Geopolitical knowledge, agency and peace: the European Centre for Minority Issues' peace-building in Europe and the post-Soviet Borderlands

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

This research advances our understanding of the pressing intellectualand political issue of ethnic-minority related peacebuilding in Europe'sborderlands. Advancing critical geopolitical theorisation by bringing itinto deeper conversation with the emerging geographies of peaceliterature, it explores how institutions produce knowledge through'geopolitical scripting' - that is, how one place is understood andinterpreted in terms of another in order to guide policy interventions.This is pursued with our collaborative partner, the European Centre forMinority Issues (ECMI), based in Flensburg in the Danish-Germanborder region of Schleswig-Holstein. The cause of two nineteenthcenturywars, Schleswig-Holstein is one of post-War Europe's greatestpeacebuilding 'success stories.' Working with governments and the EU,the ECMI produces and transmits geopolitical knowledge about theSchleswig-Holstein 'model' to aid minority-orientated peacebuildinginterventions throughout Europe. This research explores how thisoccurs in particular reference to their work on Europe's fractious post-Soviet borderlands.Research adopts a tri-method and multi-sited approach. InterpretivePolicy Analysis will be used to analyse reports, archival material, mediaengagement, and visual representations. Ethnographic study will beused within the office environment and meetings with visitingdelegations. Lastly, key actors will be interviewed. Two main sites willbe studied: the primary one being the ECMI's Flensburg base, and thesecondary one its ongoing policy interventions and projects inTransnistria (an unrecognised, Russian-speaking state betweenUkraine and Moldova).As well as advancing critical geopolitics and peace geographies inmultiple intellectual and policy-related ways, the project will significantlycontribute to the dearth of literature on Schleswig-Holstein.