Worlds of Civil War: Globalizing Civil War in the Late Twentieth Century

Public Lecture by David Armitage (Harvard University)

Lecture

In this lecture, the renowned scientist David Armitage will discuss three ways in which the conception of civil war was globalized in the latter part of the twentieth century.

First, it looks at the place of civil conflict in post-War international humanitarian jurisprudence, a global discourse applicable to “non-international armed conflict” around the world. Second, it examines the emergence of civil war as an object of social-scientific inquiry, beginning in the 1960s, with consequences that still determine what is, and what is not, held to be a civil war by the international community. Thirdly, it traces the emergent language of “global civil war” from its early twentieth-century roots to its usage in various global languages, including Schmittian political theory, counter-terrorism discourse and the analysis of civil war as the most globally widespread form of contemporary conflict.

• Organisers: Annelien de Dijn & Matthijs Lok (UvA)
• Information: m.m.lok@uva.nl
• Website: http://www.globalintellectualhistory.org

Published by  Faculty of Humanities