International Translation Day

The 30th of September is International Translation Day, celebrated on the same day as the feast of St. Jerome, who is considered the patron saint of translators. The United Nations established International Translation Day in 2017 “to pay tribute to the work of language professionals, which plays an important role in bringing nations together, facilitating dialogue, understanding and cooperation, contributing to development and strengthening world peace and security”. Read more from the UN page here.

In the spirit of this day, we have compiled some of our translated titles from 2024 below, with freely available introductions, and linked some of our 2023 titles at the bottom of this page.

You may also be interested in our 2024 Women in Translation Month blog post, which includes some of Berghahn Books titles of women’s research and narratives that were translated into English, or our 2022 International Translation Day blog post.


To be published October 2024

Rag Fair

A Different Migration History of London’s East End, 1780-1850

Ole Münch

Translated by Angela Davies and Jozef van der Voort from German

In the early Victorian age, the streets of East London were home to migrants from different regions and religions. In the midst of this area lay the famous Rag Fair street market, sustained by trade routes stretching across the globe. The market’s history demonstrates that it was not only a place of economic exchange, but also an intercultural contact zone where Jewish and Irish migrants mingled, entered client relationships and forged political alliances. Reconstructing the varied (partly multiethnic) group-building processes operating in the market, Rag Fair draws on approaches across migration history, economic history, economic anthropology and the sociology of political movements to uncover the social mechanisms at work in the old clothing trade.

Volume 10, Studies in British and Imperial History

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Reversible America

Cowboys, Clowns, and Bullfighters

Frédéric Saumade and Jean-Baptiste Maudet

Translated from the French

Rodeo, cattle ranching, and bullfighting converge in the arenas of race, gender, and ethics in Reversible America. In Southwestern California, these sports manifest in spectacular expressions of transcultural interactions that continue to develop through border crossings. Using an interdisciplinary scope, this unique look into the subculture negotiates the paradoxes and connections between the popular American performances, Iberian bullfighting, and Native American hunting methods, along with the relationship between human and non-human beings, and systems of value across borders.

Read freely available introduction.

After Auschwitz

The Difficult Legacies of the GDR

Edited by Enrico Heitzer, Martin Jander, Anetta Kahane, and Patrice G. Poutrus
Translated from the German

“It is a combination of the expertise of academics and professional practitioners, enhanced by personal insights, that make this volume unique and especially intriguing.” • Israel Journal of Foreign Affairs

Read freely available introduction.

Shaping Tomorrow’s World

A Twentieth-Century History of West German, Cold War, and Global Futures Studies

Elke Seefried

Translated from the German by Patricia C. Sutcliffe and Alison Kraft

“This new book marks a milestone in the still young field that investigates the history of the future.” • Historische Zeitschrift

Read freely available introduction.

Social History of German Jews

A Short Introduction

Miriam Rürup, edited by Jake Schneider
Translated by Bill Templer from German

Tracing the social history of modern German Jews from the end of the 18th century up to the aftermath of World War II, Miriam Rürup follows their ascent into the middle and upper middle classes through repeated experiences of setbacks but also of self-assertion. In doing so it is explained how Jewish life changed under the auspices of emancipation and what impact these changes had on the demographic and social profile of the Jewish minority. With a focus on the daily interactions between Jews and other Germans when choosing a home, profession, or school, for example, Social History of German Jews shows the contrasting processes of integration and exclusion in a new light.

Volume 2, Perspectives on the History of German Jews

Read freely available introduction.

The Herero Genocide

War, Emotion, and Extreme Violence in Colonial Namibia

Matthias Häussler
Translated from the German by Elizabeth Janik

“The author impressively demonstrates that emotions can be the driving force behind cruelty and is able to portray the brutalization of ordinary soldiers, who ultimately also became ‘motor[s] of extermination,’ more clearly than previous studies have done. Fear, bitterness, and frustration in the face of military failures led to violence…Häussler’s work is an innovative, at times brilliant study that deserves a wide readership – hopefully, and thanks to the translation, now also in English-speaking countries.” • Central European History

Volume 31, War and Genocide

Read freely available introduction.

