Post-Conflict and Post-Crisis Research Colloquium [2006-2011]

About

Established in 2005, the Cambridge Post-Conflict and Post-Crisis (PCPC) Group is an interdisciplinary group of academics and researchers at the University of Cambridge working in fields pertaining to post-conflict reconstruction and early recovery. The group includes specialists from the fields of Politics and International Relations, International Development, African Studies, Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, History, Law, Architecture, Anthropology,

Business and Management Studies, and Archaeology. 

Over 2007-2009 the Group sought to establish a number of regularly scheduled and publicised events, ranging from undertaking a visiting speaker programme to the extension of its smaller working subgroups (e.g. Religion and Conflict, and the Politics of Space). The aim of these weekly meetings was to:

create a team as well as give cohesion and regularity to the group
identify the themes that will be developed throughout the year and at the conference
identify key arguments and people in each theme
collate bibliography and key concepts for each topic

The Group's activities over the first year (2007-2008)  culminated in the major two-day interdisciplinary conference on
The Culture of Reconstruction: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on the Aftermath of Crisis

The activities over the second year continued those which proved to be the strengths of the Group, whilst retaining a flexibility and openness to new research proposals and enterprises. They  also provided an opportunity to follow up on the contacts and themes that emerged during the conference in order to edit a publication and establish a networked research community in this field.

The 2009-2011 Workshops

In the Wake of War
 
During 2009-2011, the Cambridge Post-Conflict and Post-Crisis (PCPC) Group will be hosting a series of five high-level workshops entitled ‘In the Wake of War’ and located at the University of Cambridge. The workshops will bring together leading experts from academic, policymaking and practitioner backgrounds to discuss key issues in post-conflict reconstruction and early recovery.
 
Each workshop aims to make a contribution to a crucial area of debate  by drawing upon the collected experience of their participants to: establish the essential frames of reference, delineate the key issues and questions, and collate the lessons learned. From these discussions, a short briefing paper will be drafted for circulation amongst practitioners, policymakers and researchers. In addition to the briefing paper produced after each workshop, participants will also be invited to submit papers on workshop topics for inclusion in an edited volume, to be published in late 2011.
 
The unique value added by these workshops lies in their deliberately interdisciplinary nature. Post-conflict reconstruction and early recovery are currently receiving a high level of attention in many different fields, and this situation presents many challenges as well as offering new opportunities for cooperative work. Many pertinent questions and innovative answers may therefore be found, not only in the depth of intra-disciplinary research, but also in the breadth of
inter-disciplinary dialogue. The ‘In the Wake of War’ workshops aim to create a venue for just this type of inter-disciplinary dialogue. Each workshop will be carefully crafted to ensure that a range of professional and disciplinary perspectives are represented.