APeCS is a research network of the European Association of Social Anthropologists born in 2022 out of the merger between the Anthropology of Security network and the Peace and Conflict Studies in Anthropology (PACSA). The merger took place at the EASA biennial conference in Belfast, a place in itself rich with significance in terms of peace, conflict, and security.

Vision & Mission

Security, peace, and conflict are topics that tend to carry a heavy political, emotional, and ethical baggage. In public debates, such topics often take simplistic forms. We believe that anthropological knowledge has the power to restore complexity where the public debate and policies at large offer one-dimensional perspectives. Therefore, our vision as APeCS builds on the idea that anthropology plays a major role in research, theory-making, and public engagement on issues related to peace, conflict, and security.

The network’s mission is to promote the anthropological perspective and ethnographic research on issues related to security and peace & conflict among anthropologists working in Europe. Concretely, APeCS aims to:

• bring together social anthropologists working on security, peace, and conflict, and establish a vibrant community engaged in knowledge and resource sharing, mutual support, and networking;
• foster the production of anthropological literature on peace, conflict, and security, as well as on methodological and ethical challenges arising from the ethnographic study of such topics;
• support networking initiatives and the organization of academic events on conflict, peace, and security at EASA conferences and beyond;
• foster academic debate on particular cases of conflict, peace building, and issues related to (in)security in a broad sense, contributing to anthropological theory-making, ethnographic research, and public engagement on these topics;
• build bridges between academia and practitioners, on one hand, and academic and activist debates and practices, on the other hand;
• organize academic and public events on ongoing conflicts, peace building initiatives, and security-related topics of interest;
• engage with the media more broadly on issues of peace, conflict, and security, in order to bring into the public debate the complexity that anthropological knowledge makes salient;
• support early career scholars working on topics related to peace, conflict, and security, by means of mentorship, support for publications and research grant applications.

Become a member

EASA members can become members of this network. To join the network, please complete this (very short) application form.

If you are not already a member, consider becoming an EASA member.