Fascist Europe

From Italian Supremacy to Subservience to the Reich (1932-1943)

Monica Fioravanzo

Translated by Ian Mansbridge from Italian

By shedding light on an often-overlooked aspect of Fascism and Nazism, this book examines the ambitious plans for a new European order conceived by Italian intellectuals, historians, geographers, politicians, and even student representative of the Fascist University Groups (GUF). Through expert reconstruction of the debate on this envisaged order’s development, Monica Fioravanzo opens a window into the theoretical arena that shaped relationships between German, Italy and the other Axis nations and provides insight into how the project was anticipated to unite the Fascist regime in Italy and the Nazi Reich.

Read freely available introduction.

Gender History of German Jews

A Short Introduction

Stefanie Schüler-Springorum

Translated by Christopher Reid from German

This concise overview traces the Gender history of German-Jews from the early modern period to the present day and provides a unique perspective on both men and women as historical actors in the German lands. By adopting new perspectives on the German-Jewish experience, Stefanie Schüler-Springorum introduces and examines gender narratives and opportunities across a wide range of individual circumstances and during times of discrimination, persecution and deportation. While being directed against all Jews the effects of Nazi policy had remarkably different results, depending on gender, class, marital status, age and religious affiliation. The picture that emerges here of German Jewry in modern times is consequently more vibrant and nuanced.

Volume 1, Perspectives on the History of German Jews

Read freely available introduction.

Centennial Fever

Transnational Hispanic Commemorations and Spanish Nationalism

Javier Moreno-Luzón

Translated by Nick Rider from Spanish

Commemorations that shaped major elements of Spanish identity at the beginning of the 20th century are full of centennials and anniversaries that elaborate and renew the Spanish national mythology. In Centennial Fever Javier Moreno-Luzón, one of the most prominent Spanish historians of his generation, studies the milestones that defined transnational dimensions of celebration at the beginning of the 20th century including the Peninsular War, the first Spanish Constitution, the independence of Latin American States, the “discovery” of the Pacific Ocean and the death of Miguel de Cervantes and the publication of Don Quixote of La Mancha. Through these truly global events, a cultural community is created, called “Hispanoamerica” or “La Raza”, on which Spanish nationalism has become dependent.

Volume 10, Studies in Latin American and Spanish History

Read freely available introduction.


Have a look at some translated titles from 2023!


Berghahn Journals

SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY/ANTHROPOLOGIE SOCIALE

Free access to the following articles until October 9, 2024 using code TRANSLATION
Redemption details: https://bit.ly/3F5lmqg

ANTHROPOLOGICAL JOURNAL OF EUROPEAN CULTURES

Translating Islam into Georgian: The Question of Georgian Muslim Identity in Contemporary Adjara
Ricardo Rivera (Vol. 28, Issue 2)

Translating the Bottom-Up Frame: Everyday Negotiations of the European Union’s Rural Development Programme LEADER in Germany
Oliver Müller, Ove Sutter, and Sina Wohlgemuth (Vol. 28, Issue 2)

BOYHOOD STUDIES

Beyond (Hyper)Masculinity: Images of Boyhood in Croatian Young Adult Novels in English Translation

Marija Todorova (Volume 15, Issue 1-2)

CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE HISTORY OF CONCEPTS

Translating the Concept of Experiment in the Late Eighteenth Century: From the English Philosophical Context to the Greek-Speaking Regions of the Ottoman Empire
Eirini Goudarouli and Dimitris Petakos (Vol. 12, Issue 1)

CRITICAL SURVEY

‘Our golden crown’: Analysis of Religious Intertextuality in Shakespeare’s Richard II, and Its Translation into Spanish

Luis Javier Conejero-Magro (Volume 35, Issue 2)

