Narrative Wars: Words and Conflict in the 21st Century - Einzelansicht

Wars are not uniquely fought by material means and armies, nor arguably have they ever been. The 21st century, however, gave witness to unprecedented technological advances in telecommunications, including global access to the internet and social media network, to the extent that international crises, conflicts and wars are now primarily fought in the realm of ideas expressed in human language, through competing and/or excluding narratives, in which facts are constantly re-signified, forged or ignored.

Understanding the war of words, therefore, is an essential part to making better sense of political violence and conflict in the Information Age, not only in war zones across the world, but also in the consolidated democracies of the West.

This course familiarises students with both the theoretical debates and empirical cases pertaining to narrative wars in our times. It draws from multidisciplinary debates – from linguistics, political and international relations theory to strategic studies –, to guide discussions on topics such as the War on Terror and Global Jihad, Climate Change, right and left-wing Populism, exclusionary identity politics, democratic backlash, and challenges to the Liberal World Order.

Its objective is to provide students with both an understanding of the workings of human language and the material consequences of political discourses in conflict and war; as well as to offer them some analytical tools to navigate the different 'narrative battlefields' of our times.

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Presentation (up to 30 minutes)