Conflict, Displacement … and Peace? A Critical Review of Research Debates

Abstract

The nexus of violent conflict and forced migration has received continuous scholarly attention since the 1980s, but what are the focus areas and key strands in these research debates? Based on a semi-systematic review of research published between 1980 and 2020, this article examines debates about conflict, displacement, and peace. The review leads to the identification of three main strands that are closely connected: the structural links outlining how conflicts contribute to displacements; the various prevailing risks of violence; and the individual and collective strategies of displaced people to cope with dangers and experiences especially in host countries and regions. Despite this broad and still-growing body of literature, peace is found to have been insufficiently addressed in debates thus far. Only few studies attend to peace, and they mainly connect it to return to places of origin, peace(building) education by aid actors, or partly displaced people being potential destabilisers of peace processes. Hence, the roles of peace and displaced people’s practices to support peace constitute key areas requiring further research going forwards.