Harold Bloom and William Shakespeare: The ‘Saints of Repetition’ and the Towers of Babel
Taoufiq Sakhkhane (Vol. 34, Issue 3)

‘A Scorneful Image of this Present World’: Translating and Mistranslating Erasmus’s Words in Henrician England
Luca Baratta (Vol. 34, Issue 3)

Canonising Shakespeare in 1920s Japan: Tsubouchi Shōyō and the Translator’s Choice
Daniel Gallimore (Vol. 33, Issue 1)

EUROPEAN JUDAISM

The Task of the Hebrew Translation: Reading into Othello’s Indian/Iudean Crux in the First Hebrew Translation
Eran Tzelgov (Vol. 51, Issue 2)

SARTRE STUDIES INTERNATIONAL

Sarah Richmond’s Translation of Jean-Paul Sartre’s Being and Nothingness
Adrian van den Hoven (Vol. 26, Issue 1)

SIBIRICA

Gaps of Kinship in the Yakut Heroic Epic Olonkho: A Brief Analysis and Implications for Translation

Alina A. Nakhodkina (Volume 23, Issue 1)


You might also be interested in…

MEET THE EDITORS: Dr. Samira Marty and Dr. Pardis Shafafi, the new Editors of Anthropology in Action

Pardis Shafafi (CNRS Paris and Designit) and Samira Marty (Binghamton University) are our incoming editors of Anthropology in Action.

Samira Marty and Pardis Shafafi are anthropologists who bring a wealth of practitioner and applied experiences to the journal. They believe in the public and discourse shaping potential of anthropological thought and in experimenting and developing ethnographic methodologies in urgent and contemporary environments. Their themes and approaches of interest speak to these experiences, with Marty conducting long-term fieldwork between Central America and Germany and Shafafi engaged with non-state armed groups from Iran, both focussing on political violence and grassroots movements and all the contradictions and promises contained therein. 

Dr. Pardis Shafafi, French National Centre
for Scientific Research, France 

Dr. Samira Marty, Binghamton University, US

What made you interested in the role of co-editors of Anthropology in Action?

Pardis Shafafi: Primarily, I’ve been looking for a way to collaborate with Samira in a formalised setting and this seemed like the perfect forum. Aside from this, while I’ve published and edited in different contexts, academic journals represent a new challenge and, to be honest, an area I have often wanted to shape and evolve. As an editor, I’m able to participate in a process that is often skewed in favour of certain kinds of academics and journals themselves. It’s exciting to be in a position to encourage more inclusive and non-traditional perspectives, and in a collaborative vein.

What unique perspectives do you both bring to the journal as new editors?

Samira Marty: As social and political anthropologists, Pardis and I bring a wealth of practitioner and applied experiences to the journal. My work is informed by long-term fieldwork between Central America and Germany, where I focus on the complex dynamics of political violence and transnational solidarity from a grassroots perspective. These experiences have profoundly impacted my approach to anthropology, and I believe in the power of ethnographic methodologies to address urgent and contemporary issues. I’m also strongly committed to bringing insights outside of institutional anthropology back to the table—mostly because I’ve worked in fields I’ve been active in, such as food, journalism, policy advisory, emerging tech, and special education.

Pardis Shafafi: In my current role as an anthropology practitioner in design, I’m focused on analysing societal changes and how they impact our social relations and global perspectives. Much of my work is centred on emerging technologies, where I teach and train critical thinking, ethical practices and rigorous research as an antidote to unintended harms which may arise in these fields. Although not immediately obvious, my research interests lie in grassroots political movements, state violence and collective trauma-work to inform each other, at macro and micro levels. These layers of complexity and their manifestation in the everyday inspire much of my work. Like Samira, I am driven by a belief in a more public-facing anthropology and our combined experiences inform our commitment to exploring and developing ethnographic methods that are both innovative and responsive to the challenges of our time- whether in the field of AI in healthcare, or organising political movements in the diaspora.

