War, Peace and the World Order: scholars and activists at the SNS summer school
The programme will explore the causes and dynamics of warfare, pathways of conflict resolution and peace building, and grassroots mobilisations, through interdisciplinary lens
COSMOS is pleased to announce that the Scuola Normale Superiore will hold the Summer
School “War, Peace and the World Order”, from 29 September to 3 October at the Faculty of
Political and Social Sciences, Palazzo Strozzi, Florence.
The School brings together 20 international speakers and discussants, including from Cosmos, and
50 participants – mainly PhD students – from 13 different countries.
Find the full programmes and sessions’ details at the Summer School website
Over the course of five days, the programme will explore the causes and dynamics of warfare, pathways of conflict resolution and peace construction, and grassroots mobilisations, through an interdisciplinary lens that bridges international relations, political economy, and social movement studies. Special attention will be devoted to the ongoing genocide in Gaza, the broader Palestinian–Israeli context, and the Russian war in Ukraine.
In particular, the afternoon session on 30 September will focus on the situation in Palestine and Gaza, exploring the history, context, and current dynamics of genocidal violence, with contributions from Francesca Albanese (UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, joining online) and the scholars and essayists Anna Foa and Paola Caridi.
The entire day on 3 October, featuring, among others, Donatella della Porta and Luciana Castellina, will be dedicated to examining grassroots peace movements and current mobilizations in solidarity with Palestine, with a special focus on the Italian and broader European context.
The final session on the afternoon of 3 October, “I movimenti per la pace”, will be held in Italian and open to the public, in hybrid format via this TEAMS link . Access to all other sessions is restricted to enrolled participants and a limited number of external auditors. Please note that video recordings of all sessions will later be made available on the Scuola Normale Superiore’s YouTube channel and advertised here on the COSMOS website.
The event is organized as part of the SNS MERITA project.
Summer School ‘War, Peace and the World Order’
This first edition of the Summer School ‘War, Peace and the World Order’ is organized by Scuola Normale Superiore in cooperation with National PhD Programme in Peace Studies, coordinated by Sapienza Università di Roma and RUNIPACE, Rete delle università italiane per la pace.
The course intersects political economy, international relations and social movements, and is aimed at fostering cross-disciplinary dialogue and reflection. Its sessions explore the causes, dynamics and effects of contemporary armed conflicts and examine alternative strategies for peace construction, including ‘from below’, conflict prevention and resolution. Particular attention will be dedicated to ongoing conflict and warfare scenarios. Over the course of five days, senior scholars and practitioners will lead lectures, case-study discussions, and interactive sessions on key war and peace global challenges. Attendees will have ample opportunities to showcase their research and interests and discuss them with SNS scholars and with distinguished invited senior speakers.
Day 1 introduces the global context of war through a discussion of the world system, capitalism, hegemony, and dynamics of international (dis)armament, culminating in a discussion on the Russia–Ukraine war and its implications for Europe and the world.
Day 2 focuses on the politics of war and peace, with sessions on patterns of conflict, critiques of international interventions, and an in-depth discussion on the global architecture of injustice in Palestine.
Day 3 turns to international law and environmental conflicts, addressing the ethics of war in the morning session, the environmental dimensions of conflict with a focus on African contexts, while in the afternoon it offers a space for participants’ presentations and thematic group discussions.
Day 4 explores the political economy of war, including the military-industrial complex, European and Italian defense programs, and the implications of digital technologies and artificial intelligence for contemporary warfare.
Finally, Day 5 centers on peace-making, with a focus on transnational solidarity mobilizations, grassroots peace initiatives, and a concluding session in Italian on the history and current trajectories of pacifism and peace movements in Europe and Italy.
Among the featured guest speakers are Francesca Albanese (UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territory), László Andor (FEPS, Brussels), Mats Berdal (King’s College London), Paola Caridi (scholar and author), Raul Caruso (Università Cattolica di Milano), Luciana Castellina (former MEP), Futura D’Aprile (Scuola Normale Superiore), Donatella della Porta (Scuola Normale Superiore), Matthew Evangelista (Cornell University), Anna Foa (Sapienza University of Rome), Francesca Caruso (Comunità di Sant’Egidio), Dario Guarascio (Sapienza University of Rome), Volodymyr Ishchenko (Freie Universität Berlin), Enza Pellecchia (Runipace, Università di Pisa), Mario Pianta (Scuola Normale Superiore), Luca Raineri (Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna), Siri Aas Rustad(Peace Research Institute Oslo), Alessandro Saggioro (Sapienza University of Rome), Francesco Strazzari (Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna), Guglielmo Tamburrini (University of Naples Federico II), and Francesco Vignarca (Rete Italiana Pace e Disarmo).
For any further question or information request please contact the official email address of the School: schoolwarpeace@sns.it
Thursday 2 October
The political economy of war
Chair: Mario Pianta, Scuola Normale Superiore
10-11.45 | The military economy: arms expenditures, industry, exports
Raul Caruso, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore
12-13.30 | The military programmes in Europe and Italy
Futura D’Aprile, Scuola Normale Superiore
Francesco Vignarca, Rete Italiana Pace e Disarmo