3rd Interdisciplinary Conference on Technical Peace Research – https://sps.peasec.de/
Wednesday 20.- Friday 22. September 2023, Darmstadt, Germany
CALL FOR CONTRIBUTIONS
The interdisciplinary conference, co-organized by FONAS and TraCe, examines the impact, control and design of technologies which influence peace and security. Existing approaches towards arms control need to adapt to the changing security landscape, while new civilian and military technologies are changing forms of violence and warfare. Particularly striking areas are cyber warfare and the rapid development of unmanned weapons systems.
Issues of nuclear disarmament, missile technology or space weaponry, as well as chemical and biological weapons, are gaining renewed urgency. In addition to the development of new weapons systems, information technology also plays a significant role in the oppression and digital surveillance of civilians during conflicts.
Aiming to network under authoritarian actors, civil society is increasingly using social media as a resource to organize cyber protests and to fight for human rights. Apart from acute use in conflict-related contexts, many cases illustrate that technology is increasingly being used by different actors for conflict transformation and to promote peace, aiming to reduce (political) violence in the long term.
Furthermore, the geopolitics of infrastructure, e.g., (renewable) energy and climate change is an urgent topic. Infrastructures are relevant in conflicts, can be manifestations of global injustice, strategic objects in armed conflicts as well as part of a peaceful conflict transformation. Thus, the conference seeks contributions which reflect on the geopolitics of infrastructure and their role
In general, all of these issues raise the question of the regulation and proliferation of security-relevant technologies as well as their design. These aspects influence who has access to certain technologies, who can benefit or faces risk by their use.
The interdisciplinary conference Science · Peace · Security ’23 aims to facilitate fruitful discussions on current and future challenges in the field of technical peace and conflict research. We seek contributions from the natural and technical science, the social and legal sciences, and ethics and humanities.
SUBMISSIONS
We are looking for contributions on the intersection of science, technology, peace and security, e.g., on
- Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Weapons and Disarmament
- Cyber and Information Warfare, Artificial Intelligence and Unmanned Weapon Systems
- Geopolitics of Infrastructure, e.g. (Renewable) Energy and Climate Change
- (Urban) Protest and Violence
We are looking for different types of contributions:
- Idea pitches (5 minutes), e.g. of early stage research ideas, with subsequent discussion
- Talks (10-20 minutes)
- Posters to be presented with a 2-minute pitch and during a 90minutes interactive poster session
- Ideas for panel discussions or workshops of 30-90minutes
Submissions details can be found at https://sps.peasec.de/
All authors of accepted contributions will be allowed to submit a paper for the conference proceedings, which are planned to be published electronically in open access (without costs) with TUprints.
CONFERENCE SERIES
The Science · Peace · Security conference series, maintained by FONAS (Research Network on Science, Disarmament and International Security), was launched in Darmstadt in 2019 and subsequently held in Aachen in 2021. In 2023, it will be hosted in Darmstadt again; followed by Jülich in 2025. In 2023 is co-organized as part of the research project TraCe (BMBF-funded research center „Transformations of Political Violence“), following the tradition of IANUS (natural science and technical peace research) at Technical University of Darmstadt.
Contact: sps23@peasec.de