What is your vision for the journal during your tenure?

Samira Marty: Our vision is to feature cutting-edge and thought-provoking scholarship that errs on the side of creative, critical, and daring. We really strive to push the boundaries of the more conventional academic discourse in AiA. That’s why we’re especially welcoming contributions that explore emerging and timely topics that are often neglected in scholarly discourse, such as the entangled lives we lead with advancing technologies, the public discourses surrounding genocide, or the application of design thinking for systems change, to name a few. Whether it’s exploring the everyday life implications, or the macro-structural junctures that drive societal change, we want the journal to be a platform for scholarship that is as ambitious and daring as the subjects it tackles.

How do you see the role of ‘applied’ anthropology in the journal’s future?

Pardis Shafafi: We take the term ‘applied’ in the journal title very seriously. For us, applied anthropology is not just about practical application but also about deeply engaging with the core issues that define contemporary life. We are particularly interested in how anthropology can contribute to shaping ideal futures, both through scholarly work and real-world applications. We both have drawn these connections in our professional lives, as we’ve touched upon earlier, and are keen to develop this area in the wider anthropology realm.

What kinds of submissions are you particularly looking for?

Samira Marty: We want to see work that challenges what is traditionally considered the “canon” of anthropological scholarship. We strongly invite submissions from non-traditional anthropologists who explore the intersections of anthropology across disciplines and consider the broader implications of anthropological research for society at large. To facilitate this dialogue, we continue to publish shorter formats and have updated our guidelines for the submission section on the journal’s homepage. All in all, we’re interested in contributions that are deeply engaged with the world around us and not only analyze the world as it is but also imagine what it could be.

What significant developments do you see in anthropology, and which topics will be especially pertinent today and in the near future?

Pardis Shafafi: What I observe from my tenure in the applied field is that there is a disconnect between immersive design and technology research, which focuses on specific modes of knowledge production within these fields, yet the profound global impact they have on our lives. This disconnect happens both within and between these industries – and, what is more, it has remained a blackbox in anthropological interrogations. I regret this, as the impact of emerging technologies on our lives extends far beyond the defining products and services, leaving substantial imprints on social relations and political values.

Samira Marty: Those who hold the finger on the pulse of anthropological inquiry know how to differentiate between intrinsic and “trendy” research interests, which often reflect those of larger funding bodies. As co-editors, we’re dedicated to showcasing critical thinkers whose work may be underrepresented in journals that predominantly feature established scholars and prestigious grant recipients. Leading journals such as Anthropology in Action provide a pivotal platform for these emerging voices, and we’re so excited to take this challenge on.

Learn more about how to submit to Anthropology in Action here.

AIA is a part of the Berghahn Open Anthro-Subscribe-to-Open initiative.

Details

WORLD TOURISM DAY

The 27th of September is World Tourism Day, and the United Nations’ theme in 2024 is “Tourism and Peace” to highlight the capacity for tourism to bridge connections and understandings between nations and cultures.

As the United Nations’ page describes it:

Tourism, often highlighted for its role in economic development, also plays a significant role in fostering peace. On a global level, where nations are interconnected and interdependent, Tourism, an industry made by people and for people, emerges as a compelling and dynamic force to defy stereotypes and challenge prejudices.

This sector can be perceived as the epitome of intercultural dialogue; it allows meeting the “other”, learning about different cultures, hearing foreign languages, tasting exotic flavours, bonding with other human beings, and building tolerance. In essence, it is a mind-broadening educational and spiritual experience.

Read more on the UN’s World Tourism Day here.

In the spirit of this day, we have compiled some of our latest titles looking at Tourism Studies below.

For more content, you can browse our Travel and Tourism subject page here.


Open Access

Unexpected Encounters

Migrants and Tourists in the Mediterranean

Francesco Vietti

“The Mediterranean … has been shaped by the migration phenomena related to the colonial history and more recently to the crisis of receiving refugees – the author skillfully maneuvers through the history of the region’s multiple mobilities and connectivities … My overall opinion about the book is very positive.” • Natalia Bloch, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań

Volume 4, Articulating Journeys: Festivals, Memorials, and Homecomings

Read freely available introduction, and more with Open Access.

