CLA Hale Lecture Series

CLA Hale Lecture SeriespresentsJames WalkerDepaul UniversityDepartment of Philosophy & Peace, Justice, & Conflict Studies ProgramThursday, September 29th4:00 – 5:30 pmCampus CenterBamboo Room (Rm. 2610)Decolonizing Conflict Narratives:Towards a Phenomenology of PeaceFor centuries, those interested in the moral analysis of the use of military force - in particular the question of jus ad bellum - have relied upon a conceptual framework known as "just war theory." It is the contention of this paper that this framework ultimately presupposes a manner of narrating conflict that dehumanizes those subjects living within the boundaries of those situations the ethicist aims to analyze from that theoretical perspective. Just war theory forces us to view the situations we are attempting to analyze in a manner that smuggles in problematic colonial presuppositions about subjects and the essential power relations that are fundamental to conflict and the struggle for peace in the lived world. After teasing out the problematic colonial presuppositions of just war theorizing, this paper will begin sketching an alternative manner of engaging in the moral conceptualization of war that relies on a phenomenological analysis of peace that emphasizes the strategizing and maneuvering of subjects "on the ground" as they live within the complex web of power relations that is fundamental to those subjects' notions of self and place in the world. In developing these points, cases from the web of conflicts that has continued to engulf the Great Lakes Region of Africa will be utilized.FREE & OPEN TO THE PUBLICInterpreters provided upon request & subject to availability.Please make your request TODAY by going to Access.rit.edu.