Peace in Times of a Third World War Fought Piecemeal

Peace in Times of a Third World War Fought Piecemeal

Putin’s war of aggression against Ukraine has challenged political and ethical reflections on peace and war. It would, however, be quite superficial to focus solely on this war in Europe and to overlook ongoing wars and other forms of structural violence all over the world. It is for this reason that Pope Francis has claimed since 2014 that we are going through a third world war but in installments. The war against Ukraine is just a part of this third world war fought piecemeal. This workshop takes this observation as a starting point to discuss the possibilities of peace in times of war. The participants come from different disciplines at the University of Innsbruck and include also a group of scholars who convened already in October 2020 in an online workshop at the Institute for Systematic Theology on “Sustainable Peace and Justice: Discussing Gandhi's concepts of Satayagraha and Sarvodaya” that was also the start of a research project on Gandhi’s concept of nonviolence that Louise du Toit, Ephraim Meir, Ed Noort, and Wolfgang Palaver conducted at the Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Studies (South Africa) in 2021. This project resulted in a special issue of the journal “Religions” with the title “Nonviolence and Religion” that was published in 2022.

Programm

Chair
9:00-12:15
Dietmar Regensburger
(Systematic Theology, University of Innsbruck)

9:00-9:45
Wolfgang Palaver
(Catholic Social Teaching, University of Innsbruck)
The Development of Catholic Peace Ethics after World War Two

9:45-10:45
Andreas Müller
(European Law, Public International Law, and Human Rights, University of Basel)
Chances and Limits of International Law
Response: Jodok Troy (Political Science, University of Innsbruck)

10:45-11:15
Break

11:15-12:15
Martin Senn
(Political Science, University of Innsbruck)
Security through Armaments?
Response: Stefan Hofmann (Moral Theology, University of Innsbruck)

12:15-14:00
Lunch Break

Chair
14:00-17:30
Wolfgang Palaver
(Catholic Social Teaching, University of Innsbruck)

14:00-15:00
Ephraim Meir
(Philosophy, Bar-Ilan University)
Levinas on War and Peace
Response: Andreas Oberprantacher (Philosophy, University of Innsbruck)

15:00-16:00
Louise du Toit
(Philosophy, Stellenbosch University)
Using Butler to Problematize the Distinction Between Peace and War
Response: Michaela Quast-Neulinger (Systematic Theology, University of Innsbruck)

16:00-16:30
Break

16:30-17:30
Ed Noort
(Ancient Hebrew Literature and Material Culture of the Levant, University of Groningen)
Meta Narratives in Apocalyptic Times?
Response: Wilhelm Guggenberger (Catholic Social Teaching, University of Innsbruck)

17:30-18:30
Concluding Discussion:
Wilhelm Guggenberger (Catholic Social Teaching, University of Innsbruck)

Organisation: Dietmar Regensburger und Wolfgang Palaver