Comparative Ecologies of Conflict

Aim and Description

The workshop aims to contribute a new perspective on the impact of war on the environment through a combined social and natural scientific engagement with comparative cases from Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Ukraine. We have chosen these cases as they allow us to compare the impact of warfare on the environment in various war theaters and across time scales, geographic locales, and ecological systems. Theoretically, the workshop approaches these comparative cases through three key analytical lenses, namely (1) environmental pollution, remediation, and regeneration, (2) the economic and political dimensions of warfare, and (3) the development of legal and extra-legal frameworks to address the issues of responsibility and accountability. The workshop seeks to foster a holistic, interdisciplinary framework that integrates perspectives from environmental sciences, biology, public health, anthropology, sociology, law, economics, history, and conflict studies. By bringing together scholars from various disciplines to explore the connections between the environment and conflict, we want to go beyond dominant narratives of climate change and environmental justice by centering both short- and long-term consequences of warfare for the environment and all living beings within that environment.

Organizers

The workshop's conveners have worked on the topic of ecologies of conflict in various ways. Dr. Annika Schmeding (University of Amsterdam and NIOD Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies, the Netherlands) and Lema Salah (Radboud University Nijmegen and NIOD Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies, the Netherlands) are researching the impact and legacy of the NATO war (2001-2021) on Afghanistan. Dr. Duong Vu (Westerdijk Fungal Biodiversity Institute, the Netherlands) is working on biodiversity and fungal research and the impact of environmental changes on the DNA barcoding of fungi, including current planned projects on soil quality testing in areas affected by war pollutants. Dr. Omar Dewachi (Rutgers University, United States) is working on the social, medical, and environmental consequences of war and violence in Iraq and the wider Middle East. He cofounded the Conflict Medicine Program at the American University of Beirut, where he taught social medicine and global health. Dr. Dat Nguyen (NIOD Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies, the Netherlands) is researching the legacies and politics of Agent Orange and war pollution in Vietnam. The conveners come from various disciplinary backgrounds, including anthropology, history, political science, medical research, and bioinformatics.