Open Access

Footprints in Paradise

Ecotourism, Local Knowledge, and Nature Therapies in Okinawa

Andrea E. Murray

“… a wonderful ethnographic work…As readers navigate through shared narratives and collective histories, they cannot help but feel they are immersed within the Okinawan culture. Libraries with anthropological collections focusing on Pacific Island studies (with a primary focus on Japan) or cultural heritage tourism should have a copy of this work. Highly recommended.” • Choice

Volume 40, New Directions in Anthropology

Read freely available introduction, and more with Open Access.

World Heritage Craze in China

Universal Discourse, National Culture, and Local Memory

Haiming Yan

“This book brings a wealth of information and spirited discussion to a wide readership and could readily be considered for courses on heritage issues in Asia and globally.” • Asian Perspectives

Read freely available introduction.

Expeditionary Anthropology

Teamwork, Travel and the ”Science of Man”

Edited by Martin Thomas and Amanda Harris

“Martin Thomas and Amanda Harris’s edited volume makes important steps towards understanding the history of the sociopolitical formations that are embedded in, and around, the idea of the expedition.” • Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute (JRAI)

Volume 33, Methodology & History in Anthropology

Read freely available introduction.

The Long Journey

Exploring Travel and Travel Writing

Edited by Maria Pia Di Bella and Brian Yothers

“Because the essays represent a variety of disciplines—among them literature, history, and anthropology—the book offers a refreshing view of the field as a whole…Highlights include Wendy Bracewell’s insightful take on masculinity and the Balkans (via work ranging from Sara Mills’s to Moma Dimić’s) and Keith Newlin’s unvarnished examination of Jack and Charmian London’s insular journey to Melanesia. This engaging and useful text should invigorate both new and seasoned scholars of the genre….Recommended” • Choice

Read freely available introduction.

The Romance of Crossing Borders

Studying and Volunteering Abroad

Edited by Neriko Musha Doerr and Hannah Davis Taïeb

“Overall, this edited volume illustrates the complexities of affective encounters as students and young volunteers cross borders and engage with cultural diversity. Important is the relevance of understanding, studying, and acknowledging how affect impacts subject-making as students travel. There are also important insights that allow practitioners, teachers and programme co-ordinators to think strategically about how to better direct or address affective encounters in more meaningful and productive ways.” • Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute (JRAI)

Read freely available introduction.

Transforming Study Abroad

A Handbook

Neriko Musha Doerr

“Doerr’s work makes a unique contribution to the international education scholarship by grouping together the key terms supporting the dominant discourse and putting them under the spotlight for a closer examination. For easy practical reference, the author chooses to focus on one term in each chapter. While using theories to expose the study abroad clichés, the author manages to keep her language simple and easy to understand.” • McGill Journal of Education

Read freely available introduction.

Momentous Mobilities

Anthropological Musings on the Meanings of Travel

Noel B. Salazar

“Salazar’s book is immensely readable because he is not held back by writing regular academic prose. Momentous Mobilities, true to its subtitle, is an intense and meditative musing on the subject. It will be valuable to sociologists, anthropologists, scholars of migration, and non-specialists alike.” • JRAI

Volume 4, Worlds in Motion

Read freely available introduction.

Revisiting Austria

Tourism, Space, and National Identity, 1945 to the Present

Gundolf Graml

“Gundolf Graml’s book presents a fresh, enterprising assessment of the role played by tourism in the construction of ‘Austrianness’ under the Second Republic…[It] offers much to mull over and invigorates both tourism and Austrian history with new approaches.” • Journal of Austrian Studies

Volume 28, Austrian and Habsburg Studies

Read freely available introduction.

