Jürgen Pirker is a member of the steering group of the  Conflict, Peace and Democracy Cluster.

As part of the Kelman Network, Jürgen Pirker is dedicated to the research and further development of the "Interactive Conflict Resolution" approach, in particular in its application to inter-ethnic conflict areas, memory politics and conflict settlement through law.

A research project in Austria, Slovenia, Croatia and Italy is working on these topics under the paradigm of a"Peace Region Alps-Adriatic".

Teaching

2022/23 Peace and Conflict Research, University of Graz (VU)

The course introduces important basics of peace and conflict research. It deals with the scientific examination of different methods of confronting and countering conflicts in their complexity. The sustainable ending of violent conflicts, whether in local, national or international contexts, is of great relevance. In the course, conflict dynamics are discussed in their legal, political, social or cultural context. On this basis, different legal, political science or socio-psychological paradigms of conflict management are presented.

2023 The Law and Politics of Minority Protection, University of Graz  (SE)

The seminar is dedicated to the interaction of law and politics using the example of the protection of minorities. It aims at a deeper understanding of the complexity of ethnopolitical and intercultural (identity) conflicts. The object of study are minority protection regimes from applicable law, e.g. Austrian ethnic group law or international instruments of minority protection (Council of Europe) - taking into account their genesis and their systematics. In order to explore the dynamics of inter/national conflicts, the seminar deals with basic theories of nationalism, ethnicity and identity. Building on this, the functions of law in inter/national conflicts - e.g. as an instrument of conflict resolution - will be discussed.

Study Focus "Peace, Conflict and Democracy"

The course "Theory and Practice of Civil Conflict Transformation using the Example of Micro- and Macrohistory in the Alps-Adriatic Region" was nominated by the University of Klagenfurt for the State Prize (Ars docendi) for good teaching. More information.

Available contributions (Download)

Jürgen Pirker, Memory Wars and Minority Rights: From Ethnic Conflict towards a Peace Region Alps-Adriatic?, in: treatises and documents 86/2021, 5-32. pdf version.

Jan Brousek and Jürgen Pirker: Future through Past? Interactive conflict transformation and politics of remembrance using the example of the Alps-Adriatic region in: Werner Wintersteiner/Lisa Wolf (eds.), Friedensforschung in Österreich Bilanz und Perspektiven, 2016. pdf version.

Jürgen Pirker: Crossing Borders - Facing Diversity: Trans-national Youth Initiatives within and between Carinthia and Slovenia, in: Bettina Gruber/Werner Wintersteiner (eds.), Learning Peace - an integrative part of Peace Building Experiences from the Alps-Adriatic Region, 2015. pdf-Version.

Austrian-Slovenian Working Group for a Cross-Border Dialogue, Joint Declaration 1914-2014: From Wars to the Peace Region Alps-Adriatic, 2014. pdf version.

Declarations of the Austrian-Slovenian Working Group for a Cross-Border Dialogue on the First and Second World Wars and their consequences for remembrance policy and dialog in the Alps-Adriatic region in German, Slovenian and Italian, with an introduction. 2018: pdf version.

Jürgen Pirker: On the (self-)meaning of history(ies). Large and small narratives in Carinthia, in: Petritsch, Wolfgang/Graf, Wilfried/Kramer, Gudrun (eds.), Kärnten liegt am Meer. Conflict stories about trauma, power and identity, Verlag Johannes Heyn, Klagenfurt, 2012, pp. 448-465. pdf version.