup violence’ (see also Idler, 2023), we therefore conceptualize armed conflict as a dynamic multi-actor setting of organized violence with one or more contested issues between two or more conflict actors resulting in deaths. 4 We specify our theory, applicable to settings of armed multi-actor conflicts, through the following scope condition: the original contested issue involves at least one state actor and at least one non-state actor.…”

“…More broadly, our findings help advance the research agenda on change in armed conflict proposed by this Special Issue as a whole. We show how two of the five dimensions in the conceptual framework on change in armed conflict connect (Idler, 2023): the dimensions of change in actors involved in conflict, and in the environments, or places, where conflict occurs. By accounting for the dynamism of conflict-related violence, we join other Special Issue contributions that embrace ‘gray zones’ (Rugo, 2023).…”

The patch as method: The arts’ contribution towards understandings of conflict

“…The research question this article pursues is: how do art practice and research give form to – and perhaps disrupt? – changing dynamics and experiences of conflict?’ In line with this Special Issue, this article proposes to ‘challenge – or relax the rigidness of – externally imposed categories and labels related to “armed conflict” ’ (Idler, 2023).…”

“…When discussing conflict, for instance, the argument adopts the same framework developed for the introduction to this Special Issue. Conflict is thus understood as ‘organized intergroup violence’, but also as a ‘dynamic social phenomenon’ (Idler, 2023) with a strong focus on ‘transnationality’. As a dynamic phenomenon, the article contends that analyses of conflict need to take into account both ‘perceptions’ and ‘experiences’.…”