Tourism and Informal Encounters in Cuba

Valerio Simoni

Tourism and Informal Encounters in Cuba offers useful material for academics such as ethnographers and sociologists and researchers in the business community, but also for politicians, tourists, and commercial enterprises to understand the nature and impact of the “Cuban hustler.” Well grounded in academic theory, it draws on prior investigations as well as the author’s own experiences over a ten-year period in Cuba.” • New West Indian Guide

Volume 38, New Directions in Anthropology

Read freely available introduction.

Travel and Representation

Edited by Garth Lean, Russell Staiff, and Emma Waterton

“This is a well-written book that disentangles, through sound interdisciplinary scholarship, the multiple workings of travel representations, their effects on people, and their limits…[It] is definitely recommended reading for graduate students and scholars with an interest in how travel, including tourism, is represented and how both travel and its representations mutually influence each other.” • JRAI (Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute)

Read freely available introduction.

The Good Holiday

Development, Tourism and the Politics of Benevolence in Mozambique

João Afonso Baptista

“What the book offers most is a rich, detailed, and highly personal account of how everyday life is experienced within a community centred on a developmentourism project. It also offers a valuable source of reflection on the process and challenges of doing ethnographic research, particularly in postcolonial settings. In this way, it stands as a useful ethnography to illustrate discussions of tourism, development, community, participation, governance – many of the concepts central to our teaching and whose complexity we often find so difficult to convey to students.” • Anthropos

Volume 30, EASA Series

Read freely available introduction.

Tourism Imaginaries

Anthropological Approaches

Edited by Noel B. Salazar and Nelson H. H. Graburn

“This book establishes ‘imaginaries’ as part of the conceptual apparatus of the anthropology of tourism [and] contributes to social anthropology more generally by exploring how tourism imaginaries intersect with broader cultural and ideological structures… The wealth of its ethnography, combined with its innovative conceptual approaches, exemplifies the strengths anthropology is bringing to interdisciplinary tourism studies.” · Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute

Read freely available introduction.

Japanese Tourism

Spaces, Places and Structures

Carolin Funck and Malcolm Cooper

The volume’s scope suggests how daunting the editors’ task was, and they do a credible job, addressing issues ranging from governmental policy to heritage tourism to the possibilities of virtual tourism in the 21st century.  This is a good introduction to the subject… what the authors do accomplish is significant, particularly for comparative tourism studies…Highly recommended.  ·  Choice

Volume 5, Asia-Pacific Studies: Past and Present


For more content, you can browse our Travel and Tourism subject page here.


Berghahn Journals

JOURNEYS
The International Journal of Travel and Travel Writing

Journeys ceased publication in 2022. All articles we currently publish for the journal, since 2000, are Free Access in order to ensure their ongoing availability.

Journeys is an interdisciplinary journal that explores travel as a practice and travel writing as a genre, reflecting the rich diversity of travel and journeys as social and cultural practices as well as their significance as metaphorical processes. The dual focus on experience and genre makes Journeys unique among scholarly journals concerning travel and is intended to draw into conversation scholars in such varied disciplines as anthropology, literary studies, social history, religious studies, human geography, and cultural studies.

Open Access Articles

ANTHROPOLOGICAL JOURNAL OF EUROPEAN CULTURES
Hiking the Via Alpina: Logos, Eros and the Trails to Freedom
Jonathan Atari and Jackie Feldman (Vol. 32, Issue 2)

ANTHROPOLOGY IN ACTION
Tourism and COVID-19: Intimacy Transformed or Intimacy Interrupted?
Hazel Andrews (Vol. 27, Issue 2)

FOCAAL
Afterlives of depopulated places: Development through extractivism and rural tourism
Dragan Đunda (Vol. 2023, Issue 96)

MUSEUM WORLDS
Air Connectivity and Proximity of Large Airports as an Added Value for Museums
Lázaro Florido-Benítez (Vol. 11)

The Politics of Indigeneity and Heritage: Indonesian Mortuary Materials and Museums
Kathleen M. Adams (Vol. 8)

