91195 - Forecasting And Analyzing Conflict And Instability

Learning outcomes

Political violence is one of the key elements of instability in today’s world. However, the paradigm within which we understand it has undergone a sea change since the end of the Cold War and 9/11. The present course aims to expose students to the latest social-scientific literature on conflict and violence. The perspective adopted aims to transcend traditional State-centric distinctions, and conceive of political violence as a unified phenomenon, with a variety of forms and actors giving rise to a plurality of equilibriums and outcomes. The course aims to enable students to understand the multifaceted nature of contemporary political violence, form reasonable and fact-based expectations of future developments, and thereby contribute to managing risk in a variety of institutional settings.

Course contents

This year’s course will approach the topic of conflict and instability from the point of view of the functioning of our contemporary digital societies. The overarching notion which will guide us through the course is social trust, and specifically the systemic lack of it and the crisis of the notion itself in multiple spheres of our everyday experience. The course will trace the disruption generated by new technologies in eight politically and socially strategic ambits; in each, it will attempt to highlight how key actors either attempt to rebuild the bases for trustworthiness or tend to exploit mistrust for their own ends.

Office hours

See the website of Matteo Giglioli