The Peace Movements project proudly presents the Peace Histories Seminar Series! This series of talks provides a space for students and faculty to discuss how different actors, organisations, powers, and regions perceive peace. We invite speakers to present frontline research on a specific historiography of peace, after which the floor is opened for discussion. All events are held at the Humanities Faculty in Leiden and open to the public. Join us!
First up!
Join us in the conference room on October 6th for another Peace Histories seminar! Julia Hauser of the University of Kassel will speak on hierarchies of power and (non-)violence in vegetarianism. All are welcome! Drinks will be served in Pakhuis afterwards.
In the second half of the nineteenth century, vegetarianism became a subject of intense debate in Europe and India. Protagonists in both regions often referred to each other. In Europe, vegetarians evoked a simplified image of India as a non-carnivorous subcontinent where violence towards all living beings was rejected to support their cause. In India, proponents for vegetarianism employed scientific knowledge from Europe and North America. While vegetarians were opposed to exerting violence towards animals, vegetarianism was not necessarily linked to the idea of the equality of all living beings. Instead, some vegetarians claimed that a meat-free diet kept in check what they called the “animal” aspects of humans. This, they argued, not only elevated humans above animals, but also vegetarians above those who consumed meat. This connection between vegetarianism and an appropriation of evolutionary theory was a direct consequence of the dynamic exchange between protagonists in Europe, India, and North America, and in some cases, it helped legitimise the use of violence.
Our most recent event
Building Epistemic Justice After Nuclear Weapons Testing: the Case of Kirimati
Nuclear weapons testing during the Cold War has led to significant injustices impacting military personnel, local populations and communities, and indigenous peoples. These communities have faced – and in many cases continue to face – a wide range of harms, including environmental damage, social and cultural disruption, inter-generational trauma, and health issues. One prominent and understudied dimension of the harm is epistemic injustice, which manifests as the denial of knowledge and the undermining of credibility of for those affected communities by nuclear testing.
This form of injustice is pervasive among communities impacted by nuclear weapons due to factors such as national security concerns, the secrecy surrounding nuclear tests, and the disregard for the humanity and cultural practices of local and indigenous populations. A significant challenge for affected communities has been the contestation of their narratives by military, legal, and state actors (Alexis-Martin et al 2021). In this paper, we examine the epistemic injustice experienced by those affected by the Kiritimati (Christmas Island) nuclear weapons tests conducted by the UK and USA between 1957 and 1962. By foregrounding the lived experiences and knowledge of the Kiritimati community, the study underscores the necessity of integrating their knowledge and perspectives into broader efforts aimed at nuclear disarmament and environmental justice.
Past Events
During the week of 19-23 May, we headed into the IISH Archives with an international group of researchers for some real-time global history collaboration! Our program for the week, along with a list of participants, can be found here. Many thanks to all who joined us!
Peace Histories Seminar, Spring Semester 2024-2025
On Monday, May 12, 2025 Maria-Kyveli Mavrokordopoulou (VU University Amsterdam) gave the final talk of the Spring semester, entitled “Keeping the Nukes out, from Hawaii to Malta: 1980s antinuclear feminisms, in and through art.”
On Monday, April 7, 2025, Elisabeth Foster compared different peace discourses in China in her talk entitled: “A Just War versus a Dignified Peace? Discourses about War and Peace in the Peace Negotiations between the Chinese Communist Party and Nationalist Party in 1949”.
On Tuesday, March 6, 2025, we screened The War Game, a 1966 British pseudo-documentary that explores the aftermath of a nuclear war in Britain. It was made for the BBC but by the time it was finished, the film was seen as so controversial that it was withdrawn before the screening date. It did win an Oscar for the Best Documentary Feature in 1967 but was not televised in Britain until 1985.
On Monday, February 24, 2025, Francisca de Haan kicked off our Spring 2025 series with a talk on the World Women’s Committee Against War and Fascism in the years leading up to the Second World War.
On Thursday, October 7 2024, Pedro Aires Oliveira gave a talk on anti-war protests, transnational solidarity and the liberation of Portuguese-speaking Africa, c. 1961-1974.