RELIGION AND SOCIETY
Discourses, Bodies, and Questions of Sharedness in Kenya’s Wellness Communities
Sarah M. Hillewaert (Vol. 12)

Totemic Outsiders: Ontological Transformation among the Makushi
James Andrew Whitaker (Vol. 12)

Free access to the following articles until October 5, 2024 with code TOURISM24 Redemption details: bit.ly/3F5lmqg

CONTENTION
Environmental Movement Interventions in Tourism and Energy Development in the North Atlantic: Connecting the Social Movement Societies and Players and Arenas Perspectives
Mark C.J. Stoddart, Alice Mattoni, and Elahe Nezhadhossein (Vol. 8, Issue 2)

FRENCH POLITICS, CULTURE & SOCIETY
Le Rallye Méditerranée-le Cap: Racing towards Eurafrica?
Megan Brown (Vol. 38, Issue 2)

ISRAEL STUDIES REVIEW
“Hot Guys” in Tel Aviv: Pride Tourism in Israel
Amit Kama and Yael Ram (Vol. 35, Issue 1)

NATURE AND CULTURE
Explicating Ecoculture: Tracing a Transdisciplinary Focal Concept
Melissa M. Parks (Vol. 15, Issue 1)

REGIONS & COHESION
Ciudades turísticas: ¿sostenibles? Caso Cancún
Pilivet Aguiar Alayola, Christine McCoy Cador, and Lucila Zárraga Cano (Vol. 11, Issue 2)

TRANSFERS
Essaying to Decenter the (White, Male, Elite) Tourist Gaze
Stephen L. Harp (Vol. 13, Issue 1-2)

Past, Present, and Future of Peripheral Mobilities in Portugal: The Portuguese Narrow-Gauge Railway System (1870s–2010s)
Hugo Silveira Pereira (Vol. 11, Issue 1)

International Day of Peace

The 21st of September is the International Day of Peace, established by the United Nations in 1981. This year marks the 25th anniversary of the General Assembly adopting the Declaration and Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace.

As the United Nations’ page describes it:

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the United Nations General Assembly’s adoption of the Declaration and Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace. In that declaration, the United Nations’ most inclusive body recognized that peace “not only is the absence of conflict, but also requires a positive, dynamic participatory process where dialogue is encouraged and conflicts are solved in a spirit of mutual understanding and cooperation.”

In a world with rising geopolitical tensions and protracted conflicts, there has never been a better time to remember how the UN General Assembly came together in 1999 to lay out the values needed for a culture of peace. These include: respect for life, human rights and fundamental freedoms; the promotion of non-violence through education, dialogue and cooperation; commitment to peaceful settlement of conflicts; and adherence to freedom, justice, democracy, tolerance, solidarity, cooperation, pluralism, cultural diversity, dialogue and understanding at all levels of society and among nations. In follow-up resolutions, the General Assembly recognized further the importance of choosing negotiations over confrontation and of working together and not against each other.

The Constitution of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) starts with the notion that “wars begin in the minds of men so it is in the minds of men that the defences of peace must be constructed”. It is this notion that framed the theme and logo of this year’s observance of the International Day of Peace. The ideas of peace, the culture of peace, need to be cultivated in the minds of children and communities through formal and informal education, across countries and generations.

The International Day of Peace has always been a time to lay down weapons and observe ceasefires. But it now must also be a time for people to see each other’s humanity. Our survival as a global community depends on that. The International Day of Peace was established in 1981 by the United Nations General Assembly. Two decades later, in 2001, the General Assembly unanimously voted to designate the Day as a period of non-violence and cease-fire.

Information taken from the UN’s page, for more details, please read more here.

In the spirit of this day, we have compiled some of our latest titles looking at peace studies below.

For more content, you can browse our Peace and Conflict Studies subject page here.


