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

Abstract

This article asks: how do art practice and research give form to changing dynamics of conflict? Its argument is two-fold: art’s contribution can be developed from empirical considerations (what art finds out), and from methodological ones (how art finds something out). Bringing in art practice and the research methods it informs into political science helps understand conflict and its changes: by engaging simultaneously with the interaction between the collective and the personal, art practice and research elucidates those complex and layered narratives used by various actors in conflict that often resist approaches rooted in social and political sciences. By paying attention to everyday interactions and emphasizing dynamism, art provides a different way to chart changes in armed conflict. Art documents discourses that are difficult to communicate otherwise and allows us to detect and engage with the grey areas, transformations, processes and ambivalences of conflicts that escape neat categorizations.

Change in armed conflict: An introduction

“…It includes perceptions of insecurity that trigger fear, the psychological effects of organized violence, and uncertainty in the absence of appropriate behavioural rules. Rugo (2023) in this Special Issue studies such experienced and perceived harm, which exists at the level of individuals and of societies since it damages their social fabric. Finally, as Alderdice (2023) highlights in this Special Issue, both physical and non-physical harm can induce long-term harm to a society's structure, resulting from conflict's 'cumulative impact' (ICRC, 2016: 10).…”

“…The second contribution concerns perceptions and experiences' relevance for understanding conflict dynamics. Rugo (2023) demonstrates how the arts embrace the affective and the emotional that shape people's perceptions and experiences which influence behaviour in conflict. These include perceptions of what Alderdice (2023) terms 'devoted actors', to whom sacred values rather than material gains are at stake.…”

“…By only studying groups, one misses why 'devoted actors' join them. Similarly, Rugo (2023) highlights how the collective and the personal interact: armed conflict is a collective reality, but people affected by it perceive it differently. As experiences of conflict change over time, perceptions change too.…”

“…Nogales and Oldiges (2023) continue the theme of spatial shifts, but across subnational borders, and scrutinize how these relate to socioeconomic factors, especially poverty as experienced by communities exposed to conflict. This focus on experiences is central to Rugo (2023)’s article that follows. He shows that art practice and research can contribute to an understanding of layered narratives used by various actors in conflict that resist political science approaches because arts unpacks the subtleties of experiences and perceptions.…”

“…He shows that art practice and research can contribute to an understanding of layered narratives used by various actors in conflict that resist political science approaches because arts unpacks the subtleties of experiences and perceptions. Finally, speaking to Rugo (2023)’s emphasis on the personal and the affective, Alderdice (2023) reminds the reader to take emotions seriously since conflict is about human relationships – or their breakdown. Alderdice (2023)’s analysis extends to the next generation: today’s conflicts trigger tomorrow’s traumas.…”