Abstract

In the face of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, thinking about peace among Ukrainians and Russians seems currently impossible. And yet the key to sustainable conflict transformation lies with the people who will have to live with and alongside each other again in the future. What ideas of peaceful coexistence do these people have, how do they practice them and how can they change their relationships? In this project, we explore everyday knowledge about ways of peaceful coexistence of and together with representatives of the Ukrainian and Russian diaspora(s) in Germany.

Given the lack of opportunity to speak directly with those affected by the war on the ground, the Ukrainian and Russian diasporas are important access points to understanding better the dividing and connecting lines among the societies of their origin. Diasporas bring their own ideas of peaceful coexistence to their hosting countries, and they are likely to act in accordance with these ideas in their everyday lives. The project aims to find out what these ideas and practices are and explores whether and how their actualization influences interpersonal interaction under the condition of war and deep societal division.

The project thus looks more closely at the micro-foundations and social anchoring of peace and conflict resolution than would be possible from a state-centered perspective. The latter continues to abound in research on peace and security in Europe. It moreover creates protected spaces for encounters in which to test how everyday knowledge can be activated. Thus, peace turns into a lived deliberative practice. Ideally, the results from our project can be used in a constructive and model-building way for similar places of understanding and exchange in the societies of origin. The project applies a participatory research method, treating the academic and everyday world as complementary and interconnected spheres. Everyday partners become knowledge-generating subjects, researchers turn into ‘learners’, who orient their research practice along the perceptions and needs of the everyday partners.

The research process consists of three phases. Firstly, we conduct a stakeholder mapping, exploring how identity and group formation within the Ukrainian and Russian diaspora(s) in Germany take place. The stakeholder mapping will help us to identify everyday partners from this environment for further project activities. Secondly, we conduct guided interviews with representatives of the Ukrainian and Russian diaspora(s). These will provide information about individualized ideas of peace and the values on which they base, but also about perceptions of the war and how it affects the everyday knowledge and practices of peaceful coexistence. Thirdly, we apply more creative and experimental methods of knowledge production. A real-life laboratory will provide a safe and protected space for exchange and meaningful understanding among members of the diasporas.

This way, we hope to identify possible scope conditions for future rapprochement and understanding in the societies of origin at an early stage. We will document the findings from the project for the public and make them available to an interested audience in Germany as well as to the societies of origin.