To be published December 2024

The Paris Peace Conference of 1919

The Challenge of a New World Order

Edited by Laurence Badel, Eckart Conze, and Axel Dröber

For more than a century, the Paris Peace Conference of 1919 has remained an object of historical scrutiny. As an attempt to consolidate peace in the wake of World War I and to prevent future conflict, it was instrumental in shaping political and social dynamics both nationally and internationally. Yet, in spite of its implications for global conflict, little consideration has been given to the way the Paris Peace Conference constructed a new global order. In this illuminating and geographically wide-ranging reassessment, The Paris Peace Conference of 1919 reconsiders how this watershed event, its diplomatic negotiations and the peace treaties themselves gave rise to new dynamics of global power and politics. In doing so it highlights the way in which the forces of nationality and imperiality interacted with, and were reshaped by, the peace.

Paperback Available

Peace at All Costs

Catholic Intellectuals, Journalists, and Media in Postwar Polish–German Reconciliation

Annika Elisabet Frieberg

“This knowledgeably written study succeeds in exemplarily reopening a conceptual approach that is important for international relations on a hitherto rather neglected source basis and providing important insights for the understanding of both discourses of reconciliation in general and the history of German-Polish relations in particular.” • Jahrbücher für Geschichte Osteuropas

Volume 23, Studies in Contemporary European History

Read Introduction

Paperback Available

In the Shadow of the Great War

Physical Violence in East-Central Europe, 1917–1923

Edited by Jochen Böhler, Ota Konrád, and Rudolf Kučera

“Overall, the volume offers a broad panorama of the history of violence in East Central Europe. The individual essays are thematically diverse and offer an excellent synthesis of multilingual sources of research literature and theory.” • H-Soz-Kult

Read Introduction

200 Years of Peace

New Perspectives on Modern Swedish Foreign Policy

Edited by Nevra Biltekin, Leos Müller and Magnus Petersson

“This generous collection of essays portrays salient aspects of Sweden’s policy of neutrality throughout the last 200 years. A truly stimulating read including splendid and sometimes thought-provoking interpretations. The book deserves international attention.” • Rasmus Mariager, University of Copenhagen

Read Introduction

Durable Solutions

Challenges with Implementing Global Norms for Internally Displaced Persons in Georgia

Carolin Funke

“I really enjoyed reading this monograph…. This book is much more than  area studies research on Georgia as this volume is likely to bear theoretical implications generalizable beyond the Georgian case study. Empirical data collected through ethnographic participant observation, elite interviews, and focus groups is rich and fascinating.” • Huseyn Aliyev, University of Glasgow

Volume 44, Forced Migration

Read Introduction

Reconciliation Road

Willy Brandt, Ostpolitik and the Quest for European Peace

Benedikt Schoenborn

Maybe the parties involved in negotiating an end to the war in Ukraine can revisit some of Brandt’s creative thinking and personal gestures as inspiring examples for the beginnings of a new reconciliation. They can use Benedikt Schoenborn’s excellent study of reconciliation and Ostpolitik as their guide.” • H Diplo

Volume 25, Studies in Contemporary European History

Read Introduction

On Mediation

Historical, Legal, Anthropological and International Perspectives

Edited by Karl Härter, Carolin Hillemanns and Günther Schlee

“A very nice compilation of interesting articles on mediation and related practices of third-party conflict regulation from various perspectives, including legal, anthropological, sociological, historical, psychological and philosophical perspective.” • Daniel Girsberger, University of Lucerne

Volume 22, Integration and Conflict Studies

Read Introduction

Paperback Available

Peaceful Selves

Personhood, Nationhood, and the Post-Conflict Moment in Rwanda

Laura Eramian

“This is richly detailed and an often startling ethnography with sharp insights and resonance for learning about post-conflict moments and the potential future for settings within, and far beyond, modern Rwanda.” • Conflict & Society

2019 CANADIAN ANTHROPOLOGY SOCIETY LABRECQUE-LEE BOOK PRIZE HONORABLE MENTION

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